nzpedals It was in a "scratched" bin at an op-shop, but all three discs played OK. Each of the ten programmes is only 42 minutes, so at one/day, it kept me interested for quite a while.In each episode, I found at least one really interesting item, mostly about abandoned places... a village in Dorset, a whole city in Indiana, a whole (small) island near Japan. And then there was the plants side. I knew a little about the vine Kudzu, and now I know a bit more, and Brazilian ginger too.Yes, the frequent CGI's of pancaking buildings gets a bit tiresome, especially when I know that this will take many decades before it happens, and, as others have pointed out, no one will see it, so who- cares? And only some of the "experts" were interesting. Although made in 2007, there were no shots of the twin towers demise.

screenman A post-apocalyptic documentary with a surprisingly up-beat subtext. I enjoyed it very much.It was definitely far too long, and slack space was in-filled by repeated use of CGI effects. This was a shame, and down-valued what I thought was an intelligent, entertaining and well-crafted feature.I have become weary of dumumentaries that appear to suppose a typical audience IQ in double figures. This one was hardly rocket science, but a sufficient sprinkling of informative worthies were courted for their opinions. And this, a well-paced narration, excellent CGI effects mingled with real-life photography resulted in a superior docu-drama. It was timely as well, because it is becoming increasingly evident that we lack the behavioural and political wherewithal to constrain our excesses and that nature must inevitably intercede.The uplifting - and at the same time, humbling - element of the programme was the finiteness of our artifacts and the ephemeral nature our all the things we hold in such high esteem and pride. Ten millennia and we're indistinguishable from the dust. Ashes to ashes, and all that.

Framescourer It's very difficult to get one's head around the basic concept, in a way. One imagines that a world without humans is entirely possible, but only after a catastrophic event leaving its mark on the world: nuclear war, viral epidemic or perhaps even collision with a meteor. In any case the assumption is that the world we leave would be burning, infected or crushed.The beauty of the film - and it is beautiful, despite the repetitious CGI montages necessarily concocted to show the world's great landmarks under water or foliage - is in this unlikely predicate. If we simply weren't here, what would become of the world? Professorial types talk about the likely outcomes in their specialist areas, how wild or urban life readjusts, the rise of plant life, the decay of unmaintained constructions. It's wonderfully uncontroversial. There's no moralising, no wistfulness or pity, just a technical and statistical explanation of the survival algorithm of non-human life.I think David de Vries is probably right to include a rather melodramatic Day After Tomorrowish score and repeat images of the great monuments of civilisation (cities) crumbling. After all, the drama of the film for us is the unspoken one - that we have gone. I like the non-drama though and, with Struan Rodger's straightforward narration, I found the experience rather wonderful and positive. 6/10

thegingeravenger This 'documentary' manages to string out 2 or 3 one-sentence ideas into an hour and a half of irksome and repetitive tedium. The same low budget animations are rolled out time and time again. And then again. If a building crashes into the ground for the fifth time in one programme are the audience supposed to care? What will life be like after people? It'll be beautiful rolling landscapes with lush green fields, animals running around with gay abandon and virtually no sign of our existence in next to no time at all. Things will fall over. Green stuff will grow. The bottom line though is that it doesn't really matter cos none of us will be there to see it.The best news that comes out of this documentary is that DVDs won't last forever so any aliens stumbling across the remnants of our civilization won't be subjected to the kind of TV-opiate trash like this that is supposed to pass as entertainment.