Latest news with #Attenborough
The Herald Scotland
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters packed a real bite
*** IT was an act of tough love but one that had to happen. There are now so many celebrities going on freebie holidays at viewers' expense that someone had the idea of making them fight for their lives if they wanted to make it home again. Give it a month and only Susan Calman would be left standing, which is as it should be. That was the first thought on seeing Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters had been given the green light, and here it was, the idea made, er, flesh. Billed as an 'entertainment and wildlife crossover' - fancy - seven moderately famous folk were sent to the Bahamas to swim with the apex predators and generally raise awareness. To show that this was all about education and not cheap laughs, the celebs were promised that no one would be voted off each week. I'd have thought that was the least of their worries. The first sign that they should have gone on a hiking holiday in the Lake District instead was the sight of an instructor missing an arm and a leg. He had been in a tussle once with a bull shark, the very creatures the celebs were about to meet. 'Today?' gulped one. 'In the water?' said another. Since it was the first day, the celebs were allowed to stand in a cage while sharks the size of Renault Clios had fun rattling the bars. Call the Midwife's Helen George had the worst of it, being too scared to put her head underwater, never mind go eyeball to eyeball with a shark. Read more She had her reasons for fearing the water, as did Lenny Henry. Both involved childhood tales and phobias that ran deep.'I like the idea of having a little bit more bravery,' he said. 'Yes, we're on the telly. Yes, we're all celebrities, but it's different, this.' Was it, though? Heartstring-tugging back stories, manufactured jeopardy, talk of leaving their comfort zones - it all seemed pretty standard reality show fare. But the instructors were good value, and the celebrities more thoughtful than your average bunch. Ross Noble kept the quips coming, while George, once the screaming stopped, was charming company, even when a stingray got too close for comfort. 'Oh my God, it's coming right for my vagina,' she cried. Now there's a sentence I guarantee you will never hear in an Attenborough doc. George was not keen on the barracuda that wandered into a lesson featuring young lemon sharks. The instructor agreed, declaring it 'untrustworthy'. Alas, it was not the barracuda they had to worry about. Ross was the unlucky one, but it was no big deal. Even George declared it was 'like a kitten's been at you'. The goal of turning them into 'shark advocates' was clearly going well. The nip was a reminder that they were hardly in Attenborough territory, and this was still a celebrity reality show with a paramedic and psychological therapist on hand, but it was no walk in the water park either.
Hindustan Times
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
'It sounds like Donald Trump!': Queen Elizabeth's old joke goes viral. Here's why
A humorous conversation between Queen Elizabeth II and David Attenborough, the well- known nature filmmaker, has resurfaced online and has gone viral. The footage was shot in June 2017 at Buckingham Palace, where the late queen made a dry, humorous remark as a helicopter soared overhead. Queen Elizabeth's old joke about Donald Trump is going viral(File/AP) "Why do they always go round and round when you want to talk?" she asks Attenborough. With a grin, she remarks, 'Sounds like President Trump… or President Obama.' TikTok makes the queen's joke go viral The short video, taken from ITV's 2018 documentary The Queen's Green Planet, has reappeared on TikTok. The initial video was captured while Queen Elizabeth II and Attenborough strolled through her garden, talking about nature and climate change. During this period, Donald Trump served as President but had not made an official visit to the UK. His initial encounter with the queen occurred in July 2018, three months following the release of the documentary. Queen Elizabeth's humorous instances in the documentary The Queen's Green Planet was filled with royal wit. At one moment, Attenborough noted a sundial situated in the shade. The queen remarked, 'Had we thought of that? That it was planted in the shade? It wasn't in the shade originally, I'm sure. Maybe we could move it.' As reported by ITV News, the lead gardener of the palace subsequently verified that the sundial was relocated following her comment. During a more heartfelt moment, while Attenborough discussed the trees that could thrive there in 50 years, the queen responded, 'It might easily be, yes. I won't be here though.' FAQs Who was Queen Elizabeth II? Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history, serving as Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 until her passing in 2022. Where is the viral Queen Elizabeth clip from? The clip comes from the ITV documentary The Queen's Green Planet, filmed in 2017 and broadcast in 2018. What was the Queen's real name? Her real name was Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, according to The Royal Mint Museum.
The Star
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Ecowatch: Why oceans matter to our health
I'VE been fascinated by the ocean since I learned to scuba dive 20 years ago – a sport I love. But what I see now beneath the surface is a far cry from then: bleached corals and depleted marine life, and it leaves me with a deep sense of sadness. The ocean covers over 70% of Earth's surface, but it is more than just water. It's the cradle of life, a vital climate buffer, and a source of food and medicine. Today, it is besieged by everything from warming and acidification to industrial trawling, and deep-sea mining. These are not distant environmental concerns; they are immediate public health issues. Oceans absorb 25% of our carbon dioxide emissions and 90% of excess heat, shielding us from more extreme global warming. But this comes at a cost. Warming seas fuel coral bleaching, deplete oxygen, raise sea levels, and weaken marine ecosystems, reducing their ability to support life, including ours. Harmful algal blooms and bacteria like Vibrio cholerae (which causes cholera) are also on the rise, increasing risks to food safety and public health. As ocean health declines, so does planetary – and human – health. In May, I had the great honour of attending the premiere of Ocean, the latest film narrated by David Attenborough, one of my living heroes. Released on May 8 to mark his 99th birthday, it is breathtaking and heartbreaking, juxtaposing the beauty of coral reefs and kelp forests with scenes of trawling devastation and ecological collapse. Ocean is much more than a nature documentary. It is a call to action. It argues that laws are failing to protect marine life and urges reforms. It also offers hope: in protected 'no-take' areas from Hawaii to Scotland, marine ecosystems are showing signs of remarkable recovery, making the point that when we restore oceans, we restore climate stability, food security, and human well-being. One of the film's most harrowing segments focuses on bottom trawling, which Attenborough condemns as 'modern-day colonialism at sea'. This method uses massive, weighted nets which are dragged across the seafloor, completely bulldozing fragile ecosystems, destroying cold-water corals, seagrass beds, and kelp forests – all crucial carbon sinks and biodiversity havens. Carbon stored in marine sediment is disturbed and released into the atmosphere. Studies show this practice emits as much carbon annually as the global aviation industry. The human cost is severe. Destroying habitats depletes fish stocks, undermining food security for billions, especially in coastal and low-income communities. Meanwhile, disturbed sediment can release heavy metals and microplastics into the water, contaminating seafood and threatening public health. Ocean acidification lowers pH levels, making it harder for marine life like shellfish and corals to build skeletons. With up to 90% of coral reefs at risk of disappearing within two decades, this poses a major threat to biodiversity and the nearly one billion people who rely on reefs. At the same time, deep-sea mining is being pushed as vital for green technologies – but it raises a critical concern: are we trading one environmental crisis for another? The threats facing our oceans are deeply entwined with our own health. Climate-driven storms and rising seas displace communities and overwhelm health systems. Even our mental well-being suffers – as the ocean's beauty and cultural significance fade, so do its healing effects. And in the deep sea, disturbing ancient microbial systems may awaken threats we don't yet understand. The documentary's timely release ahead of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, last month helped drive momentum for the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, with hopes it will enter into force via the UN General Assembly in September. As half our oxygen comes from the oceans – much of which lies beyond national control – the agreement marks a crucial step for planetary health and a rare win for multilateralism amid global tensions. For Malaysians, this is not an abstract issue. We are a maritime nation. Coastal fisheries feed millions. Marine tourism sustains entire communities. Rising seas and dying reefs are not distant threats; they are already affecting us here and now. That's why my call for action this month is clear. We must step up and do our part by: > Expanding marine protected areas to cover at least 30% of our oceans by 2030, with strong enforcement. Currently Malaysia protects just 3% of its marine territory. > Banning destructive fishing, especially bottom trawling. Over 6,000 trawlers with bottom trawling gear are registered in Malaysia. > Supporting a moratorium on deep-sea mining, until and unless science proves it's safe. > Integrating ocean and climate policy – healthy oceans are vital for climate resilience. The Coral Triangle Initiative is a good start, but more ambition is needed. > Investing in ocean literacy, especially for youth. Ocean was screened for schoolchildren, and their response showed how knowledge can move hearts and inspire action. The ocean is not a distant frontier. It is our climate shield, food source, and health partner. If it falters, so do we. But as Ocean reminds us, healing is possible. Attenborough doesn't preach, he invites us to care. And care we must. Because when the ocean thrives, so do we. Let that be the legacy we build for today's children, and tomorrow's planet. Prof Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood, a physician and experienced crisis leader, is the executive director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University. She is the founder of Mercy Malaysia and has served in leadership roles internationally with the United Nations and Red Cross for the last decade. She writes on Planetary Health Matters once a month in Ecowatch. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.
Time Out
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Prehistoric Planet: Discovering Dinosaurs
This King's Cross Lightroom now has surely the weirdest repertoire of any venue in London, possibly the world. With an oeuvre based around massive megabit projection-based immersive films, its shows so far have been a David Hockney exhibition, a Tom Hanks-narrated film about the moon landings, a Vogue documentary and a visualiser for Coldplay's upcoming album. It's such a random collection of concepts that it's hard to say there was or is anything 'missing' from the extremely esoteric selection of bases covered. But certainly, as the school summer holidays roll around it's very welcome to see it add an overtly child-friendly show to its roster. Bar a short Coldplay break, Prehistoric Planet: Discovering Dinosaurs will play daily at Lightroom from now until at least the end of October half-term. It is, as you would imagine, a dinosaur documentary. And indeed, if the name rings a specific bell it's because it's culled from the David Attenborough-narrated Apple TV series of the same name. It's quite the remix, though: Attenborough is out, and Damian Lewis is in, delivering a slightly melodramatic voiceover that lacks Sir David's colossal gravitas but is, nonetheless, absolutely fine. Presumably Attenborough is absent because he's very busy and very old, because while the film reuses several of the more spectacular setpieces from the TV series, it's sufficiently different that repurposing the old narration would be a stretch. Any child with any degree of fondness for the mesozoic era will surely have a great time Essentially the 50-minute experience is sub-divided into six mini documentaries, which have a wealth of high-quality pre-existing CGI to draw upon, supplemented by new bits that add an agreeable educational aspect. A bit where life-sized dinosaurs are projected on the walls and audience members are invited to come up and stand next to them undoubtedly lacks the astronomical production values of the bits from the TV show, but it is also really, really fun. And of course, it's not like we're just sitting there watching it on a big telly: it's thrilling to see battling dreadnoughtus, courting tyrannosaurs, and sweet baby sauropods at huge, almost overwhelming scale. There's a particularly impressive scene where a trio of crafty velociraptors pick their way down some cliffs to ambush some nesting pterosaurs – the pack's murderous journey spirals its way around the walls of the room until they encounter their prey. It obviously doesn't hurt that it's genuinely tremendous CGI, that stands up to being blown up to giant scale (it's far better than the BBC's recent second season of Walking with Dinosaurs). Basically, it looks great, it sounds great, and it's pretty informative, and any child with any degree of fondness for the mesozoic era will surely have a great time whether or not they've seen the original docs. The standard caveat with Lightroom is that it's expensive: although kids' tickets are cheaper than adult ones and there's a small family discount, a family of four is probably looking at something like £80 for a one-hour film (though as child tickets are cheaper it's better value proportionally if only one adult goes). Is this reasonable? I'm always suspicious of stuff aimed at children where accompanying adults have to pay more. That said, the film has been created specially for the venue, and higher-than-the-cinema prices are surely inevitable. Prehistoric Planet
Sydney Morning Herald
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Attenborough's new doco is bringing audiences to tears. One voice has gone completely silent in its wake
In the darkness of the cinema during screenings of Sir David Attenborough's new film, Ocean, it is not uncommon to hear members of the audience weep for what they have lost, or more specifically, what has been taken from them as they looked elsewhere. At 99, Attenborough's voice is still strong, and his capacity to move people with revelations of the astonishing world around them is undiminished. Now there is growing evidence that of the many tens of documentaries he has presented or created over his career, Ocean is having the most immediate impact of them all. 'I believe Ocean will prove to be Sir David's masterpiece,' says Andrew Forrest, the billionaire Fortescue Metals Group chairman, whose Minderoo Pictures provided almost half the film's funding, and who recently attended its world premiere in London last month with Attenborough and King Charles. The film (its full title is Ocean with David Attenborough) focuses on the wonder of our seas, and their centrality to life on earth, and reveals how rapidly they are being pillaged and destroyed by industrial fishing. Of all Attenborough's films, it is his most political. 'We have drained the life from our ocean. Now we are almost out of time,' he says at one point. One particular sequence in the film appears to having a profound impact not only on audiences, but on politicians and policymakers. Having established the extraordinary beauty and complexity of life in the shallow waters of the world's continental shelves, the camera follows the chains of a bottom trawling net to the ocean floor. In the blue-green murk, it is a scene from a horror movie. 'From the surface you would have no idea that this was happening,' says Attenborough in the narration. 'It has remained hidden from view, until now.'
