Attenborough’s Wild Isles given the big-screen treatment in new UK tour
Over the years, Sir David Attenborough’s documentaries have provided some of the biggest water cooler TV moments.
Millions tuned in when the likes of mid-2000s series Planet Earth brought the world’s most awe-inspiring natural wonders into our living rooms.
Now though, with on-demand streaming overtaking linear TV, there’s a different experience surrounding the blockbuster shows, and Alastair Fothergill hopes to harness it.
The producer and director of the iconic series, as well as Frozen Planet and The Blue Planet, is taking the most recent, Wild Isles, on tour to continue its conservation campaign and take audiences on a journey through the UK’S most curious and breathtaking landscapes.
“My kids never watch broadcast TV,” he said. “You don’t get moments like when Planet Earth came out, 13 million people watched it and I’d get on the bus on Monday and I’d hear lots of people talking about the show last night. The boundary between television, online and multimedia is gone, which is why we could do a really good campaign.
“I’m very proud that we moved the dial in the understanding of British nature. I’m really excited about the tour, keeping the whole thing going and the message out there. Even if you’ve seen every frame of the series, it’ll be a much more cinematic experience, with lots of explanation on how it was made, the background history working with David and also the amazing Saving Our Wild Isles campaign.”
Wild Isles, which aired last year, helped provide a balance between alerting people to issues facing the natural world due to climate change, but also causes for optimism. While many might feel helpless to make a difference, Alastair hopes it can show what we can do for our own back yard.
“In the 90s working with David, there was some criticism we were showing the planet with rose-tinted spectacles and that he should be more outspoken environmentally,” Alastair said. “I remember talking to him and he said that people will never care about things they don’t know about and we still have an important role to show the beauty of nature. That was vital in Wild Isles because many didn’t realise how globally important we are for nature.”
The series highlights facts such as the UK having more ancient oak trees than the whole of Europe, and almost 70% of the world’s gannets, many of which breed in Scotland. The recent UK and Scottish Government bans on fishing for sandeels, a vital food source for seabirds to feed chicks, has also been attributed to ministers watching the show.
“We’re in the bottom 10% of biodiversity depleted countries in the world. When you sit down on a Sunday evening you don’t want to have a finger wagging at you. We were careful not to do that and just say, this is really precious, really special.
“You have the power to make change. We felt strongly that we need to empower people and give them answers and solutions because there’s no doubt that we can turn it around.”
Alastair was inspired into the natural world by Attenborough’s 1979 series Life On Earth. He’s since gone on to collaborate with the legendary broadcaster across some of the world’s most-watched nature programmes.
“I remember being really gripped by Life On Earth. It was like this amazing soap opera, this extraordinary story of evolution. All my colleagues and friends in the industry today were inspired by different work David’s done. He’s stopped travelling internationally in the past few years, but I told him I’d love him to not just narrate but appear on camera introducing every episode [of Wild Isles]. He jumped at it.”
Alastair takes a great sense of responsibility in using his position to help enact change.
“I genuinely fear for my grandchildren, but on the optimistic side of things, there is no doubt we have the technology today to solve climate change.”