--- title: "Life on Earth" year: 1979 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/life-on-earth" fi1m_id: "life-on-earth" imdb_id: "tt0135095" tmdb_id: 15117 wikidata_id: "Q6545267" fi1m_score: 88 critics_reviews: 2 published: "2026-09-16" updated: "2026-09-20T21:00:10.819116+00:00" region: "FR" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Life on Earth (1979) 55m · Documentary ## Identity Life on Earth - **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/life-on-earth - **Type:** Series - **Fi1m ID:** life-on-earth - **IMDb ID:** tt0135095 - **TMDB ID:** 15117 - **Wikidata ID:** Q6545267 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135095/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/15117, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6545267 **Fi1m score: 88** · Critics: 2 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* An education in evolution from a man sensible enough not to compete with a gorilla > David Attenborough’s history of life is absorbing, clear and often moving. The teaching occasionally hurries past an animal we would like to watch longer, but the series rewards the concentration it asks for. ## Synopsis David Attenborough presents a natural history of life on Earth, following evolution across 13 episodes. Produced by John Sparks and Richard Brock, the series looks at living creatures to explain how forms of life develop and relate to one another. David Attenborough also writes the account, which moves beyond individual animals and their habits to trace the history behind them. Each 55-minute programme contributes to that continuing explanation, with the presenter guiding the journey through narration and encounters with animals. The subject is the development of life across the planet. ## Review *Life on Earth* makes a persuasive case for spending time being taught something. David Attenborough’s account of evolution is clear, absorbing and often moving, even when the amount it needs to explain makes an individual passage feel hurried. Across 13 episodes, the ambition is to connect living creatures with the history that produced them. That gives the animal encounters a purpose beyond the pleasure of seeing something unfamiliar, though that pleasure is never treated as beneath the programme. David Attenborough is both writer and presenter, and the continuity of the explanation matters. His narration makes the subject approachable without pretending that a few memorable animals can account for all of it. We are asked to follow relationships and changes, to keep one explanation in mind while another develops. For a nature documentary, that is a demanding approach: attention has to last longer than the excitement of a new creature appearing. The encounter with gorillas in the Virunga Mountains is the moment when that account feels most immediately relevant. We were moved by the closeness of David Attenborough and the animals. Having a person there gives us some sense of what it might be like to share their space, and his presence does not make them less interesting in their own right. The evolutionary history matters here because we have been encouraged to look for connections between living things. Maurice Fisher’s cinematography supports that close attention. The animals remain worth watching while the explanation unfolds, and the pictures do more than illustrate the next piece of narration. In the gorilla encounter, the proximity itself is enough to hold us; extra insistence would only get in the way. The photography is strongest when it allows us time to look at an animal and notice something for ourselves before the explanation moves on. Alec Brown, Ron Martin, David Barret, Peter Simkins and Betty Block are credited as editors. The editing has to carry an explanation through changes of subject, and it generally leaves us able to follow the thinking without losing interest in the animals. Edward Williams’s music is useful in support, though the spoken account supplies most of the momentum. Across the series, we can usually understand why we have been shown a particular creature and how it connects to what came before. The difficulty comes when the programme seems ready to move on as soon as an explanation is complete. We occasionally wanted longer with an animal, even at the risk of learning less about the next one. At 55 minutes, each episode asks for sustained concentration, and the amount of information can become tiring. The encounters give the series room to relax, but the teaching sometimes seems impatient to get to its next point. We do not need a nature programme to sound astonished on our behalf. *Life on Earth* gives us the information with which to make our own discoveries, and that makes it unusually good company. Its 13 episodes deserve to be taken in order rather than treated as a queue to be cleared. Watch one, give it your attention, and leave enough of the evening to think about it. *Fi1m score 88, published 16 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Life on Earth worth watching?** *Life on Earth* is worth watching for anyone prepared to be taught something over 13 episodes, and we scored it 88. David Attenborough's account of evolution is clear, absorbing and often moving, though it sometimes hurries on from an animal we would happily have watched longer. Take the episodes in order and give each one your full attention. **How long is Life on Earth, and what is it rated?** *Life on Earth* has episodes of about 55m. It is a documentary series. **Where can I watch Life on Earth in France?** *Life on Earth* is not on any streaming or rental service in France at the moment. It is available in 3 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How does Life on Earth compare to My Octopus Teacher?** *Life on Earth* is the broader and better of the two, an account of how life developed across the whole planet, where [*My Octopus Teacher*](https://film.one/film/my-octopus-teacher) is a single relationship between one diver and one animal. Attenborough gives us the information and lets us make our own discoveries; Craig Foster's narration tells us what the octopus is thinking more often than it should. Choose the octopus for intimacy, Attenborough for understanding. ### Reviews we read (2) - **The Guardian**, Niko Tinbergen (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Attenborough for rising to the occasion with a remarkable book that accompanies his TV series on the history of nature. It offers a fascinating, bold, competent, enthusiastic and modest sketch of the evolution of life on Earth in readable text that whets the appetite. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/24/back-pages-david-attenborough-life-on-earth-review-niko-tinbergen) - **The Ringer**, Danny Chau (85/100, inferred): The series is presented as the foundational modern nature documentary, tracing evolution across 13 episodes with groundbreaking footage and Attenborough's signature narration. The critic highlights the intimate gorilla encounter in the Virunga Mountains as a standout moment of profound connection and respect for nature. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2026/05/04/tv/david-attenborough-voice-nature-earth-100-years) ## Details - **Writer:** David Attenborough - **Cinematography:** Maurice Fisher - **Editor:** Ron Martin, Alec Brown, David Barret, Peter Simkins, Betty Block - **Music:** Edward Williams - **Producer:** John Sparks, Richard Brock - **Cast:** David Attenborough as Self - Presenter - **Runtime:** 55m - **Release (France):** 16 January 1979 - **Genres:** Documentary - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgc56Vfz4w ## Where to watch in France Not streaming, renting or buying in France at the last check. Also available in: CA, GB, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Living Planet* (1984): A companion natural history series that gives habitats the same serious attention. - *Microcosmos* (1996): Small creatures receive the close attention usually reserved for much larger mammals. - *Winged Migration* (2001): For the pleasure of watching birds without an explanation crowding every image. - *Le Quattro Volte* (2010): A quieter, stranger way to watch humans, animals and the natural world. - *My Octopus Teacher* (2020), Fi1m 75: Patient underwater observation becomes a relationship, with all the sentiment that implies. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/my-octopus-teacher.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/life-on-earth