Our Planet, review  Sir David Attenboroughs Netflix debut is a natural wonder
How could the BBCs national treasure abandon the corporation? Wouldnt moving to a commercial broadcaster, and a streaming service at that, result in an inevitable dumbing down of the material?
Video: Our Planet | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix Press Association
Well, last weeks superb Tasmania documentary proved he hasnt left his long term employers behind. And on the evidence of the opening episode, Our Planet is not simplified or cutesy fied in the slightest. It stands comparison with any of the BBCs landmark productions, and in some ways surpasses them.
Introductory footage of the Moon landings showed Earth from space, before the cameras zoomed in for a dazzling introductory array of teeming oceans and dazzling landscapes, all inhabited by beautiful wildlife – but with a shot of a polar bear and cub doggedly seeking food to reinforce the series central message; the planets newest and fastest developing species has devoured its resources and destroyed many of its natural wonders, and needs to take serious steps to preserve the remainder.
Gallery: David Attenborough: A life in pictures  Photo Service
We were then taken on a whistle stop tour of the Earths environments – oceans, deserts, grasslands, forests both tropical and snowbound – to explain how these ecosystems sustain each other and the flora and fauna within them.
The series is made by veterans of Planet Earth and other jewels in the Natural History Units crown and there was the same stunning combination of gobsmacking widescreen vistas and intimate personal moments. It will be interesting to see what emerges as the nations favourite bit and there was no shortage of contenders here.
Flamingo chicks dashed en masse across a salt plain in search of water like commuters rushing for the delayed 8.15. Caribou trekked doggedly from frozen tundra to forest, only to find a waiting wolf pack hungry to pick them off. And the shots of tropical birds teaming up for a courtship dance may cause a spike in ratings among the feline population if our cats anything to go by.
Still, at least the climate change sceptics who routinely harrumph about the BBC peddling a green agenda cant complain about licence payers money being used for it this time. The rest of us can look forward to seven more programmes examining specific environments. And no doubt providing more moments to treasure.
