THE MOVIE

Life in the Freezer takes a look at Antarctica, the most hostile and remote continent on the planet. In winter, temperatures can drop to minus 70 degrees centigrade and winds can reach speeds of more than 100 km/hour. Even so, this landscape is still amazingly rich in diversity. David Attenborough takes a look at the seasonal cycle that occurs in this environment and the wildlife that lives there. There are six episodes in total, here is a brief look at each of them.

Episode 1 - The Bountiful Sea
Antarctica is one and a half times the size of the United States and even larger than Europe. The continent doubles in size during winter, and experiences the greatest seasonal change on the planet. This episode takes a look at life in the Southern Ocean; penguins, seals, whales and seabirds. Many of these birds spend their life at sea, only going to land to breed.

Episode 2 - The Ice Retreats
Spring arrives, and the ice pack begins to melt, seeing the return of many ocean going mammals to the outer rim of Antarctica. Elephant seals venture ashore to breed, and large males fight to protect their large harem of females. Macaroni penguin pack the cliff faces, where nesting sites are at a premium. Further south, Adelie penguins march approximately 60 miles to reach a suitable breeding site.

Episode 3 - The Race to Breed
In summer, temperatures rise above freezing and there is almost constant daylight. The melting ice provides fresh water and allows the growth of vegetation such as moss and lichens. Seas around the continent are also teeming with life. Both seals and penguins are now racing against time to raise young before winter returns. Even insects such as mites and crustaceans living in this environment take this brief opportunity to reproduce.

Episode 4 - The Door Closes
As temperatures plummet, the ice sheet doubles in size, and many species must leave and return to the sea before food supplies disappear. Autumn storms make things difficult. Huge gales, rough seas, rapidly forming pack ice and hungry predators prove to be quite a challenge for young juvenile penguins trying to make it to open water from the breeding site. It is now that adult penguins are also moulting and getting their new watertight winter coats. Similarly, seals are also in the process of shedding their old coats.

Episode 5 - The Big Freeze
This episode takes a look at life beneath the ice, at all the amazing invertebrates and jellyfish that live there. Weddel seals spend quite a lot of time underneath the ice as well, and with winter closing in, they must constantly maintain their breathing holes in the ice so they can resurface for air. While many species have finished breeding, Emperor penguins are only now heading south and preparing to breed.

Episode 6 - Footsteps in the Snow
The final episode is part historical, part behind the scenes. It looks at the 1911 trek to the South pole by Captain Robert Scott and his team. This episode also considers the 800 scientists who now live and work at the South pole and show how they survive life in the freezer. Some of the research being carried out is considered. We also get a behind the scenes look at how the series was made, including the specialised cameras and the cameramen who operated them.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

Life in the Freezer was originally transmitted in the UK in November, 1993. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (4:3) full frame. For the most part, this is a pretty good transfer, but it does come with a little bit of visible film grain. This is noticeable during the opening credits and on some of the stark white Antarctic environments.

This series looks as though it has been cut together using a mixture of different file footage, and while most of it looks great, some of the aged material looks a little grainy and awash with background noise. Still, this documentary series contains some incredible footage. As such, some of the small problems listed above, are easily tolerated. The only other problem I noticed was the layer change, which occurs between chapter 1 and chapter 2, 5.07 minutes into Episode 4. One wonders why it couldn’t have been placed between two episodes?

Audio:

This DVD comes with a Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtrack, which is quite satisfactory, given the nature of this documentary series. Dialogue is always clearly audible, as is narration by David Attenborough. There didn’t appear to be any noticeable audio synch problems either. And while the music (by George Fenton) may not be quite as orchestral as The Blue Planet, it is still very good. This series also has English subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

The main menu is static with no audio. This is basically an episode selection menu (which loads a chapter selection menu for each episode) with a ‘Play All’ feature included as well. You can also switch the subtitles on or off here, but that’s basically it. There are no extra features to be found unfortunately.

SUMMARY

Life in the Freezer is yet another wonderful documentary series from the BBC, which was written and presented by David Attenborough. It is an engaging look at life in on the coldest, most isolated continent on earth. It’s a must for nature lovers. The visual and audio quality on this DVD are quite satisfactory, although this disc is unfortunately totally devoid of extras.