A. N. Wilson Controversy
After Life in the Freezer was broadcast, A. N. Wilson, then a television reviewer for The Independent, wrote a column accusing the production team of staging a harrowing sequence in which a leopard seal killed and dismembered a young penguin. He claimed that the chances of filming natural behaviour like this were far too low, and that the crew must have thrown baby penguins to the seal until they got the shot they wanted.
Alastair Fothergill responded by threatening to sue. In a private settlement, Wilson was forced to publish an apology and retraction acknowledging that there had been no basis for his claims. The Independent also paid an undisclosed sum of money, which Fothergill and Attenborough donated to a fund for the penguins of the Falkland Islands.
Wilson had previously made similar claims about Attenborough's previous series, The Trials of Life, regarding the filming of the Malleefowl, and had been forced to retract those as well.
Read more about this topic: Life In The Freezer
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