Prepare to be absolutely broken. The documentary king returns on Sunday.
While every single expedition and documentary that David Attenborough and his team embark on is fraught with danger and complications, it really does seem like the stakes get raised with each new series.
In terms of his latest feature, Seven Worlds, One Planet, Attenborough and his team will examine seven different continents and document how they shape the extraordinary animal behaviour and biodiversity we see today.
To put this extraordinary feat into context, that’s 41 countries visited, 92 shoots, 1,794 filming days, 499 days spent traveling by crew, 2,260.5 hours of footage shot, and more than 1,500 people that worked on the project worldwide.
Extraordinary (said in your best Attenborough voice).
Given the very real threat of global warming, deforestation, the dangerous levels of plastic in the water, a growing number of endangered species, and various other man-made threats to the global ecosystem, a large reason why Attenborough’s documentaries resonate is because they don’t shy away from depicting the uncomfortable truths.
Simply put, you’re emotionally involved because the site of seeing a glacier breaking, ecosystem or animal dying – remember the walrus sequence from Our Planet? – is very startling.
Well, during an interview with the BBC, Jonny Keeling, Executive Producer on Seven Worlds, One Planet said that the new series is extremely emotionally-charged.
“The variety of life on earth is at risk so we’ve taken a big step forward in featuring these threats to our planet. So in the Antarctic episode, we have a story about climate change but you will see it, it’s not just mentioned. You will see how climate change is impacting animals and it is intended to be visual and emotional.
“Then we have a story about the historic damage done by whaling which you would expect to be distressing but which actually tells a story of a positive reversal in recent years. Either way I would say at least one, often two sequences within each episode has a focus on biodiversity and the loss of biodiversity,” said Keeling.
When asked what differentiates Seven Worlds, One Planet from previous documentaries that Attenborough has worked on, Keeling said that it’s more emotionally stirring than others.
“It’s about trying to surprise people all the time, both visually and emotionally. I also think our storytelling has really improved. There is a strong narrative to every sequence – it’s much more emotionally driven and has much more of a dramatic rhythm than ten or 15 years ago,” he said.
Seven Worlds, One Planet airs at 18:15 on BBC 1 on 27 October and the focus will be on Antarctica.
Take a look at what’s in store.
Clip via BBC Earth
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