The Dark: Nature's Nighttime World - TV review

Teams of experts invest huge resources in the hope of capturing previously-unseen footage of beautiful creatures.

Researchers can spend decades on the scent of a particular animal. A hunch may lead them to the Arctic, Borneo of Papua New Guinea. They hedge their bets and hope that by getting into the right place at the right time they'll hit the jackpot.

Often, their efforts are fruitless though, thankfully, the team behind The Dark hits paydirt.

Innovation is the most important weapon in the programme-makers' armoury. Cutting edge techniques enable camera crews to film sequences of mammals, amphibians, primates and colourful fish that would previously have been off limits.

BBC2's exceptional series about nocturnal animals in south and central America, The Dark, combined the use of new technology with the gambler's happy belief in a lottery win.

Advanced thermal imaging cameras and motion sensitive cameras enabled the team to unearth the secrets of nocturnal animals in south and central America.

And researchers spent long hours making sure they were in the right place at the right time. It made for thrilling viewing.

Jaguars were shown moving stealthily, hunting nesting turtles by the dark of night.

Spiders were shown creating 'trap doors' in the small indentations of logs, so as to leap out and ensnare their prey. Tapirs were shown ambling through dense forest, foraging for food.

The Dark was a stunning programme that cast new light on all aspects of forest life. Canopy dwellers, river creatures, bugs and nocturnal forest prowlers were the subjects of discovery.

In one of the most remarkable sequences, a biologist canoed upstream at night in the flimsiest of canoes to see what lurked in the depths. A bullshark was in his path. The biologist jumped with alarm as the bullshark rammed his boat, before regaining his composer to explain how the predator killed its prey. Thankfully, the canoe stayed upright and the biologist didn't fall in.

Insect expert George McGavin was extraordinary. He took genuine delight in shooting footage of spiders, fireflies and other creatures as they lured unsuspecting animals to their death. His enthusiasm was infectious. He reported on natural phenomena with the excitement of a teenager on prom night. "Look, at that," he said, clasping his hand to his brow as he witnessed a spider kill.

There was remarkable footage of pumas with fresh kills but the finest sequence, however, was of a jaguar prowling at night.

The large male big cat walked past a number of turtles before revealing his real interest – the scent of another jaguar.

The breathtaking footage was captured with remarkable precision.

Another jaguar joined the parade before walking towards the camerawoman's hide for an inspection. The footage was quite incredible and the male and female cats eventually walked away into the night, so as to breed. Later, the same camera woman found herself inches away from a jaguar, which walked up to her hide out of curiosity.

Remarkably, she didn't scream; which probably helped to save her life.

BBC deserves all credit for its remarkable roster of natural history programmes.

For decades, Sir David Attenborough has been at the forefront of the genre, paving the way for the National Geographic Channels and others.

The Dark was an impressive addition to its stable.

The research team had invested well and reaped its reward.

Stunning images, brilliantly erudite explanations from an intelligent team and unexpected discoveries made it a spellbinding programme.

Andy Richardson