Background
Over the course of the series, the seasonal effect on the continent is explored, from one of the harshest winters on the planet to the arrival of spring, which welcomes a population of ocean travellers returning to breed. Then, in the summer, creatures such as seals and penguins struggle to raise their young before winter once again sets in. At this point, the ice sheet doubles and animals must leave to find food.
David Attenborough accompanied a 20-strong crew to Antarctica and spent three years filming the series. They had to contend with monolithic glaciers and extreme weather conditions, including mountainous seas, 160 km/h blizzards and harsh temperatures.
Once again, following on from The Trials of Life, the team used the latest camera technology and techniques, and had to travel into territory that had been previously inaccessible to filmmakers. For example, to photograph the wildlife of the sea, boats, divers, suspended capsules and remotely controlled cameras mounted on inflatables were used. Particularly dangerous to divers were leopard seals and other predators, so some underwater sequences necessitated the use of cages for safety. The team also used a small, steel-hulled yacht, the Damien II. It had a retractable keel, which enabled the vessel to venture into shallow bays and land camera crews on to remote islands, where they could remain in contact via radio. A steadicam was used to obtain close-ups of fighting fur seals, with another person carrying a pair of wooden poles close by, in case one of the creatures attacked the human visitors.
Cameraman Michael deGruy gave an account of what it was like to film beneath the ice during a blizzard:
"I jumped into a seal hole, pushing the ice away as I entered, and they handed me my camera. Surprisingly, I wasn't too cold, except around where my mouth held on to my regulator, and that instantly froze and became numb. Suddenly everything was quiet and I found myself looking at easily one of the most extraordinary scenes I had ever, ever experienced. When I dropped down through a hole in the ice, I was completely surrounded by ice: a tunnel maybe twenty feet across. Everything above me on the land was roaring with wind and down there, there was absolutely no sound except for the distant trills of Weddell Seals."
The last episode looks at the race by humans to be the first to reach the South Pole, and its second half describes how the series was made.
Read more about this topic: Life In The Freezer
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