Fly on the Wall • 2005 • episode "Extra" • Life in the Undergrowth

Category: Nature

Making Of (Special Fly On The Wall inserts at the end of each programme will explore, in greater detail, how the BBC's Natural History Unit was able to capture such stunning footage for the first time.)

Make a donation

Buy a brother a hot coffee? Or a cold beer?

Hope you're finding these documentaries fascinating and eye-opening. It's just me, working hard behind the scenes to bring you this enriching content.

Running and maintaining a website like this takes time and resources. That's why I'm reaching out to you. If you appreciate what I do and would like to support my efforts, would you consider "buying me a coffee"?

Donation addresses

BTC: bc1q8ldskxh4x9qnddhcrgcun8rtvddeldm2a07r2v

ETH: 0x5CCAAA1afc5c5D814129d99277dDb5A979672116

With your donation through , you can show your appreciation and help me keep this project going. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a significant impact. It goes directly towards covering server costs.

Life in the Undergrowth • 2005 • 7 episodes •

Invasion of the Land

Invasion of the Land

The first episode tells how invertebrates became the first creatures of any kind to colonise dry land. Their forerunners were shelled and segmented sea creatures that existed 400 million years ago. Some of them ventured out of the water to lay their eggs in safety, and Attenborough compares those first steps with today's mass spawning of horseshoe crabs off the Atlantic coast of North America.

2005 • Nature

Taking to the Air

Taking to the Air

The next programme deals with flying insects. It begins in Central Europe, where the Körös River plays host to millions of giant mayflies as they rise from their larval skins to mate. — the climax of their lives. Mayflies and dragonflies were among the first to take to the air about 320 million years ago, and fossils reveal that some were similar in size to a seagull. Damselflies are also looked at in detail.

2005 • Nature

The Silk Spinners

The Silk Spinners

The third instalment examines the spiders and others that produce silk. Attenborough visits New Zealand's Waitomo Caves, which are inhabited by fungus gnats whose illuminated larvae sit atop glistening, beaded filaments to lure their prey.

2005 • Nature

Intimate Relations

Intimate Relations

The penultimate episode focuses on the relationships between invertebrates and plants or other animals. It begins with ants and aphids: the former 'herd' the latter and protect them in return for secreted honeydew.

2005 • Nature

Supersocieties

The final programme looks at the superorganisms formed by bees, ants and termites. Attenborough reveals that their colonies, whose individuals were once considered purely servile, are "full of conflict, power struggles and mutinies." They evolved when such creatures moved away from a solitary existence and started building nests side-by-side, which led to a collective approach to caring for their young.

2005 • Nature

Fly on the Wall

Fly on the Wall

Making Of (Special Fly On The Wall inserts at the end of each programme will explore, in greater detail, how the BBC's Natural History Unit was able to capture such stunning footage for the first time.)

2005 • Nature

Making Of

Life in the Undergrowth is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough

2005 • Nature

You might also like

North America

Slip through millennia-old caves in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. These spooky, labyrinth-like places were considered magical as early as the Mayan era. Plus you can hitch a ride with sucker fish, dodge gigantic ocean devil fish and be entranced by the dance of a majestic 6-metre long manta ray.

Part 6 • The Magic of The Big Blue • 2011 • Nature

The Limits of Endurance

The Limits of Endurance

Left to their own devices, birds have reached almost all ends of the Earth - still, humans can do many things to help their feathered friends.

S1E10 • The Life of Birds • 1998 • Nature

Chasing Starlight

Chasing Starlight

A penetrating look at the sun as a vital source of energy and its impact on one cheetah’s search for food in the sprawling plains of the Serengeti.

S1E1 • Our Universe • 2022 • Nature

Volcano

Helen looks at volcanoes. With shocking eyewitness footage of eruptions, and new thermal imagery and ultra-high speed photography, we can now capture on camera the complex processes crucial to understanding how and why these forces of nature erupt.

Part 2 • Dangerous Earth • 2016 • Nature

Levison Wood Walking With...

Levison Wood Walking With...

Levison Wood tracks down some of the most iconic but endangered animals on Earth and gets a better understanding of how they are surviving against worsening odds. Chapter 1: Orangutans Deep in Borneo's forests, Levison meets the last-remaining endangered orangutans, and learns more about their unique lives and their environment, as they face the threat of deforestation and poaching. Chapter 2: Lions In Namibia's extreme environment, Levison tracks down some of the last remaining desert lions and learns about the vital work that's giving them a fighting chance of survival. Chapter 3: Polar Bears Levison travels deep into the vast arctic wilderness of east Greenland to track down some of the most elusive populations of polar bears on the planet. But will he get up close and personal with one?

2023 • Nature

Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks

Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks

Groundbreaking documentary which follows a Japanese-led team of scientists as they attempt to shed light on the mysterious world of deep sea sharks. Only 50 specimens of the newly discovered 'megamouth' have ever been sighted. Over four years, scientists and film crews voyaged in midget submarines into the depths of Suruga Bay and Sagami Bay to film them. Prehistoric 'living fossil' sharks such as bluntnose sixgill sharks, goblin sharks and frilled sharks also lurk in the bay. As part of the investigation, a sperm whale carcass was placed at the bottom of the bay to attract these sharks, which were then studied and observed from the submersible vessels. Revealing in detail the previously unknown behaviour of deep sea sharks, the film unravels another of the intriguing mysteries of our planet's biodiversity. Narrated by David Attenborough.

2015 • Nature