HUMANITY’S BEST IS YET TO COME
THE impact of Blue Planet II has been astonishing.
The BBC1 series – a follow-up to David Attenborough’s 2001 The Blue Planet – has reached over 37 million people in the UK since its 2017 inception, with a huge
0.75 billion viewers worldwide having tuned in to at least one episode.
In fact the documentary, which highlighted the damage single-use plastic is having on the environment, had such an effect the broadcaster went on to launch Plastic Watch to spur on change.
One year on and the channel’s dedication has not wavered, as its Natural History Unit welcomes a further spell of programming, starting with spin-off shows Blue Planet Live and Blue Planet UK.
While Blue Planet Live (presented by Chris Packham, Liz Bonnin and Steve Backshall) will be broadcast across the globe, Blue Planet UK (presented mainly by Gillian Burke and Steve Brown, with contributions from Chris) will investigate what’s happening on our own shores.
It’s a commendable effort to tackle such significant subjects, remarks Chris, 57.
“The programmes will still be celebratory,” he vows, keen to ensure it’s an optimistic watch.
“From my point of view, if you want people to help, you’ve got to get them to engage with the subject.
“But you’re trying to get them to engage with the subject from a detached point of view – they’re not with you in the water, so you’re using their awe to connect with them, to build an affinity so they care.”
During the week-long run of Blue Planet Live, Southampton-born Chris will celebrate the diverse wildlife living in the seas, as he pairs up with scientists at the world’s biggest whale nursery in Mexico.
“I am heading to Baja California, Sea of Cortez, which between December and April is the world’s primary birthing site for many of the whale species.
“We’re going to be moving down the peninsula, looking at different species, trying to encounter them and look at some of the problems they face,” adds the Springwatch host, whose co-stars Steve and Liz will probe the Bahamas and Australia’s fragile Great Barrier Reef respectively.
Meanwhile, Blue Planet UK will show how plastic rubbish found on beaches is being turned into kayaks that clean up our seas, to Burke oyster fishing in Cornwall, and Chris meeting author Philip Hoare. It’s a line-up sure to hook in millions of viewers.
But it’s the younger audience that’s really taking note, Chris insists.
“They are realising they need to take matters into their own hands and I find that tremendously exciting.
“We’ve got a new generation of dynamic, well-informed, determined young people, and this is the sea change, the shift.”
So is he optimistic about