Madagascar (TV series)

This article is about the nature documentary. For the animated series based off the DreamWorks franchise, see Madagascar: A Little Wild.

2011 British TV series or programme

Madagascar

Series title card from UK broadcast

Genre| Nature documentary
Narrated by| David Attenborough
Composer| Sarah Class
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of episodes| 3
Production
Executive producer| Mike Gunton
Producer| Mary Summerill
Running time| 59–60 minutes
Production companies|

* BBC Natural History Unit
* Animal Planet

Original release
Network| BBC Two, BBC HD
Release| 9 February (2011-02-09) –
23 February 2011 (2011-02-23)
Related

* South Pacific
* Wild Arabia[citation needed]

Madagascar is a British nature documentary series, first broadcast on BBC Two and BBC HD in February 2011. Produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and Animal Planet and narrated by David Attenborough, the three-part series focuses on the landscape and wildlife of the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Attenborough also appears briefly on camera at the beginning and end of the series. Each episode is followed by a ten-minute Madagascar Diaries segment, illustrating the techniques used to film a particular subject.

An accompanying documentary, Attenborough and the Giant Egg, was broadcast on BBC Two in March 2011. In this one-off programme, David Attenborough undertakes a personal journey back to Madagascar to investigate the fate of Aepyornis, the island's extinct elephant birds. Believed to be the largest birds which have ever lived, evidence of their existence can still be found on the island. Whilst filming Zoo Quest to Madagascar in 1961, Attenborough pieced together a complete elephant bird egg from fragments of shell collected for him.

## Background

[edit]

Madagascar was first announced in March 2009 as a partnership between Animal Planet and BBC Worldwide.[1] Production duties were handled by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, with Mary Summerill acting as Series Producer and Mike Gunton as Executive Producer. The production team spent 18 months in the field, travelling to some of the island's most remote corners to find and film rare species.[2]

* One creature that was a top priority for the crew was the indri, the largest of lemurs. They were lucky enough to spend one month tracking a family group in the Minsinjo rainforest reserve. The group comprised a breeding pair with two offspring.[3]
* In the karst landscape of the far north, known locally as tsingy, the camera team struggled to match the agility of the crowned lemurs they were trying to film. While the lemurs bounded across razor-sharp limestone shards with ease, the team laboured to set up a camera mounted on a large jib on top of the pinnacles. Only then were they able to capture the swooping wide-angle landscape shots they needed.[3]
* One of the most remote locations was a windswept beach at Cap Sainte Marie, the island's southernmost point. Here, the producers had been told that remains of elephant bird eggs could still be found. They were amazed to discover thousands of fragments, many of which would have lain in the same place for 1,000 years or more.[3]

Madagascar forms part of a long-running strand of blue-chip BBC nature documentaries featuring some of the planet's greatest wildlife locations. It was preceded by South Pacific in 2009 and was followed by Wild Arabia in 2013.[citation needed]

## Episodes

[edit]

> This is the story of what happens when a set of animals and plants are cast away on an island for millions of years. This is how this curious wonderland came into being.

— David Attenborough's opening piece to camera

No.| Title| Original release date

|
|

1| "Island of Marvels"| 9 February 2011 (2011-02-09)

Animals highlighted in this episode include the indri (Indri indri), an unspecified tenrec (order Tenrecidae), the giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa), the panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis), a pygmy chameleon (genus Rhampholeon or Brookesia), Lac Alaotra bamboo lemur (Hapalemur alaotrensis), crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus), fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox), Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), Ward's flycatcher (Pseudobias wardi), crested drongo (Dicrurus forficatus), greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), Verreaux's coua (Coua verreauxi), ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), Grandidier's mongoose (Galidictis grandidieri) and the radiated tortoise (Astrochelys radiata).

2| "Lost Worlds"| 16 February 2011 (2011-02-16)

Animals highlighted in this episode include the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), the Madagascar buzzard (Buteo brachypterus), the pied crow (Corvus albus), the jewel chameleon (Furcifer lateralis), the helmet vanga (Euryceros prevostii), the silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus), an unspecified bamboo lemur (genus Hapalemur), the brown leaf chameleon (Brookesia superciliaris), the indri (Indri indri), an unspecified 'striped' tenrec (order Tenrecidae), an unspecified tree frog (order Anura), an unspecified wasp (suborder Apocrita), an unspecified day gecko (genus Phelsuma), an unspecified snake (suborder Serpentes), the Malagasy paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone mutata), the Madagascar lesser cuckoo (Cuculus rochii), the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), the climbing mantella (Mantella laevigata, called 'golden bamboo frog'), an unspecified leaf-tailed gecko (genus Uroplatus), the red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra), the Madagascar green pigeon (Treron australis), an unspecified vasa parrot (genus Coracopsis) and the white-headed lemur (Eulemur albifrons).

3| "Land of Heat and Dust"| 23 February 2011 (2011-02-23)

The episode focuses at life around the baobab tree (Adansonia). Animals highlighted in this episode include an unspecified dragonfly (order Epiprocta), Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), an unspecified brown lemur (genus Eulemur), an unspecified planthopper (superfamily Fulgoroidea), an unspecified mouse lemur (genus Microcebus), Labord's chameleon (Furcifer labordi), an unspecified colour-changing frog (order Anura), an unspecified vasa parrot (genus Coracopsis), an unspecified cicada (superfamily Cicadoidea) and an unspecified wasp (suborder Apocrita).

> Madagascar is an unrepeatable experiment, a set of animals and plants evolving in isolation for over 60 million years. We're still trying to unravel its mysteries. How tragic it would be if we lost it before we even understood it.

— David Attenborough's closing piece to camera

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "BBC Worldwide and Animal Planet Announce Two Natural History Co-Productions". Discovery Communications. 23 March 2009.
2. ^ "Madagascar - Closer to Home". BBC Programmes. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
3. ^ a b c Summerill, Mary (February 2011). "Wild Madagascar: Producer's Notes". BBC Wildlife. Vol. 29, no. 2.

## External links

[edit]

* Madagascar at BBC Online
* Madagascar on the Eden website
* Jigsaw puzzle, video clip of David Attenborough piecing together an elephant bird egg while filming Zoo Quest.
* David Attenborough's Madagascar, 50 years of filming Madagascan wildlife.
* Madagascar at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

BBC Studios Natural History Unit

Television|

| Landmarks|

* The Blue Planet
* Planet Earth
* Life
* Human Planet
* Frozen Planet
* Life Story
* Planet Earth II
* Blue Planet II
* Seven Worlds, One Planet
* A Perfect Planet
* The Green Planet
* Frozen Planet II
* Planet Earth III

|

Life series
(David Attenborough)|

* Life on Earth
* The Living Planet
* The Trials of Life
* Life in the Freezer
* The Private Life of Plants
* The Life of Birds
* The Life of Mammals
* Life in the Undergrowth
* Life in Cold Blood

British wildlife|

* Living Britain
* British Isles
* Springwatch
* The Nature of Britain
* Secret Britain
* Birds Britannia
* Wild Wales

Continents|

* Wild Africa
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Locations|

* The First Eden
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* India: Nature's Wonderland
* Wild Burma: Nature's Lost Kingdom
* Japan: Earth's Enchanted Islands
* Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth
* Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise

Locations (David Attenborough)|

* Africa
* Asia
* Madagascar
* Great Barrier Reef

Expeditions|

* Pacific Abyss
* Lost Land of the Jaguar
* Lost Land of the Volcano
* Lost Land of the Tiger
* The Dark: Nature's Nighttime World

Children's TV|

* Animal Magic
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* Roar
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* Deadly
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Nature specials|

* Nature's Great Events
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* Wonders of the Monsoon

Wildlife specials|

* Dragons Alive
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* The Secret Life of Elephants
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* Life That Glows

Animal behaviour (Gordon Buchanan)|

* Tribes, Predators & Me
* The Bear Family & Me
* The Polar Bear Family & Me

Others (David Attenborough)|

* Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur
* Attenborough and the Sea Dragon
* Attenborough in Paradise
* David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities
* Prehistoric Planet
* The Song of the Earth
* The Year Earth Changed

Other|

* Wildlife on One
* The World About Us
* Natural World
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* Big Cat Diary
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* Last Chance to See
* Monkey Planet
* Monsters We Met
* Ice Age Giants

Radio|

* Last Chance to See
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* David Attenborough's Life Stories
* The Living World

Film|

* Earth: One Amazing Day
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* Earth
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* One Life

Heads of the NHU|

* Bruce Campbell
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Other notable staff|

* Mary Colwell
* Richard Matthews

* v
* t
* e

BBC Natural History Unit's Continents Series

* Land of the Eagle (1990)
* Spirits of the Jaguar (1996)
* Land of the Tiger (1997)
* Andes to Amazon (2000)
* Congo (2001)
* Wild Africa (2001)
* Wild New World (2002)
* Wild Down Under (2003)
* Europe: A Natural History (2005)
* Wild Caribbean (2007)
* Wild China (2008)
* South Pacific (2009)
* Madagascar (2011)
* Wild Arabia (2013)
* Wild Brazil (2014)
* Wild West: America's Great Frontier (2016)

* v
* t
* e

David Attenborough

* filmography
* things named after

The Life series|

* Life on Earth (1979)
* The Living Planet (1984)
* The Trials of Life (1990)
* Life in the Freezer (1993)
* The Private Life of Plants (1995)
* The Life of Birds (1998)
* The Life of Mammals (2002)
* Life in the Undergrowth (2005)
* Life in Cold Blood (2008)

Planet Earth series|

* Planet Earth (2006)
* Planet Earth II (2016)
* Planet Earth III (2023)

Other BBC series
and programmes|

| Series|

* Zoo Quest (1954–63)
* The People of Paradise (1960)
* The World About Us (1967–86)
* The Miracle of Bali (1969)
* The Tribal Eye (1975)
* Wildlife on One (1977–2005)
* Natural World (episodes) (1984–2019)
* The First Eden (1987)
* Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives (1989)
* BBC Wildlife Specials (1995–2008)
* State of the Planet (2000)
* The Blue Planet (2001)
* Nature's Great Events (2009)
* Life (2009)
* First Life (2010)
* Madagascar (2011)
* Frozen Planet (2011)
* Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild (2012)
* Africa (2013)
* Life Story (2014)
* The Hunt (2015)
* Great Barrier Reef (2015–16)
* Blue Planet II (2017)
* Dynasties (2018)
* Seven Worlds, One Planet (2019)
* A Perfect Planet (2021)
* Life in Colour (2021)
* The Green Planet (2022)
* Dynasties II (2022)
* Frozen Planet II (2022)
* Wild Isles (2023)
* Asia (2024)

|

One-off
programmes|

* A Blank on the Map (1971)
* Attenborough in Paradise (1996)
* The Song of the Earth (2000)
* The Lost Gods of Easter Island (2000)
* Life on Air (2002)
* The Amber Time Machine (2004)
* Are We Changing Planet Earth? (2006)
* Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (2009)
* Attenborough and the Giant Egg (2011)
* Rise of Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates (2013)
* Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur (2016)
* Life That Glows (2016)
* Climate Change – The Facts (2019)
* Extinction: The Facts (2020)
* The Year Earth Changed (2021)
* Dinosaurs: The Final Day (2022)

Other networks|

* David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities (episodes) (2013–17)
* When Björk Met Attenborough (2013)
* Our Planet (2019)
* Wild Karnataka (2019)
* David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020)
* Breaking Boundaries (2021)
* Prehistoric Planet (2022)

3D programmes
and films|

* Flying Monsters 3D (2010)
* The Penguin King (2011)
* Kingdom of Plants 3D (2012)
* Galapagos 3D (2013)
* David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive (2014)
* David Attenborough's Conquest of the Skies 3D (2015)

DVD collections|

* Attenborough in Paradise (2005)
* The Life Collection (2005)
* Life on Land (2008)

Radio|

* David Attenborough's Life Stories (2009–11)
* Tweet of the Day (2013–14)

Books|

* A Life on Our Planet (2020)

Family|

* Frederick Attenborough (father)
* Richard Attenborough (brother)
* John Attenborough (brother)
* Michael Attenborough (nephew)
* Jane Attenborough (niece)
* Charlotte Attenborough (niece)
* Tom Attenborough (great nephew)
* Will Attenborough (great nephew)

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