It should be alarming that, in the six years since Planet Earth last appeared on our screens, this third series finds itself in a darker mood. As always, these documentaries narrated by Sir David Attenborough are a testament to the wonders of the natural world. The footage, gathered over five years across 43 countries, is astonishing and awe-inspiring. The first episode alone, dedicated to coasts, travels from Kent to Australia, through South Africa, Canada, Indonesia and more. The scale and scope of this project are spectacular.
It is often a great joy to watch. There is a god’s eye view, painterly and stunning, of seal pups frolicking near a South African peninsula, until great white sharks start to feast on what must appear to them as a buffet. There are desert lion sisters in Namibia, learning to hunt seabirds at night, though, as it is pointed out, cats rarely enjoy getting wet. A right whale gives birth and cares for her calf in a nursery just off the coast of Argentina, where the calf has playmates. Archerfish blow water at insects up to 2 metres above them, in order to knock them off leaves and turn them into meals. In the melting glacier water of the Arctic, there are sea angels and sea butterflies – otherworldly, fairytale-like creatures which glow and dance, wowing with their alienness.
