Brave, territorial, boisterous, fun and even murderous, the most recent subjects of the BBC’s unparalleled Natural History Unit, ‘Banded Brothers: The Mongoose Mob’, may not possess the cutesy appeal of the South African meerkats that made their TV debut a few years ago but they are none the less alluring. If you had been watching the regular weekend coverage from Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park, then you will have been as beguiled as I have been by these astonishing little carnivores.

Mongooses are derived from the ‘viverravine’ class of small carnivores and can be incorrectly linked to the weasel family, although the actual similarities beyond short legs, long bodies, narrow heads, beady eyes and a penchant for burrowing are only slight. In fact, the aforementioned meerkat is a closer relative. As with the meerkat, the mongoose tends not to live a solitary existence, although it can be domesticated, as long as owners are prepared to settle for extensive furniture damage and innumerable small creatures being left as ‘deceased presents’ (not dissimilar to the domestic feline).

As usual, the manner by which these creatures is filmed is up-close and personal. By concealing cameras in known locations (such as in a old hay store), the more intimate lives of these delightful creatures are explored and revealed to the viewer. Notoriously mob-minded, their daily activities involve foraging for food, which can be quite difficult, as the film highlights, and ensuring that their territory is marked appropriately and fought over on a regular basis with other family groups.

My mother was born in pre-Partition India and often recalls the fun she had with her own pet mongoose, which saved her on at least one occasion from a cobra snake, that, intriguingly enough, is the one snake meat that the animal will not consume. However, it is a completely dedicated parent and will stand up to considerably larger animals in order to protect its own and to obtain food, as one of the episodes on this charming compilation 2xDVD set illustrates so delightfully.

This particular episode shows the band of mongooses annoying a couple of baboons that had managed to kill another animal for food, eventually tricking the ape into giving up its prey completely. Highly comical at times, this particular group has been monitored and filmed regularly in conjunction with scientists from Exeter and Cambridge University. However, despite carrying out the usual human trait of giving each animal a memorable name, if you think that mongooses are just cute and fairly pointless, this excellently shot series will prove that they are incredibly tough survivors possessing a dark side to their characters. Great entertainment, filmed impeccably and worth investing in this superb twin DVD set.