First broadcast: 1961
Director: Various
Producer: Various
The lowdown: This long-running natural history series provides stunning imagery and a fascinating insight into animals and insects across 40 years. Hugely popular, the documentaries pioneered wildlife camera techniques and helped introduce the animal kingdom to mass audiences on television. Peek into life within an African termite hive or be transported to the Mountains of the Snow Leopard in the 1990s. Survival also highlights the devastating after-effects of an oil spill in the Shetland Isles.
Memorable moments: Mysterious Castles of Clay famously followed the struggles of termites, including the battles for supremacy within the hive. However, filming was abruptly halted when an aardvark marched onto the scene and devoured the hive. The programme was nominated for an Oscar in 1978.
Trivia: One of the first of the Survival series in 1961 was Wild Life in London. The programmes looked at how WWII bomb sites across the capital were becoming a thriving breeding ground for flora and fauna.
