# Life (2009)

> David Attenborough surveys the extraordinary lengths animals and plants go to in order to survive.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/15741

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary
- Created by: Martha Holmes
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: David Attenborough
- TMDB rating: 9.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1533395/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: awe-struck, curious, warm, educational, reflective, wondrous

## What critics say

Critics and audiences broadly agree that Life is an acclaimed, visually spectacular natural history series whose footage of animal and plant survival strategies is groundbreaking.

## Synopsis

Life (2009) is a British nature documentary miniseries created by Martha Holmes for BBC One. Presented by David Attenborough, who narrates in his own voice throughout, the ten fifty-minute episodes follow the extraordinary strategies animals and plants use to stay alive across the globe. Rather than a single protagonist, the engine of the series is survival itself: each episode builds around a species confronting hunger, predators, harsh climates, or the need to reproduce, and the camera records how their behaviour shifts under that pressure. The programme is shaped as one continuous survey rather than a case-of-the-week format, and it carries the scale of a major natural history undertaking, with four years of filming behind its epic spectacles and footage of newly observed wildlife behaviour. Its tone is awe-struck, curious, and warmly educational, with a steady wonder at the ingenuity of evolution and natural selection. Fans of Planet Earth, The Blue Planet and Planet Earth II will find the same blend of spectacle, patient observation and Attenborough's reflective narration. The series suits families and anyone drawn to ecology and the living world.

## Shows like Life

- [The Life of Mammals (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/8860)
- [Dynasties (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/70813)
- [Frozen Planet (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/8082)
- [The Green Planet (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/81293)
- [Life Story (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/55128)
- [Attenborough's Life in Colour (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/99530)
- [Planet Earth II (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/60188)
- [Planet Earth III (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/96739)
- [The Living Planet (1984)](https://ember.film/tv/8856)
- [The Hunt (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56925)

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