Veteran broadcaster says Dynasties,
his new BBC wildlife series,
will be gripping, truthful and entertaining
but not overtly campaigning
Jonathan Watts Global environment editor
THE OBSERVER Sun 4 Nov 2018 01.00 EST
Sir David Attenborough, the world’s most famous wildlife storyteller, believes repeated warnings about human destruction of the natural world can be a “turn-off” for viewers – a comment that is likely to reignite the debate about whether the veteran broadcaster’s primary duty is to entertain or educate…the presenter of Blue Plan
The first programme of the new series will air at 8.30pm on Sunday 11 November… The producers promise the most dramatic scenes will rival anything the award-winning BBC Natural History Unit has produced over recent years…
The broadcaster’s narrative skills were apparent in Blue Planet II, which was watched by millions and was credited with pushing the issue of plastic pollution up the political agenda…
“We all have responsibilities as citizens but our primary job is to make a series that is gripping and truthful, and talks about something important – and to tell it in its round fullness,” he said.
“These are not ecological programmes. They are not proselytising programmes. they are not alarmist programmes. What they are is a new form of wildlife filmmaking.”
Attenborough – who wrote and narrated the script after seeing the tapes in London – said the new programmes are a warts-and-all record of what happened during that time.
When this approach was originally proposed by executive producer Mike Gunton it evoked astonishment, said Attenborough.
“Their solution is extraordinarily brave. They said, ‘We won’t fabricate anything. We will take a situation that what we know from researchers in the field is likely to develop into something interesting’ and then they followed it for two years,”
Gunton said the team went through a casting process to identify which animals would have “box-office appeal”,
Attenborough said his documentary series have always carried a conservationist message in the final episode since the 1980s.
Asked if there was also a escapist element, he said the new programmes were too realistic for that, but they would come as a relief for viewers bombarded with Brexit, Trump and other grim news.
“… a programme that is about something more fundamental, more elemental and also true is… not an escape because it is reality and has implications for our lives, but it’s a great change, a great relief from the political landscape which otherwise dominates our thoughts.”
