Spy in the Wild - Season 1

It's gobsmacking telly right from the start as ingeniously designed robot animals bring us incredibly intimate footage of their flesh-and-blood counterparts.

This was simply an example of wildlife film-making at its best, regardless of the cameras being used.

It won't -- quite -- knock Attenborough off his god-spot, though much of the filming was equally winning. But the insights vouchsafed us, by the simple premise of animatronic spycams disguised as wee beasties, were truly remarkable.

Spy in the Wild is about the kind of spying that uncovers only heartwarming secrets, good news, admirable behavior.

Gimmicky? Totally. But the unobtrusiveness of the cameras also grants viewers rare glimpses that otherwise would not be seen.

Spy In the Wild is both completely amazing and disturbing -- but always fascinating.

Not to say the program isn't worthwhile for fans of animal documentaries, but there's a lot less spying than the title suggests.

I kind of love it, even though I'm pretty sure the best footage I'm seeing doesn't come from the disturbing animatronic puppet-cams.