I am a little bit in love with the naturalists in this programme. They head off on intrepid adventures through stunning, untouched rainforest in Papua New Guinea, finding fascinating, bizarre and wonderful animals at every turn – and the way their faces light up when they make a discovery just melts my heart. For a start, I am a sucker for a man who loves animals, and who could resist the sight of muscled climber/caver/adventurer Steve cradling in his arms an unfeasibly cute - and hitherto unknown to science - species of marsupial or cameraman Gordon stroking the fur of a newly discovered rat the size of a cat? But there’s something more than that. It’s the sense that they are utterly passionate about their work, and about protecting these species, and that is both touching and hugely admirable.
This series suffers from a very annoying case of short-attention-span editing, and can’t stop cutting backwards and forwards between different strands of the action, constantly reminding the viewer what is happening in each. But it is beautifully shot and the quality of the material and the enthusiasm of the people involved shines through, so this is less of an irritant than it is in some documentaries. If this programme fails to make you happy, you must have a heart of stone.
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