PICK OF THE DAY IT SEEMS!
Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...dio/2014/jan/23/tv-highlights-hidden-kingdoms
Hidden Kingdoms
8pm, BBC1
This week's hidden kingdoms are found in the planet's ancient forests. In North America, chipmunks, impossibly cute with their cheeks bulging with acorns, have to compete with other, seedless chipmunks in order to maintain a sufficient larder to last the winter. Action then moves to a wildly different animal populace, that of the jungles of Borneo. With such intense competition for survival – and with even plants having the ability to snuff out life – survival for tree shrews can be a perilous business. Ben Arnold
Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5602956/Tonights-TV-highlights.html
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Hidden Kingdoms
BBC One, 8.00pm
The forests of Borneo and woods of Quebec form the dramatic backdrops to tonight’s stories of lives lived at ground level, as Stephen Fry talks us through the experiences of a tree shrew, tearing around trying to fuel a rapid metabolism, and a chipmunk, gathering acorns as winter draws near. Given the determined targeting of a family audience it’s probably inevitable that the latter is called Simon after the cartoon character (fellow chipmunks Alvin and Theodore were presumably on holiday). Predators abound but genuine peril is at a premium in narratives, which – as the pre-transmission publicity has been at pains to underline – have been largely manufactured. There are, of course, many moments of startling beauty: bright red fungi breaking through autumn leaves; a python stalking the tree shrew in super slo-mo. But the tone is one of knockabout fun, with sound effects straight out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon bolstering the soundtrack and narration. Still, Fry does drop in the occasional snippet of wildlife trivia, just about allaying any urge to turn the sound off and bask in the astounding visuals.
The concluding segment reveals how it was all done. While admirably honest, this undermines rather than enhances the sense of wonder in what we’ve just witnessed. Ultimately, Hidden Kingdoms comes to resemble a showcase for the technical capabilities of the BBC’s Natural History Unit; an institution worth celebrating, to be sure, but it probably shouldn’t eclipse the remarkable lives of its subjects. GT
Radio Times
http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/crv4bf/hidden-kingdoms--series-1---2-secret-forests
In this episode, giant acorns fall with a whistling noise like Second World War bombs. When chipmunks tuck the nuts in their cheeks, we hear a stretching, squeaking noise, as if they’re about to burst. Oddly, the “how we made it” segment at the end never shows the producers deciding which cartoon sound effect to layer over the action, but that’s the nature of the show: it’s a creative concoction, full of Disneyish mini-dramas about the trials of life for small creatures – this time, chipmunks in Canada and tree shrews in Borneo.
There are excellent slo-mo sequences of chipmunk fights and lovely incidental shots along the way: look out for the frost on a dragonfly’s wings and fabulous fluorescent fungi.
ABOUT THIS PROGRAMME
2/3. Stephen Fry narrates another documentary revealing the survival techniques of the animal kingdom's smallest creatures. This film follows a young tree shrew as it darts through the rainforest of Borneo on the lookout for food. The creature's super-fast metabolism means it is always hungry, but as it searches for fruit, it must avoid fire ants, giant snakes and even a carnivorous plant. Cameras also follow a male chipmunk collecting acorns in preparation for winter - but while he's out, a bigger, more aggressive neighbour ransacks his store. Can he get the nuts back? Including Hidden Kingdoms Revealed, a behind-the-scenes report on how the programme was made.
Daily Express
http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/tv-radio/455480/Pick-of-the-day-Hidden-Kingdoms
Pick of the Day
This is the story of two tiny animals coming of age.
In the wild woods of North America, a young chipmunk is gathering a vital store of nuts before his first winter.
In his way are ruthless rivals and giant predators.
In Borneo, a tree-shrew forced deep into the rainforests to find food must draw on all her intelligence and agility if she is to escape the jaws of a hungry reticulated python. Stephen Fry narrates.
The Times
Pick of the Day
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/tv-radio/reviews/article3977255.ece
Hidden Kingdoms
BBC One, 8pm
The second part of this mini-series looks at the world through the eyes of chipmunk in the ancient woodlands of North America and a young tree shrew in the tropical forest of Borneo as they go about their business gathering food and trying to avoid being eaten by snakes and owls. The photography, as you would expect, is stunning — there are close-up shots of orangutans and bearded pigs that have to be seen to be believed. Much less impressive are the facile banalities intoned by the voice of Stephen Fry and the horribly intrusive music. My wife reckoned it was fine, but — if you’re as grumpy as I am — the trick is just to switch off the sound.
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