FTV Blog 5: Human Planet

I just watched an episode of BBC's eight-part documentary Human Planet, which is being aired on ABC at the moment. Each episode looks at a different type of landscape (grasslands, mountains, etc.) and how humans have learnt to live off--and survive in--these unforgiving lands. Tonight's episode was about desert, so they documented different ways local people find water.

When ABC began promoting this series a few weeks back, I was desperate to watch it, hoping for a documentary of staggering scope that delved into the history of civilisation. In the end the show was less historical and more anecdotal. In the globe's obscurest corners, people of exotic tribes apply time-honoured, crucial skills to accomplish mammoth tasks or epic journeys, doing what's necessary to survive.

While watching the desert episode tonight, it became clear that this show presents its content very much like stories rather than research. It's almost like hearing a fable, ancient and beautifully simple. I can't remember the details of this particular story but one chapter of tonight's episode went something like this:

Deep in the Gobi Desert, there is a Mongolian camel herder. Once a year he must travel for days with his camels to find new water. In the desert he must be wary of the wolves, greedy and savage. Each midnight he leaves his tent to check his herd. One night he counts one missing--his prize female, heavily pregnant. Dawn arrives and the Mongolian embarks on his search fearful that the camel has fallen prey to the wolf. He climbs atop a ridge peak to view the land below. It is vast, unceasing, daunting. But he sees the camel, a tiny speck in a sea of dust. He makes his way towards her, seeing she has given birth. The calf is on the ground, not moving. The Mongolian's fear returns briefly, but the calf is breathing. He carries the calf and leads its mother back to his tent. His sons are happy to meet the young offspring.