The Miracle of Bali: Recital of Music

We’ve been enjoying David Attenborough’s nature documentaries for a long time, but had no idea that he also made cultural documentaries earlier in his career until we found this on the BBC website. We all enjoyed watching this 1969 documentary about Balinese music. What was striking and wonderful, compared to most more recent documentaries, is that it was mostly just extended footage of the music and dance, with very little voice-over. (There are two other episodes in the Miracle of Bali series, but I haven’t watched them yet so I don’t know if they are suitable for kids or not.)

Age: 0+
Child rating: 10/10
Adult rating: 10/10
Running time: 37 minutes
Available: On the BBC website, or on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKvMguF16r0

The Repair Shop

Our new favourite to watch as a family is The Repair Shop, which is as slow and gentle as can be. The premise is simple: people bring in old, broken items, typically family heirlooms, and experts painstakingly fix them. It’s a bit like the making-things segments in Mister Rogers, but with heartwarming family stories as well. The kids are entranced. And I’m getting inspired to try to fix more broken things rather than replacing them!

Age: 0+
Child rating: 10/10
Adult rating: 9/10
Running time: 30, 45, or 60 minutes per episode
Available: BBC iPlayer. I’m not sure where to find it outside of the UK.