The world can be divided into two kinds of people: those who find David Attenborough’s recent, more climate crises-focused documentaries exhausting and depressing, and those who were frustrated that it took so long for the broadcaster to start showing the grim stuff.
Which side you fall on depends on what Attenborough’s role as Britain’s most famous natural historian means to you. Is it his duty to inform the public about the state of the planet, or should his series should be a sanctuary of delight, a gentle and gorgeous retreat where the natural world is illuminated in HD?
These two functions used to go hand in hand. But over the last decade, as average global surface temperatures have reached an all-time high and as the planet’s biodiversity has rapidly declined, the 97-year-old’s films have had to strike a new tone, finding a delicate balance between being both captivating and concerned. Planet Earth III struggles to meet this challenge.
It’s not easy. Planet Earth’s first series in 2006 – at that point the BBC’s most expensive nature documentary commission – and its 2016 sequel, were commended for their storytelling and their use of cutting-edge technology (they were filmed in HD and 4K respectively). They took audiences around the globe from Antarctica to Pakistan, and, with scores from George Fenton and then Hans Zimmer, painted an exquisite picture of our glorious biosphere – a true marvel.
In series one there was barely mention of the climate crisis; Attenborough saved the more troubling recordings for the conservation-focused docuseries Planet Earth: The Future and The Truth about Climate Change, both of which were released the same year. A decade later, series two did address global warming, particularly showing human impact on mountainous ecosystems. But again, the emphasis of the show was placed on wonder.
Now, seven years later, with the Earth’s wildlife experiencing catastrophic effects due to pollution and global warming, with the planet having lost half of its areas of natural ecosystems, and with around 1.2 million plant and animal species facing extinction in the next 75 years, Planet Earth can no longer campaign for the natural world through amazement and spectacle alone.
This new series’s approach is to “see how animals are adapting in extraordinary ways, to survive the new challenges they face”. The eight-parter, which was shot over five years, hasn’t lost any of its scope, transporting audiences to 43 countries. It presents a series of intimate stories and remarkable feats by animals big and small, to portray a sense of the magic of life on our planet – and how close we are to losing it.
One episode, titled Coasts, was made available for preview, in which majestic whales raise their young, otherworldly underwater creatures use cartoonish tentacles to trap winged snails, a flamboyance of flamingos gathers to nest, dozens of seals join forces to face down their shark attackers.
The lustrous colours of a river’s blues bounce off a snake’s skin, a giant mother turtle walks mere feet away from the silent cameraman, and a fish fires gleaming spring water like a water gun at unsuspecting insects relaxing on leaves above. These images are, as ever, a treat, particularly when the sequences are tied together with Attenborough’s oh-so-soothing voice and an orchestral score co-composed by Zimmer.
But the episode’s undertone – human society’s destruction of its environment – makes for a bit of a bumpier ride. In one gentle scene shot in Indonesia, fish leap and catch prey; shortly after we learn that a lashing storm in Mexico, which is arriving earlier and becoming more severe every year, drowns most of the flamingos’ chicks. Then it’s to Raine Island, where conservationists talk to camera about their efforts to save the Australian island’s endangered green sea turtles (the filmmakers broke their own golden rule and stepped in to help rescue some of the struggling reptiles).
Perhaps this rhythm change accurately reflects the state of the planet: there are still areas of the world where natural systems are ticking along, while in others, animals are in serious distress as a direct result of human activity. But the effect is a bit jarring.
Still, with seven episodes left to go, and with episodes six, seven and eight titled Extremes, Humans and Heroes, the third and final chapter of the Planet Earth series looks like it will drill down on some of the different challenges the Earth is facing, and it’s never less than fascinating.
Attenborough’s 2020 Netflix documentary A Life on Our Planet was the biologist’s call to arms – his witness statement, he said. This is not like that. Planet Earth III, it seems, is taking a more nuanced approach: the planet and its inhabitants are suffering, says Attenborough, but don’t forget, they are also dazzling and brilliant. And their ingenuity has never been more evident than in their ability to adapt to their biggest challenge yet: us.
