Name: Episode #1.1
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2014-01-02
Duration: 52 min
Rating: 8
Cast: David Tennant

Really like to love all of the 22 BBC 'Wildlife Specials', 18 of which narrated by David Attenborough and the others by David Tennant. Have a preference for Attenborough's contributions, being a big fan of his, but the Wildlife Specials narrated by Tennant have all the qualities that made Attenborough's so great.

While not quite as good as 'Penguins: Spy in the Huddle' in particular, 'Dolphins: Spy in the Pod' is simply wonderful. One of the better ones overall and one of my favourites of those narrated by Tennant.. All of them are very good to outstanding, with my least being 'Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions' which still interested and was very good, it just didn't quite connect with me as much as the others did.

Did criticise a few of the Wildlife Specials for being too short and not having enough episodes with so much to cover. Was prepared to say that for 'Dolphins: Spy in the Pod', but actually that it covered so much with so much detail without feeling like there was too much going on is something of a miracle. This is obvious in this wonderful first episode that is so informative and has imagery and sights unlike any seen before by me for anything.

The episode looks wonderful, beautiful underwater scenery and for the quite unique techniques, thirteen altogether, used (done wrong it could have looked really amateurish) the camera work was fluid and natural, cinematic and intimate and clever making us feel like an invisible presence amongst the dolphins, especially with the Spy Squid narrowly missing the potato bass and the lanternfish scene. Would go as far as to call the photography exquisite, some of the best underwater photography for any documentary without Attenborough's name on it.

Music score fits very well, not too grandiose or too inappropriately quirky. It is better than a couple of the Attenborough documentaries (though elsewhere all of those are superior) at not being too intrusive and not featuring too much.

From start to finish, the episode is interesting and does very well at entertaining and teaching, there is a good balance of the familiar and not so familiar (mostly the latter, because a lot of the footage were of things never seen before) and the information is to the point and not too speculative or overly-subjective. Some very memorable scenes, like the playboy male dolphins, the superpod of spinner dolphins chasing lanternfish, the amorous turtles, the spinner dolphins' leaps and the rings of mud.

It also excels at not falling into the trap of telling too much of a story approach, this worked with Attenborough because there was still lots that educated and were backed up, but haven't seen it done as successfully elsewhere. The different types of dolphins, bottlenose and spinner here, are diverse and are at points strikingly human, their curiosity, intelligence, adapting and struggles being relatable and great to watch, also remarkably sociable, seen with the male dolphins and their recreational time. They are more than just cute, they also have vulnerability and resourcefulness and it shows on screen in all their stages, whether in the playful (the potato bass and seeing turtles in love), intimate (the lanternfish) or more suspenseful (the giant rays) scenes. There are some adorable baby dolphins, one bottlenose baby showing remarkable resourcefulness with catching suckerfish.

A great job is done making the dolphins interesting, worth rooting for and the pods are like characters of their own. Also with providing a mix of known knowledge and not so familiar facts, which sees dolphins in a different and more complex light than ever seen before like the males behaving like playboys. It's not just the dolphins focused on, we see rays and turtles and interestingly characterised they are too.

David Tennant's narration is simply splendid once again like it was for all his Wildlife Specials entries. He delivers with enthusiasm and sincerity, making one want to know more while never talking down to the viewer. It is never too episodic and there is a real sense of a story being told with all the dolphin species and behaviours explored with a real honesty and animals worth relating to without going overboard, not getting too humanised or overly-subjective, the information never being sacrificed for dramatization.

Overall, wonderful first part of the quintessential documentary on dolphins. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

The award-winning team behind Penguins - Spy in the Huddle use hidden cameras to go into the heart of the dolphins' world, offering the chance to encounter dolphins up-close. The camera eyes of thirteen different 'Spy Creatures', including Spy Dolphin, Spy Nautilus and Spy Turtle, allow behaviour to be captured that has never been filmed before, including a vast superpod of spinner dolphins hunting huge shoals of lanternfish while dodging the gaping mouths of giant rays. In Mozambique, a newborn bottlenose dolphin learns from his mother as they follow a mysterious gathering of stingrays and then hunt huge kingfish. He practices his sonar, plays with bubbles and also discovers ways to dislodge pesky suckerfish.

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