Animals will go extraordinary lengths in their desire to mate – there are romantics, fighters, cheats and show-offs, tales of lifelong devotion and some of the most surprising and beautiful sights on Earth.
The Mating Game, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, is an epic 5 x 60 minute landmark series on nature’s ultimate quest – the pursuit of a sexual partner. A challenge that unites all animal life on earth – the drive to pass on their genes to the next generation, but how do animals overcome the difficulties of their environments to find a mate and leave a lasting legacy?
The act of passion is the easy part … the drama of courtship and getting yourself to that envious position is the real challenge …
In each unique episode The Mating Game will explore the challenges animals face when trying to find a mate in a particular type of habitat. From wide open grasslands (Grasslands: In Plain Sight) and tangled jungles (Jungles: In the Thick of it) to the deep ocean (Oceans: Out of the Blue) and fleeting freshwaters (Freshwater: Timing Is Everything), The Mating Game will reveal the incredible strategies nature has evolved to find and secure a partner (Against all Odds): from exuberant dances and showy colours to life or death duels.
Filmed in startling 8K resolution The Mating Game will reveal some of the most remarkable, dramatic and humorous sexual strategies in the animal world – uniquely capturing the huge challenges of winning a partner from both a male and female perspective.
The Mating Game, a Silverback Films production for BBC, co-produced with Discovery, NHK, bilibili and France Télévisions
EPISODES:
GRASSLANDS: IN PLAIN SIGHT
Produced & Directed by JEFF WILSON
- The grasslands of our planet are some of the most challenging habitats for playing the Mating Game. They are an open stage where potential partners and jealous rivals can witness your every move… and every failure.
OCEANS: OUT OF THE BLUE
Produced & Directed by SIMON NASH
- The Ocean is where life first experimented with the Mating Game, and over time this has led to some of the most ingenious mating strategies of all!
JUNGLES: IN THE THICK OF IT
Produced & Directed by JOE LONCRAINE
- Jungles are home to 80% of all species but they cover just 2% of the planet. When animals in these crowded forests want to mate, the challenge is how to stand out from the crowd.
FRESHWATER: TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Produced & Directed by JOE LONCRAINE
- Freshwater is often the stage on which millions of animals gather to find a mate. And the cycle of freshwater is the trigger for spectacular mating rituals and fierce competition.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Produced & Directed by SIMON NASH
- All life is driven by the need to breed. Yet for a few, the odds of success are overwhelmingly against them, so these have adopted the most extraordinary mating strategies of all.
