Life After People

 
The History Channel is quite good at imaginatively devising series to appeal to audiences who would otherwise have no interest in the subjects on offer. This series could just as easily be penned 'The Science of Disintegration', but I suppose that sounds too much like a 'The Cure' album to appeal.

What's great about the Blu-Ray version, other than the obvious quality differences from the DVD release is that it condenses a 10 episode series into a single watchable 'movie' sized programme. The original series (also currently available on DVD) houses all 10 episodes, and when you watch this heavily edited 'Readers Digest' style version it moves along at a fair old pace, which arguably the series did not. This does mean you lose a bit too (we don't see the decay of human bodies for example but rush right along to after they've disappeared) but on balance, for a home Blu-Ray presentation with some re-watchability, I think the cuts work.


The series starts by posing the question: what would happen if, for some reason, every human disappears from our planet? (It could happen with a particularly virulent disease for example). What would happen to the tremendous human legacy built up over millennia? Actually, it's all a bit depressing to watch how (relatively) quickly the sands of time erase all evidence of human existence.

24 hours after we're gone, fossil fuels start running out, with generators and power grids all over the world start to fail. Suddenly, where there was light becomes naturally dark. Oh dear.


Just ten days in, additional power supplies fail, with supermarket food beginning to rot in freezers and fridges which no longer work.  Then there's the sad reality of household pets starving, or breaking free to battle for whatever food remains.

One of the most fascinating ironies of the series (and perhaps the most depressing) is that ancient civilizations, having recorded much of their legacy on rock, will be remembered far longer than our own legacy with modern data storage quickly breaking down and being confined to oblivion.


Using a potent mix of 'real footage' as well as enhanced hybrid video / CGI, the programme is exceptionally well-illustrated. Some of the 3D work is very impressively rendered with what appears to be an extraordinary level of detailed development going into much of it. This is a programme that looks like it has been generously funded.

It's narrated by actor James Lurie who gives the reading an almost poetic air, perhaps erring on the sensational rather than focussing merely on the cold science.


There is also  the standard 'History Channel' array of scientists and historians whose interviews add weight to the hypotheses being illustrated.  
Picture-wise this looks very fine indeed on Blu-Ray, though possibly not quite as pristine as 'The Universe' series. Probably the result of a Pal to NTSC conversion, it may not be your best Blu-Ray yet, but it is a very satisfying picture nonetheless.


Whilst completists may prefer to purchase the whole series on DVD, rather than this edited version, I think its brevity adds to the overall impact and makes for a very satisfying evening's entertainment too. Thoroughly thought-provoking, as well as satisfyingly informative, it is a programme that will appeal to people of all ages who have a genuine thirst for knowledge. Recommended.