BBC Parenthood (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[shrill calls echoing]
[gorilla grunting]
[David] A female western
lowland gorilla.
[soft music]
[Gorilla sighs]
[David] And her newborn.
[gorilla sighs]
[birds chirping]
[David] Just moments old.
[lullaby]
For his mother,
the arrival of her young baby
is the start of a new chapter
in her adult life.
[music]
Parenthood.
[music]
Her journey will be challenging
[music]
full of excitement
uncertainty
and complete commitment.
[music]
There will be mistakes.
There always are.
[music] [birds chirping]
But success for her,
and indeed for all parents,
has perhaps the greatest
of consequences.
[music] [birds chirping]
It ensures the future
of life on our planet.
[majestic music]
[birds chirping]
[David] Parenthood
is a journey like no other.
[soft music]
The responsibility
of providing constant food
and safety for offspring
can be extremely challenging.
[music]
For most, it all begins
with a good home.
[music]
A mother lion in the grasslands
of the Kalahari in Botswana.
[music]
Her 20-strong pride is ruled
by her and her sisters.
[music]
Who each has her own cubs.
One mighty family who help each other
through thick and thin.
[lion cubs murmur]
For months, their home is scorched
by 45-degree heat.
[thunders]
[stronger thunders]
But once a year,
their territory is brought to life
by distant rains.
[soft music]
[elephants rumbles]
Up until now, these cubs have had
very little experience of water.
So their mother will have to guide them
to get them through the trauma.
[cub lion cute roars]
[water splashing]
[cub lion cute meows]
[water splashing]
Getting used to swamp living
is a vital part
of their cubs' upbringing.
Because these precious waters
attract animals from miles around.
[buffalos grunting]
Cape buffalo.
[buffalos grunting]
The smell of fresh water
lures them from the surrounding savanna.
And they come in extraordinary numbers.
[buffalos grunting]
[soft music]
A herd three miles long
and full of one-ton animals.
[curious suspense music]
They, too, cannot survive
without the water
at the centre of the lion's territory.
[buffalos grunting]
She must show her cubs that patience
is their greatest ally.
[buffalos grunting]
Once in the swamp,
the buffalo spread out
into smaller groups.
Lionesses will take the lead
in any hunt.
[low-key suspense music]
But a mother here has the added pressure
of having to teach her growing cubs
how to tackle giants.
[music intensifies]
[buffalo grunts]
One swipe of its horns
could kill any one of them.
The cubs must watch and learn.
[buffalo roars]
[buffalo snorts]
[music]
[buffalo grunts continuously]
[intense music]
[buffalo slowly stops grunts]
The younger lions are allowed
to be the first to feast.
[buffalo grunts]
Hunting giants, however,
is not without its risks.
One of the pride's mothers is missing.
[lioness soft roar]
Contact calls go unanswered.
[lioness soft roar]
[lioness grunting]
[melancholic music]
In attempting to provide food
for her young,
she has been gored by a buffalo.
[music]
There is nothing
the pride can do to help.
[lioness soft roar]
With her cubs too young
to hunt for themselves,
her death leaves their future uncertain.
[cub lion roars]
[melancholic music]
But they don't have to face it alone.
[music]
The matriarchs will take
on responsibility for them.
[soft music]
In lion society,
females often share
the load of parenting.
[music]
Related adults will continue
to care for the orphans
alongside their own offspring.
It'll be another year
before they're fully independent.
[music]
[lions roaring playfully]
In that time,
they must be taught how to survive here.
[lions roaring playfully]
And luckily for them,
the leader of this pride
is an excellent teacher.
[inspirational music]
[bird chirping]
[soft music]
[David] Parental investment
is a risky strategy for many animals,
particularly in the largest
of all habitats,
the ocean.
[music]
The sheer diversity of life
makes some parts of the ocean
a highly competitive environment.
[music]
So the animals who choose
to raise their offspring here
need to have an edge.
[subtle water disturbance]
Here in Indonesia,
protected by the reef,
lives one of the ocean's
most ingenious parents.
[music]
A female boxer crab.
Attached to her underside
is her brood of over a thousand eggs.
Her challenge is to keep
them safe until they hatch,
whilst keeping herself well-fed.
So, like any good parent,
she's come prepared with a solution.
[music]
On her claws are live anemones
that she's collected
from the reef around her.
[music]
The anemones filter food
from the surrounding water,
which the crab mother
steals for herself.
It's an ingenious way to keep energized
while looking after young.
But it's not without risk.
[low-key suspense music]
To capture the food she needs,
she must take her anemones
out in the open.
[music]
A cuttlefish.
A cunning predator that
pounces on the unprepared.
[music intensifies]
Exposed and alone
[music]
she is a sitting crab.
[music]
But she isn't defenseless.
Her anemones have venomous stings
that can deter most predators.
A very effective weapon for a mother
in need of protection.
In fact, her anemones
are such good tools
that they are highly prized
amongst the crab community.
[soft music]
And this mother has a jealous rival.
[music]
Empty-clawed,
her opponent will do anything
to secure her own anemone.
[intense music]
She isn't going to surrender
them without a fight.
[intense music]
Overpowered,
the mother loses one of her anemones.
The battle leaves her
exhausted and vulnerable.
She needs to lie low
and buy herself some time.
[music]
Because this super-mum
has yet another trick.
Slowly and meticulously,
she dissects her remaining anemone,
creating a clone.
[soft music]
Her remarkable problem-solving
allows her to keep herself
and her young alive
for a few more days.
[music]
Until eventually,
she's ready to let them go.
[music]
Climbing to the top of her coral home,
she begins to release her tiny
offspring into the current
[soft music]
a few at a time
[music]
until all her crablets are independent.
[music]
Thanks to her care and attention,
she has given them
an excellent start in life.
[birds chirping]
[David] Raising offspring alone
is extremely challenging.
So, many parents resort to teamwork.
[soft music]
A female burrowing owl
is looking for a partner
amongst the wildlands of Arizona.
[owl hoots softly]
And this young male
seems eager to please.
[music]
[curious music]
To win her over,
he must first find a decent burrow.
And that is proving tricky.
[music]
Burrowing owls use holes
abandoned by other animals.
Returning to await her verdict
[music]
he receives a less
than enthusiastic yes.
[music]
Over the coming weeks,
she will lay one egg a day
and then incubate them
all until they hatch.
[soft music]
His responsibility now is to provide her
with a constant supply of food.
[music]
Until, eventually,
their teamwork pays off.
[baby owl begging]
At first, the father's food
supplies are enough
to keep their chicks growing.
But soon, both parents will have to work
to put enough food on the table.
[baby owl begging]
[curious music]
[baby owl tweets]
[music]
[baby owl tweets]
All this constant activity
inevitably attracts attention.
[tense music]
[roadrunner chirping]
The roadrunner.
[roadrunner chirping]
Fast and wily,
this opportunist could kill
an entire brood of young chicks.
[music]
Their burrow has been chosen
to keep them hidden
from predators.
But at the first sign of danger,
the chicks create a deterrent.
[baby owls screeching]
Their call mimics the sound
of an angry rattlesnake.
[baby owls screeching]
But rattlesnakes are one
of the roadrunner's
favourite prey.
[baby owls screeching]
Returning with takeaway,
the father is alerted to the danger.
[tense music]
[owl and roadrunner chirping]
Disaster averted.
[owl hooting angry]
But now, both parents are caught between
keeping a watchful eye on their chicks
and providing enough food
for them to grow large enough
to defend themselves.
[soft music]
Parenthood is even harder
when the environment
is working against you.
[music]
And for those parents
who need reliable fresh water
to raise their young,
the conditions are rarely perfect.
[music]
[birds chirping]
The Ruaha River in Tanzania.
For most of the year,
it provides a lifeline
to those that live here.
But during the dry season,
this refuge almost disappears
[elephant trumpets]
leaving this mother hippo
and her calf with a dilemma.
[hippopotamus grunting]
He was born just two months ago,
at a time when water was plentiful.
[hippopotamus grunting]
But now there are only a few pools left,
where the water is still deep enough
to shield him from the harsh sun.
The other hippos in the area
have had the same idea,
so a newfound nursery has become
a little crappy.
[curious music]
For now, though,
hygiene is the least
of the mother's worries.
These enormous fountains of fertilizer
require 50 kilos
of vegetation every day.
And now, in the dry season,
that is a problem.
[music]
Good grazing is nearly one
and a half miles
from the safety of the river.
[hippopotamus grunting]
But it's too hot to make
the journey in daytime.
[hippopotamus grunting]
She must wait until nightfall.
[soft music]
[David] In the cool of the night,
the surrounding bush comes alive.
But with darkness
comes the unknown.
[roar]
[tense music]
Like it or not,
the hippos must leave
the safety of their pool
and head into the night
in search of food.
[music]
The mother must not leave
her calf alone,
so the pair begin the slow
and uncertain walk
to find distant grazing.
[tense music] [birds chirping]
[roar]
[howl]
[aggressive barks]
[tense music]
There is some safety in
numbers close to the water.
But this far into the dry season,
the best food is further away.
[roar]
Their size offers them some protection.
[music]
The hippo mother
is a formidable bodyguard.
Her mouth is filled
with 20-centimeter ivory tusks
that serve only for defense.
But a young hippo is vulnerable.
So, the calf must never
stray too far from his mother.
[howl]
[music]
[unsettling music]
[unsettling music]
[soft tearing]
There is an unnerving quietness
to the bush around her.
[music]
But now, they are too far from the water
to seek refuge there.
And their stalkers know this.
[tense music]
A nearby male also senses danger,
and he joins the mother.
Even in small groups,
hippos can defend themselves
against a single lion.
[music]
But not against a pride.
[music]
The less experienced male panics.
[hippo bellows]
And they lose their advantage.
[lions roaring]
[music stops]
The body of a young male hippo
will keep Pride fed for a week.
[melancholic music]
The mother and her calf
return to the protection of their pool.
[music]
They have had a lucky escape.
[music]
The quest for food can be
a seemingly never-ending
commitment for many parents.
[birds chirping]
And here in Namibia,
one takes that commitment to extremes.
[music]
This female African social spider
laid her eggs just days ago.
And now her brood of 30 spiderlings
are dependent on her for food.
[whimsical music]
So, in their early life,
she regurgitates a milky liquid
which the spiderlings drink
directly from her mouth.
[music]
They will grow to ten times
this size in the coming weeks.
To fuel such growth,
she will need to leave
her nursery to hunt.
[music]
Luckily, this mother
has family she can rely on.
Fifty fully-grown adult
sisters who share her nest.
And who hunt in perfect unison.
[soft skittering]
[soft skittering] [whimsical music]
[silence]
[soft skittering] [whimsical music]
By stopping simultaneously,
they can listen with their feet
to detect the whereabouts of their prey
in their vast nest.
[soft skittering]
[music]
[soft skittering] [whimsical music]
[wet crunching]
[birds chirping]
[David] Within weeks,
her spiderlings are ready
to start hunting for themselves.
And as they grow,
her offspring and all their cousins
become insatiable.
[rapid skittering]
They're born with
the ability to hunt together
as a pack, just like their mothers.
[rapid skittering] [whimsical music]
Only now there are over
a thousand of them.
[whimsical music] [rapid skittering]
[music]
[whimsical music] [rapid skittering]
[insect buzzing]
[wet crunching]
Her role is almost over,
which is just as well.
Since laying her eggs,
the mother's condition
has been deteriorating,
and her movements have become labored.
The demands of parenthood
are finally taking their toll.
But she has one more gift
for her offspring.
The only thing she has left.
[music]
[unsettling music]
Her struggling appears
to mimic the vibrations
of a distressed prey insect.
[unsettling music] [rapid skittering]
And her hungry spiderlings
descend en masse
to their mother's dinner
table one last time.
[unsettling music]
Only this time,
she
is the main course.
[unsettling music] [rapid skittering]
Hers is the ultimate sacrifice,
born out of a need
to ensure the survival
of the next generation.
[wet crunching] [music]
But the spiderlings
are not yet finished.
[music]
They turn on their surviving relatives
eating every adult
in the colony, one by one
[music]
until the next generation
is all that is left.
[chirping]
A female western lowland
gorilla in Gabon.
[soft music]
She will help her young
for almost four years
to learn the complexities of living
in their jungle home.
[music]
But as he becomes more independent,
she must let go
and allow him to acquire the rules
of a gorilla's social life.
[music]
[gorilla grunting]
[soft music]
His newfound independence
triggers a crucial moment
in his mother's journey.
[music]
It gives her the chance
to think about her next stage
of parenthood.
The father of her young one
is reaching the end of his prime.
[music]
At 34, he's old for a silverback.
[music]
And unbeknownst to him,
he is under constant assessment.
Female lowland gorillas
will leave their troop
if they think there might
be better options.
[music]
And that decision
all boils down to one thing.
[music]
Has he still got it?
[gorilla snorts]
Hmm, not bad.
[music]
Though males play a little part
in raising their offspring,
females nonetheless prefer males
with a degree of tolerance.
The old silverback has
always been good with kids.
[soft grunt]
[soft music]
[David] Wherever it comes from
[music]
good and plentiful food
is crucial for any mother
trying to raise her young.
[music]
And variety helps parents
teach their young
about what to eat and where to find it.
[music]
In the food department,
he scores highly.
[music]
She also is looking for protection
when life gets risky.
[mouthing]
[elephant trumpets]
[chest beating]
[grunts]
A forest elephant
is not immediate competition
but a threat to young
gorillas, nonetheless.
[grunts]
[gorilla grunts]
Willingness to stand up
to those bigger than him
is certainly attractive in a partner.
[music]
If she chose to leave, however,
there would be significant risks.
[music]
Any new male with whom she associates
could kill infants that aren't his own.
So, she'll have to leave
her child behind.
And it would take months
to establish herself
within a new troop.
Here, at least,
she already has a partner,
just a slightly mature one.
[music]
For now, it seems
he has passed her test.
[music]
But there's still time
to change her mind.
[gorilla grunts]
[soft music]
Parental strategies have
evolved over millennia.
[music]
But now over 80% of the Earth's landmass
is affected by human activity.
And animal parents are having
to adapt to this new world.
[music]
[soft music]
An endangered Iberian lynx,
known as Audrina.
[music]
This abandoned barn
is the best place left
for Audrina to raise her five kittens.
[music]
It's an excellent refuge
for her growing family.
Cool, sheltered,
and full of activities for soft play.
[music]
In fact,
this place is so good
that Audrina is not alone.
Both her mother and her daughter
have chosen to raise their kittens here.
[music]
Three generations raising
their young together.
[music]
A rare phenomenon and a sign of hope.
[music]
But the recovery of lynx here
has only been possible
by what has happened outside the barn.
[engine sound]
Less than a decade ago, the farmers here
chose to change their practice
to suit the native wild animals.
[music]
They stopped hunting
and began creating habitat
amongst their crops.
[music] [engine sound]
And quicker than anyone had imagined,
the native animals moved back in.
[music]
First, prey,
then predators.
Soon, the farm became a safe refuge
for parents like Audrina
to introduce their kittens
to a world that had been
redesigned with them in mind.
[music]
One where kittens have room
to explore
[music]
play
[music]
and hunt.
[music]
And they thrived.
[music]
We're beginning to understand
that it's possible
to use our world for our needs,
whilst also providing for wild animals.
[music]
And we're discovering that by doing so,
it's possible to help other species.
[music]
Iberian lynx have begun
a remarkable recovery,
but their fate still remains
in the balance.
[music]
The future is uncertain for
all parents across our world.
But what is clear is that
for all of us to survive,
we will need to help each other.