SIR DAVID’S WARNING SHOT TO THE WORLD...
THIS hugely inspiring documentary that warns of impending catastrophe is all the more terrifying for being delivered by the most trusted and respected broadcaster in Britain. Standing among the radioactive ruins of Chernobyl, Sunday evening TV favourite and all-round national treasure David Attenborough, addresses us in his familiar humble and dignified manner, while his location underlines his argument that climate change is a man-made mistake and we need to clean it up. And fast.
Now 94 years old but with no less passion than when he presented his first TV programme, and driven from the knowledge he can’t carry on for ever, there’s an unmistakable urgency in his tone.
Giving us a whistle-stop tour of his globe-trotting career, he persuasively argues his very longevity as an expert on the natural world gives him a unique perspective and makes him the perfect person to deliver this most dire of warnings.
A companion piece to his recent TV show, Extinction: The Facts, he points out that with our planet having witnessed five major extinction events in its lifetime – the last being the dinosaurs – we are pushing the Earth towards a sixth, and we humans will be the victims.
Having presented us with a terrifying litany of destruction he proceeds to offer a horrifying view of our children’s potential future, and it’s shocking seeing this most optimistic and beloved of TV personalities in despair.
And yet he moves on to convince us we possess the means to reverse the damage done and create a clean world for future
Pollution – factories spew airborne waste generations, turning this into an uplifting call to arms and a celebration of the wonder of life.
As ever he’s accompanied by a supporting cast of tigers, gorillas, polar bears and more, while the photography from mountains to oceans and savannahs is as breathtaking as we’d expect.
All climate change deniers should be strapped to a chair with their eyes clamped open and forced to watch. On repeat.
Out in cinemas tomorrow and on Netflix from October 4.