Radio Times

Review by:

David Butcher

There will come a point watching this first episode of a new wildlife series when you genuinely struggle to believe what you are seeing. The intimate shots of birds in flight are so pin-sharp and fantastical that you have to remind yourself this isn’t CGI: it’s the real thing. If you could become a bird, and fly alongside other birds, this is what it would feel like. On a good day.

For some reason it was footage of brown pelicans flying past the sunlit coast of California that took my breath away most, but for you it may be the bald eagles over the Grand Canyon, or the programme’s main narrative of snow geese travelling from the Gulf of Mexico to their Arctic breeding grounds, and conveniently passing Monument Valley, Mississippi riverboats and the Statue of Liberty along the way.

It’s a heart-stoppingly beautiful bird’s-eye view of America (later episodes cover other continents). But it’s also jam-packed with some of the most incredible wild behaviour ever filmed, including, in one bizarre sequence, devil rays “flying” out of the sea. Don’t miss it.

About this programme

3/6. A bird's-eye view of Europe, including the migration routes of cranes and storks toward the continent, the spectacle of 20 million starlings over Rome, and the hunting techniques of sand martins in Hungary. Plus, at Bass Rock, gannets dive in search of food, and geese land in Svalbard to raise their chicks. Narrated by David Tennant.

Cast and crew

Cast

Narrator

David Tennant

Crew

Producer

Philip Dalton

Series Producer

John Downer

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