nature

The Greatest Broadcaster Comes to London

It has happened again: Just when autumn is setting in and things are beginning to get a bit dull, something absolutely incredible crops up. I think I have blogged about my respect for Sir David Attenborough before. As far as I am concerned, he is the greatest broadcaster to have ever graced our screens. To think that he started making natural history programmes before either of my parents were born but is still going strong, is utterly, utterly incredible. Given that he turns a hundred next year, you would think he would be enjoying a well-deserved retirement, but you’d be wrong. I just got wind that he is set to present a new series of natural history TV programmes this winter, including one called Wild London, about the wildlife in the metropolis. As fascinated as I also am by this vast, urban microcosm, that is something I now cannot wait to watch.

“Having lived in London for 75 years, David has an intimate knowledge of the city’s natural history and there’s no better guide to introduce us to its most spectacular wildlife secrets….Whether it’s pigeons commuting by tube, snakes slithering along Regent’s canal, parakeets raiding city parks or beavers building a home next to a busy shopping centre, David reveals the incredible wild encounters to be experienced across his hometown.”

Quite frankly, that sounds incredible. Every day, when I go out on my trundles in my powerchair, I head through pretty green parks and along quiet urban streams. London is greener than you might assume, and also a good deal prettier. Over the last fifteen years, I have begun to get to know this vibrant, wild side to the capital, teaming with life. The prospect of watching the greatest of all broadcasters reveal that side of the city to the world, in the fascinating, methodical, immersive way he has always had over the last seven decades, is something I now can’t wait to see.

Ocean with David Attenborough

It was turning into quite a dull day so this afternoon I decided to take myself up to the cinema to watch Ocean with David Attenborough. I was, of course, extremely eager to watch it, although a (small) part of me was hesitant as I tend to associate Attenborough with the BBC, and he didn’t work with them on this film. However, what I found myself watching a couple of hours ago was truly, truly remarkable. First of all, Ocean is a beautifully shot piece of non-fiction cinema: some of the scenes we are treated to as an audience are jaw-dropping. More to the point, it is a highly compelling film. As many others are noting, unlike Sir David’s TV work, this film has a clear agenda: in large part it is about the damage we are doing to the oceans, mostly through over-fishing. We glimpse the ruin trawlers inflict on the seas, which it would be hard not to find compelling. In this sense it was clear to see why this film could not have been made by the beeb as it couldn’t have had such an overt agenda. At the same time it does not go too far or slip into dogma: it is not anti-fishing, but emphasises how balanced, sustainable methods could benefit everyone.

However, the aspect of the film I was most drawn by was how it highlighted Attenborough’s own incredible career. We are treated to clips of him diving as a young man fifty or sixty years ago. This allows the film to highlight how much the oceans have changed over that time, and how they also have a remarkable capacity to recover if we allow them to. Thus we are treated to a view of the oceans very much through Attenborough’s own wise, compelling eyes, and the film is all the richer for it.

The vast majority of us have spent our entire lives with David Attenborough on our television screens, treating us to insights into the natural world nobody else comes close to. I think I have said here before that I regard him as the greatest broadcaster ever. To my knowledge this is his first foray into cinema, and the result is an absolute pleasure. If I had a single criticism of the film, however, it is that it does not touch upon how the damage we are currently doing to the seas has it’s underlying roots in economics, or what causes it socio-economically. The issue is essentially one of capitalism. After all, people are compelled to catch fish to make a living; if this motivation was got rid of, surely over-fishing would be far less of a problem. The only way the issue of over-fishing can be dealt with is if we address our appetite for seafood. The film does not focus on this broader aspect of the issue though, but seems to shy away from the underlying economics. That aside, we are treated to a wonderful piece of natural history cinema – one which I would passionately encourage everyone to go and watch on the big screen as soon as you can. David Attenborough has treated us to yet another delightful insight into the world around us; but then, we expect nothing less from this great, great man.

I See Trees Of Green

Hold on, hold on. The sky may be grey and winter might be fast setting in; across the Atlantic, we may well have seen the return of fascism to world politics for the first time in eighty years; there may be dark, troubled times ahead. Yet this week we also saw something far more remarkable: something which I find more remarkable than James Bond, The Olympics, Star Trek, Monty Python or anything like that. This week we saw the greatest broadcaster ever return to our screens: Sir David Attenborough.

I was going to blog about this a few days ago, but left it. I find Sir David incredible. To think that he started broadcasting before either of my parents were born in 1952, and is still presenting such fascinating, beautiful nature documentaries is absolutely jaw-dropping. More to the point, he has made us more aware of the natural world than any other person, bringing it’s wonders into our living rooms and guiding us through it’s intricacies as nobody else could. Attenborough’s current series is about Asia, of course, but through him and only him we have grown to understand the entire world; and it is indeed wonderful.

As far as I am concerned, Attenborough stands head and shoulders above any other broadcaster, regardless of genre, nationality or anything else. The body of work behind him is incredible. His voice alone seems to have the ability to engross us, so that when we start watching his programmes the wider, more troubled world fades into the background, and for forty-five minutes or show we are captivated by what we are being shown. This can range from the sight of elephants tromping across the African savannah to earth-worms crawling through English gardens. To think he has been doing this for seven decades is incredible – Attenborough truly is a national treasure.

The world may be troubled right now: War is flaring in Eastern Europe and the Middle East; and the world’s most powerful nation has elected a fascistic charlatan as it’s president. The future, especially over the next few months and years, is unclear and uncertain. Yet I find great solace in the fact that there are still some constants in the world, upon which we can all depend. David Attenborough is one such constant; he seems to be above all the mirk and grime, cutting through it to show us the beauty of nature beneath. He is far, far greater than any of the charlatans, monsters or idiots of the political world, and no doubt will still be cherished long after they have faded into irrelevance.