South Pacific
Documentary series looking at the remote South Pacific islands. The South Pacific islands are the most remote in the world. Their extraordinary isolation has created some of the most curious, surprising and precarious examples of life found anywhere on Earth; from giant crabs that tear open coconuts, to flesh-eating caterpillars that impale their prey on dagger-like claws.
In the South Pacific there is no such thing as a deserted island. They may be the most isolated in the world but every one of the region's 20,000 islands has been colonized - from New Guinea, home to birds of paradise and the tribe whose brutal initiation ceremony turns young warriors into crocodile men, to Fiji, French Polynesia and Hawaii.
A large part of the remote, blue wilderness of the South Pacific is a marine desert. Many animals that live in the ocean, among them sharks, whales and turtles - must go to extraordinary lengths to survive. Tiger sharks travel hundreds of miles to feast on fledging albatross chicks and, every year, sperm whales journey from one side of the South Pacific to the other in their search for food and mates.
Witness the birth, growth and death of an island in the greatest ocean on Earth. Millions of years are condensed into an hour revealing unforgettable images of an erupting underwater volcano; rivers of lava exploding below the waves; roads and houses buried by molten rivers of rock.
Flightless parrots, burrowing bats, giant skinks and kangaroos in trees; on the isolated islands of the South Pacific, the wildlife has evolved in extraordinary ways. But island living can carry a high price, for when new species arrive, all hell breaks loose.
The South Pacific is still relatively healthy and teeming with fish, but it is a fragile paradise. International fishing fleets are taking a serious toll on the sharks, albatross and tuna, and there are other insidious threats to these bountiful seas. This episode looks at what is being done to preserve the ocean and its wildlife.
This doc spawned a whole separate obsession for me. I was fascinated by the take of the sailors adrift and googled it, which led to the whaleship Essex and the true stories written by survivors, which then led to an obsessive quest for info in the entire whaling industry. Ha dad down one of my Favorite docs ever.
This is not a film! It's only a few minutes long preview.
This is a beautiful and educational series! My hat is off to the camera men and women. The sights you captured are stunning. Also your series is a wealth of knowledge. My son just turned 2 and is fascinated by this series! I don't know why but British wildlife shows have some of the most wonderful scenes and wealth of information . I live in the US but always search out British wildlife shows. I have never seen a bad one! They never disappoint! Thank you for this great series! One request: please add standard measurements when you state the metric measurements. There are so many Americans who watch and have to constantly have to pause your shows to convert the measurements so things make sense. It would add SO much more to the show, a MUCH better understanding of the shows. Thank you!!
Yet another superb doc from the BBC & in HD. Outstanding.
Fantastic cinematography, loads of interesting material, and a kick ass narrator (which is a must for a good doco) =]
Fabulous! Gorgeous and educational. BBC always does good work, but these islands and their inhabitants are so interesting. Very mush worth a look.
Now I get the dual commentary. The woman is describing scenes for the visually impaired or more probably as a marker for the visuals and narration. Too bad that whoever converted it forgot to turn that track off- it's really annoying.
Great documentary (bows always to BBC) but what's up with the narration. Either a man or a woman is fine with me, but taking turns? Very distracting. Bear says below that they make up their mind after the first episode though. To whoever got dropped, sorry you didn't get the part.
Beautiful footage. I really need to go out and see the world. Very far from Club Med!
One of the best documentaries I have ever seen ... 9.5/10. It does an amazing job of covering a vast topic in an original and visually stunning way.
You'll be pleased to know that the woman drowns :) (just kidding - I mean she's no longer there) and this program gets way better after Episode 1, moving to a different set labelled in the following format: BBC South Pacific S01E02 Castaways 720p 00
I'm going to buy it and send it to my mother; that's how good it is!
I really enjoyed this Documentary
The ladie's voice over is a narration for the blind.
They have to relate visual images in words.
Man, it was worth putting up with female voice-over just for the last camera shot. Stunning photography!
This was a beautifully filmed documentary in HD. The colors were amazing and the topic very interesting! With regards to the female narrator I didn't mind her at all. Apparently the voice track for visually impaired people was included as well.
This intrusiveness on the part of the woman narrator ... telling us what we can see on screen is a sure sign of an amateur producer or a couch casting after thought as she is certainly a later addition to the production.
I cant wtach this cos of the ultra annoying woman ruining the whole movie. damn!
why does that woman keep meticulously describing the scene when the narrator pauses?? It was obviously added later, and its highly unnecessary lol.
This is the most visually stunning series I've ever seen.
Now THAT was freakin' awesome. I loved the snippets of Island living, relatively unchanged for a thousand years. Now if only we can leave them be.
OMG....perfect for a lazy sunday
Very beautiful documentary! Thanks a lot! :)
I love this site and I love the BBC for creating such amazing documentaries of the highest quality. Thankyou
Who is the woman who keeps adding completely banal comments during the documentary? It is really off-putting, surely that wasn't in the original
Simply beautifull......