Planet Earth II is out of the world
Irish Sun columnist and RTE star pays tribute to David Attenborough wild life masterpiece
THAT juggernaut of television Planet Earth II concluded this week in a finale that was both heartwrenching and inspiring in equal measure.
The BBC programme squashed massive shows like Strictly, The X Factor and I’m A Celebrity with its viewing figures — an amazing feat for a natural history documentary.
This week on the show I met Mike Gunton, the creative director of the BBC Studios Natural History Unit who is also executive producer of Planet Earth II, to talk about why it has caught the imagination of everyone from kids through to grannies.
The show is against everything 2016 seemed to be about and an antidote to the creeping popularisation that pervades our media.
It especially struck a chord with young audiences and was trending on Twitter for days on end. It is a programme that is pro-expert, pro-knowledge, environmental and positive.
So it would seem that despite a constant drip-feed of celebrity and anti-intellectualism, audiences are crying out for shows such as this.
We seem to have become a bit inward-looking of late — we worry about decay and the demise of society — and the series takes an outward-looking view that gives us a sense of perspective about our place in the universe.
David Attenborough the great modern storyteller, is a massive part of the show.
He’s everyone’s hero and, let’s face it, we would all love him to be our grandpa.
His amazing voice is reason enough to watch the show. By the way, if there’s a sat-nav out there with his voice on it, I want it for Christmas.
If everyone had one surely we could also rid the planet of road rage.
The most moving part of the show for me was watching the scenes with the baby turtles. Animals can adapt in human environments but they don’t always get it right, which is what this story was about.
I watched in horror as these Disney-esque creatures — like something from Finding Nemo — burrowed their way out of the sand and then, thinking the lights of the city were the glare of the moon guiding them to the sea, headed off towards certain death in the metropolis.
Falling down drains and getting run over by cars, without human intervention to return them to the water, all the turtles would die. I was an emotional wreck by the end. Turn off the damn lights people!
In the conclusion, Attenborough said: “Only a small number of animals have managed to find ways of living alongside us. And every ten years, an area the size of Britain disappears under a jungle of concrete. But it doesn’t have to be like this. Could it not be possible to build cities more in harmony with nature?”
Yes, David, I couldn’t agree more. Let’s all try to make the planet a better place in 2017.
The next programme from the BBC natural history unit, Wild Tales From The Village, is on TV on Christmas Eve and is about the secret life of animals with the whole show shot from their perspective.
By all accounts this new programme is quite comedic and looks at all the mischief animals get up to in their secret lives. Appointment telly with a mince pie and a mulled wine this Christmas for sure.
World loving Irish on screen
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THIS year started with a bang for Irish film as it got a truckload of nominations and two wins at the Oscars — and it closes with a bang too.
The Golden Globes have been announced and Sing Street, John Carney’s 1980s musical, is up for Best Comedy or Musical, Ruth Negga got a Best Actress nomination for her role in Loving and Colin Farrell got a Best Actor nod for the blackly comic hit The Lobster.
And the Oscars may be beckoning for 2017 with Sing Street having two tracks on the long list for Best Original Song.
Ruth, above, appeared recently on The Late Late Show and was brilliant.
You have to give props to the Late Late for providing this kind of personal, in-depth interview without needing to resort to the frivolity of James Cordon or Graham Norton (without taking anything away from those brilliant shows).
This week the second oldest chat show in the world showed why it still has legs.
A new leash of life for puppy?
YESTERDAY a puppy was handed into lost property at Dublin Airport.
The little dog was found in a blue plastic container near Terminal 1 in a most inglorious start to canine life.
Maybe like in the film Love Actually — which opens at an airport — this dog’s tale will have a happy ending. If not Colin Firth dashing in to rescue it, maybe its owner or some other kind soul?
But maybe not. The stark reality is that every January hundreds of puppies are abandoned.
Charities warn people not to buy dogs at Christmas year in, year out. Not only is the season rife with rogue breeders advertising puppies for sale — often bred in horrendous conditions — people also consistently forget that dogs are a lot of work and also a lifelong commitment.
So this year, if you do want to get a dog, make the decision properly in the new year.
And then you can rescue one of the many puppies who will be sadly abandoned. Or sponsor one instead.
Airport Lost and Hound – Page 16