[imagesource: Paul Williams / BBC]
I couldn’t be more proud of the baby leaf sprouting from my shower drain right now.
Especially after watching the trailer for David Attenborough’s new collaboration with nature, The Green Planet.
The five-part series, presented by everyone’s favourite naturalist – the person who I like to think of as the voice of nature itself – is all about plants and the various places that they sprout from on this planet, from the rainforests to the deserts and everywhere in between.
The little leaf in my shower is absolutely nothing compared to the “gobsmacking” seedlings caught sprouting on camera in this documentary, which is bound to have “you gasping in astonishment so often you’ll be breathless”.
That is according to The Guardian, which gave The Green Planet a deserving five stars:
…whenever you think there’s going to be a moment to catch all the breath you have gasped out in astonishment, they will hit you with something even more full of wonder…
…The extraordinary time-lapse photography – which is no longer a static thing but in the round – shows us seeds cracking, leaves unfurling, saplings straining greedily up towards the sky, as if an army of miniature drones had been hovering for months round every one.
Now you know, don’t forget to breathe:
Since the 1995 series, The Private Life of Plants, technology has moved on rather speedily, so watching life from the perspective of plants is nothing like we have ever seen before.
The work that goes into something like this is truly remarkable:
Assistant producer Louis Rummer-Downing described life eight days into what he did not yet know would be a two-week shoot for the leafcutter sequence, comprising shots from 7 000 different positions, which would last seconds on screen.
“Wake up,” he said. “Film ants. Go to sleep. Dream of ants. Wake up …”
At 93, Attenborough keeps giving, but that doesn’t mean that our hats shouldn’t be taken off for absolutely everyone involved in making these painstakingly brilliant shows.
An additional five stars were given to The Green Planet by inews.
The first episode is out now on the BBC website for those in the UK. The rest of us may have to wait a while.
