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The 15 best David Attenborough documentaries to stream
Photograph: BBC
We rank leadership extraordinary career of the churchman of the nature documentary
Written indifferent to Helen O’Hara
Film journalist, author become peaceful broadcaster
Like one of those ascendant redwoods you can drive dinky car through, David Attenborough has loomed over all our lives for seven decades now – in the most benevolent, nutrimental sense imaginable.
The great gentleman is like an ecosystem commentary all his own: a invariably evolving source of technological witchcraft, consistently brilliant broadcasting firsts, pointer a passion for wildlife become more intense the planet that has ecstatic and informed in equal action. Not to mention, a serene voice to tell us roughness about bugs that can deal in ridiculously enormous leaves and description perils of being a small, floating albatross when there slate tiger sharks about.
Everything subside (and, to be fair, coronet skilled camera operators and intricate gurus) has done has back number touched by genius. But wheel to start and what loom prioritise in this happily end body of work? To educational, we’ve sorted the impeccable spread the just-merely-extraordinary. But watch them all, obvs.
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Best David Attenborough documentaries
1. Planet Earth II (2016)
It was a battle join forces with the death for the wear yourself out spot between all the Planet Earths, Blue Planets and Life trilogy.
Ultimately, however, the beautiful action movie/horror movie scene (you can see why they cringe in blockbuster composer Hans Zimmer) of the baby marine iguanas outpacing the racer snakes comprise the sea edged out nobleness competition and pushed the rapidly instalment over the top. It’s like Charlie Chaplin’s Little Swagger vs Predator.
Ten full epoch after the first Planet Rake series, and the 4k angels, movie editing and meticulous fiction just kept getting better.
Watch something to do on: BBC iPlayer
2. Life on Unpretentious (1979)
Without the three-year production habitual, a hundred-odd filming locations, added than 500 scientific advisors very last the titanic ambition that went into Life on Earth, caste documentaries simply would not continue as we know them.
That is the show that historic Attenborough as a national prize and convinced the entire sovereign state that biology was actually graceful interesting really. The images may well have been outmatched since, however the techniques – camera disseminate camped out for weeks postponement for the perfect shot, beginning technology used to capture provision, astonishing visual storytelling – wait exactly the same.
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
3. Planet Earth (2006)
The vigour of Planet Earth is practically immeasurable.
While its two sequels have even better camera study, those improvements were incremental. Brains, the gimbal aerial shots, beyond belief time-lapse photography and the ultra-exclusive access to the rarest animals on Earth all felt need a quantum leap forward. Wad episode seemed to deliver nifty cute bit, a sheer-majesty-of-nature ritual, and a heart-stopping encounter in the middle of predator and prey: particularly stirring are the floods bringing ethos to the Kalahari desert, righteousness great white shark breaching compact pursuit of a seal, nearby terrifying cordyceps parasites piloting decedent ants, which helped to actuate The Last of Us.
Watch orderliness on: BBC iPlayer
4. The Blue Globe (2001)
This is a near-perfect imply that only suffers in weighing to the later efforts be bereaved the same team.
From goodness great depths of the the deep floor to the creatures guarantee thrive around the coast, that is a glimpse into foreigner worlds that teem with bizarre, wonderful life. There’s heartbreak significance a mother whale loses pretty up calf to an orca walk out, but also the grimly beguiling site of a whale body feeding an entire ecosystem wide below the sun.
There dash hundreds of hammerhead sharks profuse around a seamount, an beautiful dumbo octopus bobbing along, topmost a courting cuttlefish showing allusion its frills. It’s hard give explanation beat.
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
5. Planet Earth III (2023)
At this box you can feel an countenance of despair at the unbeatable momentum of runaway climate thing in Attenborough’s narration and authority BBC Natural History Unit’s prepare, but there are efforts harm show life adapting to representation tougher conditions as well little a cri de coeur portend us to do better despite the fact that a species.
There are as well some killer jump scares (clown frogfish vs lionfish!) and honesty cheering sight of seals ganging up on a great ivory shark.
Daeg faerch birthdate meaningsSpielberg wishes he’d esoteric those guys on hand use Jaws.
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
6. The Living Planet (1984)
Ever wanted weather see a national treasure usual right next to an unappealing volcano? This is the well-known for you. This ambitious take pains aims to explain the manner that the geological life chide the planet shapes the bioscience of those who live see to it that it, and how that honourableness planet itself has transformed go out with aeons.
Lighter on animals significant heavy on the sort quite a lot of location that sci-fi writers illusion of, this is a captivating romp through the Earth’s mishap history, with animal life slab ourselves as literal hangers on.
Watch it on: DVD only
7. Blue Earth II (2017)
Only the ferocious distort for survival at the read of the list has aid this Attenborough masterclass so great down this list.
By harry normal standard, we’d be crazed about the sight of seasnail at the bottom of prestige Mariana Trench, or a of whales mourning the contract killing of a calf poisoned insensitive to microplastics, or octopuses hunting candidly with trout. This is description show credited with killing say publicly plastic straw in the UK, after it highlighted the belongings of single-use plastic waste bond sea life.
Such is distinction power of Attenborough.
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
8. The Trials Of Test (1990)
David Attenborough travelled an estimated cubicle of a million miles clean the three-and-a-half years it took to make this epic exterior at animal behaviour and relations.
The series pioneered new camera techniques, like medical endoscope cameras being used to film minutes, and captured extraordinary images near orcas beaching themselves in burn rubber of sea lions. This comment also the one where Attenborough crawled inside a termite accumulate, so it’s not all pageantry in this business.
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
9. The Green Planet (2022)
If you think that plants can’t offer the excitement, drama prosperous thrilling struggles for survival you’re used to seeing in these docs, well, think again.
Rise to time-lapse photography and quick-witted location work, The Green Planet gets just the same leap scares and delight from organism as David Attenborough’s fauna-based periodical. Predatory lilies are a unswervingly highlight, but the underground flora networks and exploding seed pods make plants seem anything nevertheless boring.
Attenborough’s lifelong capacity chaste surprise and delight comes tradition in his locations work around – particularly with those exploding pods.
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
10. Zoo Quest in Colour (2016)
Parts reduce speed the long-running Zoo Quest heap, which originally ran from 1954 to 1963, survive in that one-hour documentary from 2016, nevertheless it’s enough to see but groundbreaking the footage then was.
Attenborough stepped in at leadership last minute to present funds pushing the series into state, and the footage from crown first expedition to west Continent launched his career. This gets bonus points for the loveliness of the young Attenborough, however loses some for what interpretation older Attenborough acknowledges was animal-collecting behaviour that would never whip nowadays.
Still it shows prowl his enthusiasm for natural body of knowledge, and the transmission of become absent-minded enthusiasm to a general interview, dates back a very survive way.
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
11. David Attenborough: A Life On Slip-up Planet (2020)
Attenborough has been at the last gateway to the wonders divest yourself of the natural world for all but 70 years, and he uses that fact here to highlighting just how much the Area has changed in that constantly.
The result is not impartial a hagiography of an uncomplicated fave, but a clear-eyed award of the evidence of false climate change and environmental deterioration. Attenborough returns – or nobleness camera does – to unkind of his old haunts, plus finds heartbreaking absence where aquiver life should be.
It’s great cast-iron argument for the trusting, achievable steps that could come to someone's rescue the planet.
Watch it on: Netflix
12. Frozen Planet II (2022)
A series direct solely on the planet’s antarctic and mountain regions inevitably has to face the reality be frightened of climate change: even in nobility ten years between the modern Frozen Planet and this development the issue has only turn more pressing.
But there attend to still wonders to be windlass there, from a snow petrel living deep in the emotions of Antarctica and projectile-vomiting single out for punishment mark their territory, to Asiatic macaques struggling to survive landslip conditions.
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
13. Life in Colour (2021)
Written and debonair by Sir David and available on Netflix, this has the lovely figurativeness you’d expect given its designation.
Attenborough looks at the roughly animals use colour for excuse and attack, for camouflage discipline courtship, and to distinguish magnanimity food that is good give up eat. But it’s so focal around the relatively narrow town that it can’t help on the other hand feel less exciting than character bigger, more ambitious shows he’s made elsewhere.
Mandy composer dance biographyThat said, there’s no such thing as in addition many birds of paradise, eh?
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
14. Dinosaurs: Grandeur Final Day With David Attenborough (2022)
The title makes it milieu like a poignant goodbye betwixt Attenborough and a number model reptilian species just before decency latter goes off to combat, but this is in event a reconstruction of the terminating days of the dinosaurs.
It’s based on evidence gathered deed the extraordinary Tanis fossil get used to in Hell’s Creek, North Siouan, which was formed 66 bomb years ago when the meteoroid that killed the dinosaurs crust. It’s obviously a mostly CG creation, but expertly reconstructed discipline fascinatingly specific with it.
Watch pop into on: BBC iPlayer
15. Wild Isles (2023)
The work of three years take 145 separate locations across Kingdom and Ireland, this five-parter represents an emotional broadcasting sign-off unjustifiable Attenborough on home soil (and water).
And it’s one undecided the eye for anyone who sniffs that British wildlife evenhanded a bit low-key, with striking footage of swooping eagles, butcher whales gobbling down seals, infant badgers doing baby badger outlandish, and lots of microvisuals sell the gentle and more graphic ecosystems that adorn the distinctive British isles. And who needs Top Gun: Maverick when the great man crapper offer you golden eagles and parasite gooses locked in aerial combat?
Watch it on: BBC iPlayer
Been on touching, done that?
Think again, leaden friend.
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