The Mating Game

Original version

BBC One North West HD

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

David Attenborough reveals spectacular scenes of courting and companionship.

Finding a mate isn't just about love - the survival of an entire species could depend on it. Sir David Attenborough reveals spectacular scenes of courting and companionship.

Series 1

BBC Two

BBC One London

London

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Oxfordshire

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One North West

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One West Midlands

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One Wales

Wales

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two England

England

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

BBC One West HD

BBC One South HD

BBC One South East HD

BBC One Yorks & Lincs HD

BBC One Oxfordshire HD

BBC One East HD

BBC One West Midlands HD

BBC One East Midlands HD

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region. Separated as BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One London HD

BBC One Yorkshire HD

BBC One Nightlight

BBC One North East & Cumbria HD

BBC One Channel Islands HD

BBC One Cambridgeshire HD

BBC One South West HD

David Attenborough

Simon Nash

Andrew Chastney

Jeff Wilson

Keith Scholey

Silverback Films Ltd

The Mating Game: Series 1: Oceans: Out of the Blue

Oceans: Out of the Blue

BBC One - The Mating Game, Series 1, Oceans: Out of the Blue

In the huge expanse of the oceans, ingenuity is the key to success in the mating game.

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.

The ocean is where life first began, and where it first experimented with the mating game. All the creatures living here face the same challenge – how to find a partner in the largest and least-populated habitat on earth. To solve that challenge, marine animals have developed some of the most ingenious breeding strategies of all.

The waters off Hawaii are witness to the largest courtship battles on the planet. Each spring, humpback whales from across the blue emptiness of the northern Pacific arrive, looking for mates. A single female can attract 20 or more males, and she is the one to determine who becomes her mate by leading them in a spectacular chase. Only the strongest and most aggressive stay the course. In a scene never witnessed before, the violence of the chase ends with moments of surprising tenderness as she allows the winner to take his hard-won place by her side.

Meeting places are hotspots for marine creatures looking for passion, and few more so than coral reefs. The ways by which animals reproduce here are just as varied as the animals themselves. Clown fish families are ruled by a sex-changing female and have a strict hierarchy where bullying keeps everyone in their place. Flamboyant nudibranchs are both male and female at the same time. And flatworms determine who fertilises whom by penis fencing!

The colourful reef also has a dark side - one that forces huge schools of fish to breed away from the reef, where hundreds of predatory sharks hunt and reef mantas gather in extraordinary numbers to feast, before they too court by dancing.

From long-term love affairs where males become pregnant to the winner-takes-all warfare of a sea lion beach, this programme reveals the bizarre, beautiful and breathtaking behaviours of those that play the mating game in the ocean.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Mating Game

Series 1

Oceans: Out of the Blue

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One North West HD

About BBC One