Sir David Attenborough blazed a trail through his groundbreaking 1979 opus Life on Earth. The 13-part documentary series, filmed over the course of three years, saw the naturalist explore 40 countries to document more than 600 species. Chronicling the history of life and the planet’s evolution from single-celled organisms onward, the production wasn’t without its challenges for his team as presented in the upcoming documentary Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure coming to PBS.

The same network first aired Life on Earth back in 1982 where it became a global phenomenon. Premiering May 6 (two days before Attenborough’s 100th birthday), the new doc revisits the nature series that changed television and cemented Attenborough’s legacy as one of the most influential wildlife filmmakers. The project features exclusive new interviews with Attenborough and his original crew. In many ways Life on Earth was ahead of its time as the first series to combine cutting-edge camera technology and techniques, including time-lapse, microphotography, and filming speeds of up to 10,000 frames per second to capture animal movement in ways never seen before. It became the first natural history blockbuster that gave way to others within the genre in the decades that followed. 

Originally published on tvinsider.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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