The master storyteller
If it’s a triumph, ne, if it’s a tragedy, that too we will show.
Sir David Attenborough’s soothing voice returns to narrate Dynasties, which documents the lives of ve of the most celebrated and endangered animals on the planet. e broadcaster talks about the challenges of making the series and why viewers will nd it a welcome relief from the daily news cycle.
SIR David Attenborough thought the producers of new wildlife series Dynasties were mad when he first heard their idea. The plan for each episode was to spend time on one particular animal at a fork in the road and with a life about to change fundamentally depending on which direction it took. Picking the families for these in-depth stories - which crews spent hundreds of days in a single location filming - was a huge risk. “You can’t tell whether anything’s going to happen and you’ve got to be there and available if something does and, at the end of it, nothing may have happened,” says 92-year-old Sir David, who was born in West London. “What are you going to do then? It’s a huge financial investment.” However, the decision paid off, as the much-loved narrator adds gently: “Extraordinary, interesting things did happen in all five that they chose.” First off, there’s a chimpanzee leader battling for his position and his life on the edge of the Sahara, while in the second episode thousands of emperor penguins in Antarctica gather to face the coldest and cruellest winter on earth. In the African savannah, we meet a powerful lioness, abandoned by her male protectors. Then, on the floodplains of Zimbabwe, the focus is on a feud between a mother and daughter painted wolf. Last but not least, we see a tigress attempting to raise her family in the jungles of India, under ever-growing pressure from her rivals and humanity. Dynasties follows on from the success of award-winning series such as 2016’s Planet Earth II, which drew record-breaking viewing figures for a nature show, and Blue Planet II - the most-watched TV show of 2017. They further cemented the position of presenter Sir David as a national treasure. Blue Planet II was particularly memorable for highlighting the environmental catastrophe taking place in our oceans. Around 8.5 billion plastic straws are thrown away each year, contributing to the more than 150 million tonnes of plastic in the world’s oceans. “When you talk to the people who were working on that, they were all absolutely agonised by the amount of plastic, just everywhere,” says Sir David. Following on from the astonishing response to Blue Planet II, it has been announced plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds could be banned from sale in England under plans being set out by Theresa May. Asked if the aim of Dynasties is to have a similar impact on government policy, Sir David reasons: “We all have responsibilities as citizens but our primary job is to make a series of programmes which are gripping and truthful and speak about something quite important, and to tell it in its round fullness. “These aren’t ecological programmes, they’re not proselytising programmes, they’re not alarmist programmes. “What they are, which I admire these guys [the producers] for, is a new form of wildlife film-making.” While environmental issues aren’t the focus of Dynasties, Sir David suggests the demise of our world and what we can do
about it is “always there these days”. “Whether it’s population or whether it’s the climate or whether it’s the acidity of the sea, there is always that facet of the crystal that you can take,” he adds. “And we do have a problem as to, do we actually, every time the image comes up, say ‘but remember they’re in danger.’ “How often do you say this without it becoming a real turn off? It would be irresponsible to ignore it but equally we have a responsibility of making programmes which look at all the rest of the aspects.” Sir David first joined the BBC in 1952 and within two years created his acclaimed Zoo Quest series, filming wild animals in their natural habitat for the very first time. He has continued to present natural history series, including The Trials of Life, Life of Mammals and Frozen Planet, over the decades since, with his fans spanning generations. In fact, the BBC confirmed the first three episodes of Planet Earth II attracted more viewers in the 16 to 34 age bracket than The X Factor on ITV. Clips from the show went viral on social media - most memorable perhaps was a sequence showing a baby iguana being chased by snakes. Sir David reveals we can expect several moments like this in Dynasties, including one in the very first episode when we see the king of a chimp troop beaten up. “What they have said in the description of the programme is that we will show what happens - we are not going to tart this up, we are not going to distort it in any way,” he says. “If it’s a triumph, fine, if it’s a tragedy, that too we will show. And at that particular moment [with David the chimp], the film-makers suddenly thought ‘and now the passage of this film is determined, this is going to be a real tragedy.’” There are bound to be other heartbreaking moments in Dynasties - after all, as executive producer Michael Gunton puts it, these are animals in trouble. “There is an environmental subtext to this - all these animals are in decline because there isn’t enough space for them,” he adds. But there will be uplifting tales of survival, too, and viewers will no doubt be left thinking about their relationship with nature as we learn about the lives these extraordinary animals lead. With what feels like a constant news stream about the turbulent political climate we currently find ourselves living through, Sir David believes we need shows like Dynasties. “I think all of us think that, faced with what we are facing, with Brexit and on the other side of the Atlantic, every time you turn on the television set you get it,” he says. “I certainly watch the news all the time and to get a programme which is about something which is more fundamental and more elemental, and also absolutely true, is a great ... I wouldn’t say it’s an escape, because it’s reality, but it’s a great change and it’s a great relief. “The fact that even it [Dynasties] has overtones and implications into our own lives and our own decisions is as it should be but it’s as far as you can get away from the political landscape, which otherwise dominates your thoughts.”