by Kate Booker

One of the most memorable events of 2011 for me was yet another magnificent piece of wildlife television from Sir David Attenborough: The Frozen Planet.

Since watching Life on Earth as a child back in the 1970s, I have looked forward to new David Attenborough programs like most children look forward to Christmas, except they come around even more rarely, and are perhaps even more exciting.

And The Frozen Planet certainly didn’t disappoint.

But after the series premiered to seemingly universal acclaim, there was controversy when the program’s own blog on the BBC website revealed that some extraordinary footage of newborn polar bear cubs in a den was not filmed in the wild but in a Dutch Zoo.  A media storm ensued and debate raged over whether this footage was therefore “faked”.

Polar Bear Cubs, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

We all know that wildlife documentaries (as with other documentaries) are put together from material filmed over a period of hours, days or even months. And that therefore footage filmed on different days or in different areas or even showing different individual animals is often spliced together to tell a cohesive “story”.  I think most of today’s viewers are sophisticated enough to be aware of this, and that we accept it.

In fact, we all know it’s common practice in documentaries or news stories about people for situations to be re-created (even staged) for the camera to show how something happened, for example showing someone receiving a phone call which we know has already happened.

And of course a lot of footage always ends up on the editing room floor – we fully accept we’re getting an edited version of events.

Polar Bear and Cubs, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

With wildlife documentaries, especially those filmed with dangerous animals and in inhospitable climates, another element must be considered: the safety of the film crew and the animals themselves.

So documentaries – whether about humans or animals – don’t necessarily show reality as it actually happened, but a good documentary nonetheless reflects a truthful portrayal of reality, and I believe this one did just that: it showed the entirely natural denning behaviour of polar bears, and placed this in context of the polar bear’s life-story.

My own opinion is that filming this segment in a zoo was a legitimate way to obtain the footage, but there was unarguably an implication (if only through omission) that it was filmed in the wild, and on this occasion it would have been appropriate to mention this in the narrative.

Polar Bear and Cub, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

At the time that segment was shown, I genuinely assumed it was shot in the wild and admit I was tremendously curious.  My husband and I actually discussed how on earth they must have filmed it.  It would have been nice to know where and how such extraordinary footage was shot, if only to satisfy my (and no doubt others’) curiosity, and if I were the documentary maker, I do think I would have mentioned it was filmed in a zoo.

Does this slight shadow detract from the footage?  In my opinion not at all: the footage of those tiny cubs was magical in a take-your-breath-away kind of way, one of the most memorable of the whole series.

(If you haven’t seen it or would like to see it again,
the original polar bear cub footage is shown on the BBC’s website.)

I suspect this is a live-and-learn situation for the BBC, and documentary makers in general.  Yes, we’re a sophisticated audience, but we do make certain assumptions, and we expect transparency from our media.  Goodness knows as the phone hacking scandal which has erupted in the UK this past year shows, there’s little enough integrity out there.  And perhaps we expect more from the BBC and Sir David himself, and hold them to higher standards.

But let’s forget this detail for a moment and focus on the big picture.  Overall, The Frozen Planet was a superb piece of documentary film-making, with some of the most memorable footage ever shot.  Did it educate? Did it entertain? Did it inspire? You bet – we were enthralled!

Sir David Attenborough, by Nottingham Trent University, details below

I wonder how many adults today (like myself) have a fascination with or appreciation of the natural world or perhaps even work in the wildlife or conservation field because of Sir David Attenborough’s wonderful work?

And how many adults of tomorrow were similarly touched by seeing Sir David’s work for the first time on The Frozen Planet?

What a wonderful legacy.

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NB: the polar bear photos in this post are not from The Frozen Planet,
which are protected by copyright, but are taken by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which are in the public domain

The image of Sir David Attenborough is by Nottingham Trent University
and is used under a Creative Commons Licence