Sir David Attenborough is, by common consent, the world’s master wildlife documentary presenter, the last of the great TV communicators whose career began with the birth of the medium in which he works. He has made many epic and wide ranging TV programmes, telling the story of how creatures proceed along the perilous tightrope of… Continue reading
Posts tagged David Attenborough
Attenborough warning on the environment – 2000 style
A chilling 2020 documentary on the state of the planet’s biodiversity A call to urgent action, surely. So why didn’t we heed it 20 years ago? “The future of the earth is in the balance. It’s up to us – who else?” Sir David Attenborough, with his unique authority, addresses the camera. His analysis is chillingly… Continue reading →
Attenborough turns 94 – my PBS articles on one of his series
In 1997 I was asked by the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to write a series of essays on the new David Attenborough series Life of Birds, which the station was about to transmit for the first time. I had met Sir David several times through my work at Radio Times and other UK publications…. Continue reading →
Corals reefs worth an annual $36 billion to tourism in peril worldwide
Climate change is causing significant damage to a multi billion dollar sector of the tourism industry, the coral reefs of 100 countries and territories, and scientists say there is only a narrowing window of opportunity in which to preserve what’s left of it. A report published in April 2017 put the value of “on-reef and… Continue reading →
That Planet Earth sequence of baby turtles: who is really to blame?
The social media storm over the baby turtles in the last episode of the BBC’s outstanding Planet Earth series, narrated by David Attenborough, did not really nail the culprit. It was the emotional talking point in the programme on the interaction between man and wildlife. Baby turtles, newly hatched on a beach in Barbados, instead of making for… Continue reading →
Remarkable tool making ability of the New Caledonian crow
The 7 o’clock news on Radio 4 on Monday, October 7 included an intriguing item, far too short and incomplete, on the remarkable tool making and using capacity of the New Caledonian crow. The item referred to new research by scientists at the University of St Andrews led by Dr Christian Rutz on the crows’… Continue reading →