Bringemovies
← Browse TV Shows
Trials of Life
TITLE DETAILS

Trials of Life

1990-10-04 · 49 min / episode · ★ 8.4

Documentary

Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction.

Open detail page

Trailers are previews, not full movies.

No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.

Production details

Creators
Unavailable
Production companies
BBC Studios Natural History Unit
Countries
United Kingdom
Status
Ended

Top Cast

David AttenboroughDavid AttenboroughSelf - Narrator (voice)

Title information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.

Where to watch

Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.

Streaming

Britbox Apple TV channel, BBC Select Apple Tv channel

View authorized watch options on TMDb

Seasons & episodes

Recommendations

Super/Natural
★ 7.3
Super/Natural2022Documentary

Utilizing the latest scientific innovations and leading-edge filmmaking technology, this documentary reveals the secret powers and super-senses of the world’s most extraordinary animals, and invites viewers to see and hear beyond normal human perception to experience the natural world as a specific species does — from seeing flowers in bee-vision to eavesdropping on a conversation between elephant seals to soaring the length of a football field with glow-in-the-dark squirrels.

A Perfect Planet
★ 8.7
A Perfect Planet2021Documentary

A unique fusion of blue chip natural history and earth science that explains how our living planet operates. This five-part series shows how the forces of nature drive, shape and support Earth’s great diversity of wildlife.

Savage Kingdom
★ 7.9
Savage Kingdom2016Documentary

A rare look at warring animal clans battling for survival in a remote region of Africa, which is drying up after years of flood-soaked abundance.

Nature's Great Events
★ 8.4
Nature's Great Events2009Documentary

Documentary series looking at the most dramatic wildlife spectacles on our planet, showing how life responds to natural events which can dramatically transform entire landscapes.

Predators
★ 8.2
Predators2022Documentary

Tom Hardy narrates this thrilling natural history series following five apex predators facing the ultimate test of survival in drastically changing environments across the globe.

The Hunt
★ 8.3
The Hunt2015Documentary

This major landmark series looks in detail at the fascinating relationship between predators and their prey. Rather than concentrating on ‘the blood and guts’ of predation, the series looks in unprecedented detail at the strategies predators use to catch their food and prey use to escape death. Sir David Attenborough narrates.

Life Story
★ 8.4
Life Story2014Documentary

The remarkable and often perilous story of the journey through life. It is a story that unites each of us with every animal on the planet, because we all set out on this journey from the moment we are born. For animals there is just one goal in life – to continue their bloodline in the form of offspring. This series follows that journey through its six crucial stages: first steps, growing up, finding a home, gaining power, winning a mate and succeeding as a parent.

Top Gear
★ 8.0
Top Gear1978Documentary

Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.

Down to Earth with Zac Efron
★ 7.7
Down to Earth with Zac Efron2020Documentary

Actor Zac Efron journeys around the world with wellness expert Darin Olien in a travel show that explores healthy, sustainable ways to live.

The Americas
★ 8.2
The Americas2025Documentary

A showcase of the wonders, secrets and fragilities of the Americas, narrated by Tom Hanks.

Marvel Studios Legends
★ 7.4
Marvel Studios Legends2021Documentary

Revisit the epic heroes, villains and moments from across the MCU in preparation for the stories still to come. Each dynamic segment feeds directly into the upcoming series — setting the stage for future events. This series weaves together the many threads that constitute the unparalleled Marvel Cinematic Universe.

MegaStructures
★ 7.5
MegaStructures2004Documentary

MegaStructures is a documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic Channel in the United States and the United Kingdom, Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, France 5 in France, and 7mate in Australia. Each episode is an educational look of varying depth into the construction, operation, and staffing of various structures or construction projects, but not ordinary construction products. Generally containing interviews with designers and project managers, it presents the problems of construction and the methodology or techniques used to overcome obstacles. In some cases this involved the development of new materials or products that are now in general use within the construction industry. MegaStructures focuses on constructions that are extreme; in the sense that they are the biggest, tallest, longest, or deepest in the world. Alternatively, a project may appear if it had an element of novelty or are a world first. This type of project is known as a Megaproject.

The Green Planet
★ 8.8
The Green Planet2022Documentary

This documentary series about plants is the first immersive portrayal of an unseen, inter-connected world, full of remarkable new behaviour, emotional stories and surprising heroes in the plant world. Planet Earth from the perspective of plants.

Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All
★ 8.4
Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All2023Documentary

For the first time ever, global superstar, Ed Sheeran opens the doors to a definitive and searingly honest view into his private life as he explores the universal themes that inspire his music. This series follows Ed after he learns of life changing news and reveals his hardships and triumphs during the most challenging period of his life. Featuring exclusive footage behind his iconic hits, never-before-seen personal archive with his friends and family, and epic stadium performances giving insight into Ed’s world.

American Experience
★ 6.5
American Experience1988Documentary

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

History's Greatest Mysteries
★ 7.7
History's Greatest Mysteries2020Documentary

Investigates a wide range of historically compelling topics and the mysteries surrounding each including the Titanic, D.B. Cooper, Roswell, John Wilkes Booth, and more. Fresh, new evidence and perspectives will be showcased, such as never-before-released documents, personal diaries and DNA evidence.

The Circus
★ 6.5
The Circus2016Documentary

Come one, come all to The Circus. This real-time documentary series pulls back the curtain on the current political stories, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines. Key characters and events are presented in real time, as they are happening.

Coronavirus, Explained
★ 7.0
Coronavirus, Explained2020Documentary

In 2020, the world changed. This topical series examines the coronavirus pandemic, the efforts to combat it and ways to manage its mental health toll.

Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian
★ 7.4
Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian2020Documentary

Executive producer Jon Favreau invites the cast and crew of The Mandalorian to share an unprecedented look at the making of the series. Each chapter explores a different facet of the first live-action Star Wars television show through interviews, never-before-seen footage, and roundtable conversations hosted by Favreau himself.

American Masters
★ 7.0
American Masters1986Documentary

American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.

Similar titles

How to Grow a Planet
★ 8.3
How to Grow a Planet2012Documentary

Geologist Iain Stewart explain in three stages of natural history the crucial interaction of our very planet's physiology and its unique wildlife. Biological evolution is largely driven bu adaptation to conditions such as climate, soil and irrigation, but biotopes were also shaped by wildlife changing earth's surface and climate significantly, even disregarding human activity.

Wild South America
Not rated
Wild South America2000Documentary

RHS Chelsea Flower Show
★ 7.0
RHS Chelsea Flower Show2006Documentary

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show, is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London. Held at Chelsea since 1912, it is the most famous flower and landscape gardens show in the United Kingdom, and perhaps in the world. The show is attended by members of the British Royal Family and attracts visitors from all continents. Highlights to the Chelsea Flower Show include the avant-garde show gardens designed by leading names with Floral Marquee at the centrepiece. The Show also features smaller gardens such as the Artisan and Urban Gardens.

Baboons with Bill Bailey
★ 1.0
Baboons with Bill Bailey2011Documentary

Baboons with Bill Bailey is a wildlife documentary series presented by Bill Bailey. The series follows Bill as he attempts to find out more about the lives of baboons who are living in several colonies in Cape Town, South Africa.

Wild Argentina
★ 7.0
Wild Argentina2017Documentary

Few countries in South America can boast to have such contrast and variety as Argentina. Diverse habitats such as Patagonia's bleak steppe, soaring Andean snowcaps, vast salt pans, lush rainforest around Iguazu Falls, steamy marshlands of Ibera, and grasslands of the Pampas support an astonishing range of wildlife - from penguins, whales and seals to condors, armadillos and guanacos.

Mountain Men
★ 6.5
Mountain Men2012Documentary

Profiles of some of the men who choose to live off the grid in the unspoiled wilderness, where dangers like mudslides, falling trees and bears are all part of everyday life.

David Attenborough's Rise of Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates
★ 8.0
David Attenborough's Rise of Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates2013Documentary

David Attenborough embarks on a remarkable 500 million-year journey revealing the extraordinary group of animals that dominate our world, and how their evolution defines our human bodies.

Wild Tales
★ 7.0
Wild Tales2023Documentary

The stories of iconic Australian animals and the biological and evolutionary factors that link them.

Echo and Other Elephants
Not rated
Echo and Other Elephants2005Documentary

Story of an elephant family

Earth Cycle
Not rated
Earth Cycle2019Documentary

Filmed in Sweden and Norway, this documentary series follows adventure-traveler and BBC journalist, Simon Parker, as he embarks upon a 2,000 mile / 3,500 KM cycling adventure from the North Cape to Smygehuk – the full length of the Scandinavian Peninsula. On his journey, Simon charts the seasonal cycles of the natural world, as summer is transitioning into autumn.

Life in Cold Blood
★ 8.4
Life in Cold Blood2008Documentary

David Attenborough reveals the surprising truth about the cold-blooded lives of reptiles and amphibians. These animals are as dramatic, as colourful and as tender as any other animals.

Walking with Beasts
★ 7.8
Walking with Beasts2001Documentary

Walking With Prehistoric Beasts explores how life on earth first began. Using real footage, the series goes inside the body of our monster ancestors. For the first time, morphing technology is used to reveal how our ancestors evolved.

Super Senses: The Secret Power of Animals
★ 6.4
Super Senses: The Secret Power of Animals2014Documentary

Biologist Patrick Aryee and physicist Helen Czerski go beyond the limits of human perception to explore the extraordinary and surprising world of animal senses.

Nature's Miracle Orphans
Not rated
Nature's Miracle Orphans2014Documentary

The first months of an animal's life are crucial - if they lose their mothers, they'll need help. Meet the wild orphans getting a second chance, and those devoted to saving them.

Ice Age Giants
★ 7.3
Ice Age Giants2013Documentary

Professor Alice Roberts journeys 40,000 years back in time on the trail of the great beasts of the Ice Age. This was the last time that giants like mammoths, woolly rhinos, and sabre-tooth cats ruled the Earth and Alice attempts to reconstruct their lives in incredible detail.

Wild Austria
★ 9.0
Wild Austria2018Documentary

One force determines a country's fate more than any other: Water. Austria's love-affair with water has given her unique and amazing landscapes and biospheres, carved out by Alpine glaciers, ancient seas and mighty rivers, home to iconic animals like eagles, ibex, otters and deer. But this country has wildlife surprises, too. The days are gone when raging oceans brought giant sharks to her primeval shores, but there's an odd little survivor from those times: a three-eyed hermaphrodite, maybe the oldest animal on the planet. The tadpole shrimp lives in pools and puddles, until they dry out. Its eggs can stay dormant for decades or centuries, till water brings them to life. At a pinch, an adult can even fertilize itself - a single survivor guaranteeing future generations. Goldeneye ducks breed in abandoned woodpecker holes high in trees. Once the last sibling has hatched, the ducklings follow their mother in a leap of faith of up to ten meters to the river below. Two months later, they will finally learn to fly! The Bullhead, a fish that will never master the art of swimming, lives in brooks and creeks at up to 2,000 meters. It claws its way upstream, digging its fins into the gravelly riverbed. From ice caves, crystalline mountain springs and spectacular waterfalls, down to Lake Neusiedl, world-famous bird sanctuary on the edge of the endless Eurasian steppe: This epic two-part documentary celebrates Austria's most precious landscapes and her wildlife's unrivaled beauty.

Kingdom of the Oceans
★ 9.2
Kingdom of the Oceans2011Documentary

A four-part documentary series on ocean life around the world.

Une saison au zoo
★ 9.5
Une saison au zoo2014Documentary

Scotland: A Year In The Wild
★ 8.2
Scotland: A Year In The Wild2021Documentary

This four-part nature series reveals the extraordinary stories of Scotland’s secret wild places and the unexpected animals that live there. Scotland hosts a spectacular array of wildlife, from highland red deer, white-tailed eagles, red squirrels and pine martens to coastal dwelling puffins, grey seals, otters, and even killer whales. Stretching from the Shetlands to the south of the country, each episode focuses on how animals strive to survive through four very different seasons in one epic year, dominated by a maritime climate that’s both punishing and unpredictable, with their lives always at the mercy of the elements.

Hottest Place on Earth
★ 10.0
Hottest Place on Earth2009Documentary

Your favorites

Recently viewed

Watch

Choose an authorized server.

Full video from an operator-configured authorized source. Official trailers use a separate player. If a server fails, retry or select another authorized server.

Legal watch options

Official trailer

Trailer preview only. Press Play to start.

Privacy choices

Favorites stay in your browser. Movie images load from TMDb. YouTube trailers contact YouTube only after you allow external media and choose a trailer. Advertising consent, if ads are enabled, is managed separately by the operator’s certified CMP.

Privacy policy

After allowing external media, choose the trailer button to load its player.