Africa a new tv series premieres tonight on Discovery Channel.

Africa — the next epic natural history series from Discovery and the BBC — will premiere on Tuesday, January 8, at 10/9c on Discovery Channel.

A revealing look at a continent you thought you knew, Africa is brought to you by the same team who made the award-winning series Life. Read on for the full press release.

?Africa,? from the Makers of ?Life,? Premieres January 8 : Discovery Channel

 

Episode one was pretty good, we had it last Wednesday over here. The rhino footage in particular was a highlight of mine.

Note that it's set in and around the Kalahari so the first thing you see are those damn meerkats!

 

Surprise of surprises, we actually get the Attenborough narration.

 

Do you normally get it replaced? That must suck, Sir David is an absolute legend!

 

Discovery replaced Attenborough's narration on "Planet Earth" with Sigourney Weaver. I like her narration, but agree that his version is much better. Fortunately you can get the original with his narration intact on the DVD version.

 

I really liked the first episode. The Black Rhino meeting a night was very interesting, something I'd never heard of before.

 

I couldn't imagine the BBC without Attenborough, he's been a constant voice all through my life. Sorry Sigourney, no contest!

 

Africa is being widely advertised here, suggesting it will get a decent timeslot. Its unusual that we are getting it so soon after the rest of the world, they usually take a few years to get here, if ever.

 

I usually state those zingers about NZ. It's no fun when you do it to yourself.

They are also advertising it here, but I am not sure when it will screen on terrestrial TV.

I like Attenborough docos, and indeed, all well-made informative wildlife docos, but what in this series that we have not seen before?

 

In Episode 1 black rhino socialising at night around a waterhole (about 8 animals together) and bull giraffes slugging it out in slo mo (I haven't included one or two other bits, so I don't spoil it all). In Episode 2, to be screened in 30 minutes here in the UK, we are promised shoebill - but I expect there will be other surprises too.

Alan

 

Thanks Africa.... I now have a slight obsession with shoebills.

 

I was so upset with myself that I fell asleep half way through the episode. Maybe it will air before the second epsiode this upcoming week.

 

It isn't available online?

 

Africa is due to start next Tuesday, January 22 in NZ. When is it starting over there? Will we be seeing it before you?

 

All they say is "coming soon in 2013", so no idea!

 

Ratings sweeps start in early February (second week, I think) so it will probably start then, along with Arrow and that new submarine drama whose name I've forgotten. And all the other shows that were "fast-tracked from the USA" like Hawaii 5-0, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy etc. will start showing new episodes again.



Hix

 

I was thinking the same, but they've really found some great stuff to show (in the Kalahari and Congo episodes in particular).

I thought the elephant stuff in the Savannah ep was a little familiar (particularly as there were much more interesting elephantine goings-on in Congo), but otherwise it's all felt very fresh so far. They've also been cunning in that quite a few of the 'classic' African wildlife programme shots have been worked into the linking sections (wildebeest migration, for instance) so they're included but are not the focus.

 

A lot of the content in an episode is really fresh, either looking at the well known species but in a different environment & stage of the year where they haven't been filmed before or documented before or they look at a lot of the species that are usually shoved to the background in nature documentaries.

 

Are there any species or behaviours that have been filmed for the first time? Anything that has the"no freaking way!" factor like chimps on the warpath or eating meat would have had years ago? I am not sure I will be able to wait until February if you guys keep posting reviews.

 

The black rhino's at night is pretty revolutionary and you don't want to know where a hippo turns up at the end of 'Congo'!
Also some great footage of shoebills, forest elephants, the dreaded meerkats and much, much more.