Pole to pole was a premier episode that was produced in 2006, and aired in BBC. The main theme of the film is to show how natural features in the universe are I interconnected. The author proofs to people in the world that all lives in the universe are interconnected in one way or the other.
Starting from the highest mountains that are seen all over to the deepest caves that we do not see every feature is connected to the other. The way earth rotate with its axis dictates the type of lives that we live (BBC, 2010). When earth is rotating, it comes up with various seasons that make lives complete.
These seasons allow us to enjoy during the summer seasons, guide the wild animals on when to migrate, and above all prepare us psychologically on what to do next. The film gives the world a unique view of the planet, and the life of the amazing creatures that are present. Several topics are covered in the documentary such as shallow water, deep oceans, plains, mountains, and forests deserts.
Was the topic covered fully and accurately?
There were several topics covered in the documentary as mentioned above such as mountain. Concerning this topic, the series cover the biggest mountains also the creatures that are found in them. Some of the animals that are mentioned to live in big mountains include the lions, leopards, and puma (BBC, 2010).
The full history of these big mountains and the animals that live there are covered fully, although they are rarely filmed. Through this documentary, people receive a very mysterious geological history of bar headed geese, and their interesting lives. To some extent, the topic for mountains and the creatures that live there were fully covered.
Deep Ocean is another topic that was featured in the film. It was clear and evident that, deep oceans are biggest natural habitat on earth, although it has not been explored fully by human beings. Through this episode, the oceans surface is fully scanned, and the creature that depends on this surface such as the small insects.
Then the author goes to the extent of covering the depths of deep oceans and the lives of some creatures. This was evident that, every part of the ocean whether on the surface or deep parts of it, supports some form of lives (BBC, 2010). In deep oceans, there are daytime hunters, and night feeders, and all relies on these oceans to get something to eat.
Some of the creatures that were featured in the film to rely on deep oceans include dolphins, whale, sharks, and underwater massifs. The topic left the audience with much information, which seems completely new and strange. There were some creatures that live in oceans, but human beings have never thought of their existence.
Deserts were another topic that was covered fully by the author. This documentary brings out the common characteristic of deserts of lack of rain. Although they lack enough rains, they seem to be more varied than most of the people would expect. This topic was interesting to realize that, there some animals that have become used to survive with little amount of water (Palmer, 2010).
These animals have some uniqueness that makes them survive such conditions. Bactrian camel of Mongolia’s Gobi desert is one of such animals and Chile guanacos. The animals have adapted to dry conditions, such that they eat snow instead of drinking water, while other lick dew from few plants that are found there. This proofed that every plant or animal in the universe despite how small or big it might be, it has some values connected to it.
Great plain is another natural content that was featured in this documentary. This is the largest part of the universe that serves as a home for many animals and a lot of plants (Austin, 2008). Most of the animals that people are aware of are found in Great Plains such as New Guinea, east Africa wildebeest, gazelles, etc. The above topics are the ones that were discussed fully in the documentary, although others like shallow sea, jungles, freshwater, caves, forest, and ice world were also covered.
Was the coverage biased (did it present all points of view fairly but critically)?
The pole to pole documentary of 2006 has been reviewed by several analysts. The coverage of this documentary was viewed world wide through BBC, and many comments were received from the viewers. Most of the viewers who watched all the episodes have given positive comments concerning the film.
The coverage was wide enough, almost covering each and every item living and non-living in the universe. The documentary gave revelation of some creatures that the world has never heard of, and people managed to learn a lot concerning the environment (BBC, 2010). According to the analysis that was done by several environmentalists, it was evident that all topics in the film were covered fairly, leaving the world with a lot of information, concerning their surroundings.
Did it present any new information to the audience?
As mentioned above, the documentary was like a revelation to the world. For instance, the way the deep oceans were covered in the film, viewers were left wondering whether all those creatures depend on deep oceans for their survival (NAS, 2009). In almost every topic that was covered in various episodes, viewers were left with something new concerning the discussed topic, as the coverage was very thorough.
For instance, in the topic of great plains, where human beings live, and are conversant with it, several things concerning this place were revealed leaving viewers with much to learn. According to the responses that were received from viewers, it was evident that a big percentage leant a lot of new things.
Is it of great value to the general public?
The documentary can be defined like a natural history to the public. It is a crucial history, whereby viewers are provided with amazing never-before-seen behaviors of both plants and animals. There are some interesting views that were captured by the cameras, creating some venues for tourism for the public (Knerr, 2010).
This was just the beginning of natural history of informing the public about the changes in natural habitats. The documentary challenged viewers to have a dire need of travelling to various places and witness some natural habitats, and how they support the lives of animals and plants. The film proofed the world to be a high quality place, which human beings and animals should enjoy living.
In addition, the documentary is very interesting when displaying the beauty of the planet. The universe is full of beautiful flowers, and the comfort it gives to animals that live in it. The public was made aware of the most amazing and bizarre deep sea living things, such as giant spiders, viper fish, and king crab among others.
References
Austin, T., 2008. Rethinking documentary: new perspectives, new practices. New York: Open University Press.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 2010. An exploration of the wild andbeautiful parts of our planet. British Broadcasting Corporation. Web.
Knerr, L (producer) 2010, See your world like never before (motion picture) World Discovery (podcast). Web.
National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 2009. Annual report – National Academy of Sciences. New York: National Academies.
Palmer, T., 2010, Perilous planet earth: Catastrophes and catastrophism through the Ages. New York: Cambridge University Press.