David Attenborough's Life Stories
 Cover of the audio book based on the series | |
| Genre | Monologue |
|---|---|
| Running time | 10 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Hosted by | David Attenborough |
| Produced by | Julian Hector |
| Original release | 5 June 2009 – 1 July 2011 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Website | www |
David Attenborough's Life Stories is a series of monologues written and spoken by British broadcaster David Attenborough on the subject of natural history. They were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009 as part of the station's "Point of View" strand, in the weekly timeslot formerly occupied by Alistair Cooke's Letter from America. In each of the 20 programmes, Attenborough discusses a particular subject of personal resonance, drawing on his experience of six decades filming the natural world. The series was produced by Julian Hector, head of radio at the BBC Natural History Unit.
A second 20-part series of Life Stories called New Life Stories began on 18 February 2011.[1]
Background
The commissioning of Life Stories was announced in January 2009.[2] Speaking of his move from television to radio, Attenborough remarked that "It's a chance to talk about fossils, archaeopteryx" [3] and other subjects close to his heart, including his first pet, a salamander, and his favourite animal - the bird of paradise.[4] The programmes were broadcast on Friday evenings and repeated on the Sunday morning of the same week. They were also broadcast on the BBC World Service station as part of the "Letter from" strand. During the series run, each episode was made available as a podcast on the Radio 4 website.
Episodes
Series 1 (2009)
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1.01 | "Sloths" | 5 June 2009 |
| 1.02 | "Monstrous Flowers" | 12 June 2009 |
| 1.03 | "Platypus" | 19 June 2009 |
| 1.04 | "Giant Birds" | 26 June 2009 |
| 1.05 | "Songsters" | 3 July 2009 |
| 1.06 | "Bower Birds" | 10 July 2009 |
| 1.07 | "Dragons" | 17 July 2009 |
| 1.08 | "Archaeopteryx" | 24 July 2009 |
| 1.09 | "Salamander" | 31 July 2009 |
| 1.10 | "Birds of Paradise" | 7 August 2009 |
| 1.11 | "The Serpent's Stare" | 14 August 2009 |
| 1.12 | "Faking Fossils" | 21 August 2009 |
| 1.13 | "Coelacanth" | 28 August 2009 |
| 1.14 | "The Dodo" | 4 September 2009 |
| 1.15 | "Tracks" | 11 September 2009 |
| 1.16 | "Bird's Nest Soup" | 18 September 2009 |
| 1.17 | "Adam's Face" | 25 September 2009 |
| 1.18 | "Amber" | 2 October 2009 |
| 1.19 | "Large Blue" | 9 October 2009 |
| 1.20 | "Collecting" | 16 October 2009 |
Series 2 (2011)
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 2.01 | "Canopy" | 18 February 2011 |
| 2.02 | "Kiwi" | 25 February 2011 |
| 2.03 | "Charnia" | 4 March 2011 |
| 2.04 | "Foreign Fare" | 11 March 2011 |
| 2.05 | "Cicada" | 18 March 2011 |
| 2.06 | "Earthworms" | 25 March 2011 |
| 2.07 | "Wallace" | 1 April 2011 |
| 2.08 | "Hummers" | 8 April 2011 |
| 2.09 | "Identities" | 15 April 2011 |
| 2.10 | "Rats" | 22 April 2011 |
| 2.11 | "Monsters" | 29 April 2011 |
| 2.12 | "Butterflies" | 6 May 2011 |
| 2.13 | "Chimps" | 13 May 2011 |
| 2.14 | "Cuckoo" | 20 May 2011 |
| 2.15 | "Quetzalcoatlus" | 27 May 2011 |
| 2.16 | "Chameleon" | 3 June 2011 |
| 2.17 | "Nectar" | 10 June 2011 |
| 2.18 | "Waterton" | 17 June 2011 |
| 2.19 | "Fireflies" | 24 June 2011 |
| 2.20 | "Elsa" | 1 July 2011 |
Reception
The series drew widespread praise from the British press. Gillian Reynolds, radio critic for The Daily Telegraph, wrote "his opening talk, about his affinity with the gently ruminant three-toed sloth, was pure delight". She went on to describe Attenborough as a "gent, scholar, a brilliant communicator with a sense of humour", and added that "unlike many a radio broadcaster these days, he doesn’t drop his voice on the key word in any sentence."[5] The Observer's Kate Kellaway, comparing the "Sloth" episode to Attenborough's television work, wrote "if the marvellous first programme is anything to go by, it will prove that we do not need to be on televisual safari to be completely intrigued."[6] Writing in The Times on Attenborough's delivery, Simon Barnes remarked that "all the time the lilting, dancing voice is alight with wonder and — let’s call a spade a spade — love.".[3]
In May 2010, Attenborough won Speech Broadcaster of the Year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards for his work on Life Stories.[7]
Book and audio book
The complete series was released in audio book form and the scripts compiled in a hardback volume. Attenborough went on a national book signing tour to promote the titles, and also appeared on the BBC One chatshow Friday Night with Jonathan Ross to talk about the book. This book contains the same text that was used in Attenborough's speeches, along with pictures at the end of each chapter, accompanied by captions written by Attenborough.
- Life Stories by David Attenborough, published in hardcover edition by BBC Books on 1 October 2009 (ISBN 9780007338832)
- David Attenborough's Life Stories, 3CD audiobook set released by BBC Audio on 21 October 2009 (ISBN 9781408427446)
References
- ^ "Network Radio Programme Information: BBC Week 7". BBC Press Office. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ "David Attenborough takes up Alistair Cooke's radio slot". London: The Daily Telegraph. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Barnes, Simon (30 May 2009). "Pure Attenborough — the nation's favourite wildlife broadcaster has a change of habitat". London: The Times.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Jamieson, Alastair (4 June 2009). "Sir David Attenborough: I want to come back as 'animal with wild sex life'". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Reynolds, Gillian (8 June 2009). "Radio Review: 'If the BBC had elections, I bet Attenborough would win'". London: The Daily Telegraph.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Kellaway, Kate (7 June 2009). "In praise of a world turned upside down". London: The Observer.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "6 Music and Asian Network win Sony radio awards". BBC News. 11 May 2010.
External links
- David Attenborough's Life Stories at BBC Online
- David Attenborough's official website
- Attenborough's biography at BBC Online