Life on Earth

Life on Earth
TV Show · Documentary · Special Interest

Taking three years to make and traveling to locations all over the world, this landmark natural history documentary changed the face of television. Written and presented by David Attenborough, it attempted to tell the story of how life was created on our planet and captured on film for the first time many animals and behaviors. These include a memorable encounter with a group of gorillas.

1979 · 49m
Starring David Attenborough

Season 1

  • First Invasion of Land
    EPISODE 6
    First Invasion of Land
    Where did life on the planet begin and why is it so diverse? David Attenborough begins his landmark natural history series in the South American rainforest which contains an incredible variety of life forms. He investigates Charles Darwin’s theories of natural selection and looks at the evolution of tiny plants which began an invasion from the water, closely followed by the first animals.
    49m
  • Victors of the Dry Land
    EPISODE 7
    Victors of the Dry Land
    The development of the backbone was a crucial advance in evolution. In this remarkable natural history documentary, David Attenborough explores how this evolutionary leap probably came from a most unlikely source, a little jelly-like creature called a sea squirt. He investigates when fish crawled from the water onto the land and became amphibians, plus the growth of reptiles and birds.
    48m
  • Rise of the Mammals
    EPISODE 9
    Rise of the Mammals
    Mammals have proved to be one of the most adaptable products of evolution. David Attenborough looks at their growth from reptiles 200 million years ago in this classic natural history documentary. He investigates the huge variety of mammals and explores the eternal duel between the hunters and the hunted. And he seeks to explain how humans were the animals that came to dominate life on earth.
    49m

Trailers

  • Life on Earth
    Life on Earth
    2m

Related

  • Frozen Planet
  • Life
  • The Blue Planet
  • Blue Planet II
  • Natural World
  • A Year on Planet Earth
  • Great Migrations
  • Mammals
  • Dynasties

Cast & Crew

  • David Attenborough
    Narrator

About

Life on Earth

Documentary

Taking three years to make and traveling to locations all over the world, this landmark natural history documentary changed the face of television. Written and presented by David Attenborough, it attempted to tell the story of how life was created on our planet and captured on film for the first time many animals and behaviors. These include a memorable encounter with a group of gorillas.

Information

Studio
BBC
Released
1979
Rated
G
Region of Origin
United Kingdom
© 1979 BBC

Languages

Original Audio
English (United Kingdom), English
Audio

English (United Kingdom) (AAC)

Subtitles

English (United Kingdom) (CC)

Accessibility

Closed captions (CC) refer to subtitles in the available language with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.
  • Français (Canada)
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • India
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger (English)
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Zimbabwe

Asia Pacific

  • Australia
  • Cambodia
  • Fiji
  • 香港
  • Indonesia (English)
  • 日本
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • 澳門
  • Malaysia (English)
  • Micronesia, Federated States of
  • Mongolia
  • New Zealand
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • 대한민국
  • 台灣
  • Thailand
  • Turkmenistan
  • Vietnam

Europe

  • Armenia
  • Österreich
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France (Français)
  • Deutschland
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg (English)
  • Malta
  • Moldova, Republic Of
  • Nederland
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal (Português)
  • Россия
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • España
  • Sverige
  • Schweiz
  • Türkiye (English)
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina (Español)
  • Bahamas
  • Belize
  • Bermuda
  • Bolivia (Español)
  • Brasil
  • Virgin Islands, British
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile (Español)
  • Colombia (Español)
  • Costa Rica (Español)
  • Dominica
  • República Dominicana
  • Ecuador (Español)
  • El Salvador (Español)
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala (Español)
  • Honduras (Español)
  • México
  • Nicaragua (Español)
  • Panamá
  • Paraguay (Español)
  • Perú
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Venezuela (Español)

The United States and Canada

  • Canada (English)
  • Canada (Français)
  • United States
  • Estados Unidos (Español México)