2 Hours of Frozen Planet @ Wahnfried

Wahnfried, McGregor

On Sunday 19th at 4pm we have the next two parts of the BBC Documentary series FROZEN PLANET (2h)

This series focuses on life and the environment in both the Arctic and Antarctic. The production team were keen to film a comprehensive record of the natural history of the polar regions because climate change is affecting landforms such as glaciers, ice shelves, and the extent of sea ice. The series was met with critical acclaim.

Summer: This episode follows the short polar summer: the sun does not set for months and the ice is largely gone. Animals highlighted in this episode include the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), the red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius), the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), the common eider (Somateria mollissima), the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), the Lapland bunting (Calcarius lapponicus), the Arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos) hunting for muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), the king penguin (A. patagonicus), the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), the crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus), the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), the humpback whale (M. novaeangliae), the Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) being hunted by killer whales, and the Adélie penguin being hunted by south polar skua (Stercorarius maccormicki).

Autumn: This episode follows the polar autumn: temperatures are dropping, seas are freezing, and arctic animals migrate south away from the expanding ice. Animals highlighted in this episode include the polar bear, the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), Brünnich's guillemot (Uria lomvia) being hunted by Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus), the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), the caribou, the southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), the South Georgia pintail (Anas georgica georgica), the Adélie penguin being hunted by leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), and the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri).

‘’This beautiful documentary is a testament to what is possible in the hands of skilled cinematographers. In scene after scene one finds oneself in awe at the magnificence of the imagery, with that sense of awe only compounded by the awareness that this is all real, no special effects - there really are such incredible things to be seen in the world in which we live.
One more thing: as tempting as it might be to assume that the "behind the scenes" segments which round off each episode are mere filler, this is not at all the case. Apart from being educational in their own right, they serve to illustrate the extreme lengths to which the makers of this documentary series have had to go to capture all that astonishing footage. One can only feel thankful that there are such skilled people out there who are willing to undergo immense privation to bring to the rest of us a better understanding of the marvellous planet on which we reside.’’ Amazon.co.uk reviewer