Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life

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Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
Tree-of-life-title-card.JPG
Programme title card from UK broadcast
Genre Nature documentary
Presented by David Attenborough
Composer Dan Jones
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes1
Production
Executive producerBrian Leith
ProducerSacha Mirzoeff
Running time60 minutes
Production companies BBC Natural History Unit
Open University
Original release
Network BBC One
Release1 February 2009 (2009-02-01)
Related
BBC Darwin Season

Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life is a 2009 television documentary about Charles Darwin and his revolutionary theory of evolution through natural selection, produced by the BBC to mark the bicentenary of Darwin's birth. It is part of the BBC Darwin Season. The presenter, David Attenborough, outlines the development of the theory by Darwin through his observations of animals and plants in nature and in the domesticated state, visiting sites important in Darwin's own life, including Down House, Cambridge University and the Natural History Museum, and using archive footage from Attenborough's many nature documentaries for the BBC. He reviews the development of the theory since its beginnings, and its revolutionary impact on the way in which humans view themselves – not as having dominion over the animals as The Bible says, but as part of the natural world and subject to the same controlling forces that govern all life on Earth.

Contents

Reception

The programme was aired in a primetime slot on BBC One, at 9pm on Sunday 1 February. Official ratings from BARB show that it attracted an audience of 6.34 million viewers, [1] a healthy figure for a factual programme. Overnight data suggested 23% of the available audience was watching. [2]

The programme drew effusive praise from critics:

Associated material and DVD

Awards

The Grierson Awards 2009, Winner, Best Science Documentary [11]

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References

  1. Weekly Top 30 at BARB.co.uk (available by searching weekly archive)
  2. TV ratings, The Guardian , 2 February 2009
  3. Last night's TV, Sam Wollaston, The Guardian , 2 February 2009
  4. Weekend TV, Andrew Billen, The Times , 2 February 2009
  5. Sunday's Top TV, David Chater, The Times , 31 January 2009
  6. The Weekend's Television, Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent , 2 February 2009
  7. Thrilling life of a charming species, Pat Stacey, Evening Herald , 2 February 2009
  8. Charles Darwin & The Tree of Life (DVD) BBC Shop
  9. open2.net: Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life, Open University
  10. "Tree of Life – BBC evolution video – Darwin 200 – Wellcome Trust". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  11. "Grierson 2008 – Shortlist & Nominations – Best Science Documentary". Archived from the original on 12 November 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2009., 'Grierson Awards' 2009