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Season 14
January 14, 1996

Season 14

01. Echo of the Elephants: The Next Generation

A deeply moving account of elephant family life, The Next Generation is the sequel to the BBC Natural History Unit's award-winning Echo of the Elephants. The award-winning cameraman Martyn Colbeck returns to direct and photograph this piece, his stunning cinematography bringing to life the touching intimacy, brutal fights and amazing perseverance of these magnificent animals.

Filmed over four years, elephant expert, leading conservationist and world-renowned research zoologist Cynthia Moss continues her research into the ageing matriarch Echo and her rapidly expanding clan.

January 14, 1996

02. Incredible Suckers

In the depths of the world’s oceans, biologist and award-winning wildlife photographer Mike deGruy explores the multi-sensory world of the cephalopods.

Stunning underwater photography provides an incredible glimpse into these enigmatic invertebrates, recording species never before captured on film. Impressive footage from a remote-controlled submersible provides the first ever glimpse of two rare creatures in their natural habitat, the living fossil nautilus and the intimidating vampire squid.

January 21, 1996

03. Arctic Kingdom: Life at the Edge

An investigation into the inhabitants of the Arctic who have adapted to extreme conditions, looks at the polar bear, narwhal and guillemots.

January 28, 1996

04. Fifi's Boys: a Story of Wild Chimpanzees

Updated film portrait of Fifi a chimpanzee that naturalist Jane Goodall first studied in 1960. This programme follows her and her six offspring, studying their individual characters and behaviour.

February 4, 1996

05. Last Feast of the Crocodiles

An enthralling exploration of the 1991 South African drought, Last Feast of the Crocodiles focuses on the receding waters of the Limpopo River and the extraordinary social alterations this lack of water brought about.

An incredible portrait of nature at its harshest, award-winning wildlife filmmakers David and Carol Hughes captured behaviour never before seen on film. Surprising counter attacks on crocodiles are launched by baboons as they avenge the death of their young, and an odd alliance sees the young of these reptilian predators calmly basking on the backs of tolerant hippos.

February 7, 1996

06. Rhythms of Life

Uses computer simulation and time-lapse photography to chart the effect of the rhythms of the sun, moon and earth on life forms.

February 11, 1996

07. Lions: Pride in Peril

The King of Beasts, the lion, has an image of noble magnificence - a deadly hunter, red in both tooth and claw, to which all creatures defer. And yet, behind this facade, every lion has a personal history of drama, intrigue and tragedy.

For seven months, award-winning film-maker Owen Newman followed the lions of the Tokitok pride in Tanzania's breath-taking Ngorongoro Crater. What started out as an intimate story of lions in their full glory evolved into a record of a pride which had fallen on hard times.

David Attenborough relates the demise of the Tokitok lionesses, and their two guardian males as they strive to retain their 'kingdom' and protect their cubs among the more powerful prides that inhabit the Crater.

February 18, 1996

08. Monsoon

Examines the Indian Monsoon and the effect it has on the wildlife of the region.

February 25, 1996

09. Crossroads of Nancite

Explores the battle for survival in Nancite, a small stretch of beach and forest on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, between animal species from both continents. Featured animals include monkeys, coyotes and turtles.

March 3, 1996

10. Bowerbird: Playboy of the Australian Forest

Documentary on the wildlife in Australia's Lamington National Park in Queensland, focusing on the bowerbird, the scrub turkey and the spiny echidna.

March 17, 1996

11. Hightops of Scotland

Captures the private life of the wild life that inhabits the Cairngorm mountains in the north of Scotland. Filmed over a twelve month period, features such animals as wild deer, hare and ptarmigans.

March 24, 1996

12. Attenborough in Paradise

David Attenborough fulfilsan ambition to travel to the rainforests of New Guinea to film the birds of paradise.

April 8, 1996