Dynasties

Taking a different approach from their geographically-themed Planet Earth and Blue Planet, this BBC series—once again hosted by the avuncular Sir David Attenborough—focuses on dynastic families in the animal kingdom: chimps, lions, tigers, wild dogs, and the more oddball choice of emperor penguins. While viewers might be tempted to dismiss the individually-named representatives as anthropomorphic critters created by editing, the excellent bonus behind-the-scenes documentary makes clear that the BBC camera crews were aided by researchers who had spent upwards of a decade or more with these particular animals. "Chimpanzee" follows an aging alpha male named David who struggles to maintain his leader status against younger rivals and suffers a devastating attack that places his role in jeopardy. "Lion" centers on an incredible lioness named Charm who leads her pride and tries to raise her offspring in the face of challenges that include male lions, unforgiving climate changes, and humans who poison the animals to protect their cattle. Both "Painted Wolf" (wild dog) and "Tiger" feature combative mother-daughter relationships that are as much driven by shrinking territories as by power grabs. "Emperor" tells the least personal story (and most well-known for anyone who has seen March of the Penguins), although like all of the other episodes, it too benefits from truly spectacular cinematography. As the "making-of" extra documents, the filmmaking crews experienced an emotional rollercoaster as some animals they knew intimately were maimed or killed (although the policy is not to intervene, the filmmakers occasionally did just that—most touchingly when a group of penguins were trapped with their chicks in an ice crevice and the team chipped out a path to safety). Another winning nature series from the BBC, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)