Planet Earth

Most nature documentaries drive me spare with their constant referrals to billion-year dating systems and theoretical processes that begin by precluding the existence of a divine designer. I bit my lip as I studied the TV guide a few weeks back and spotted the ABC’s latest contribution to the genre. Was it going to be more of the same with the premier of David Attenborough’s series, Planet Earth? Apparently not!

Planet Earth spends the majority of its time focussing on the interconnectedness of the natural world, rather than pushing explanations for its existence. Cranes which navigate the Himalayas dodge the Golden Eagles that have found homes in the glacial conditions, while those glaciers produce the weather systems that create Indian monsoons, which in turn deliver just the right amount of moisture to Chinese hillsides to aid the growth of the high-altitude bamboo favoured by Panda bears. Week after week affirms an impression that the elements of the natural world are not simply dependent, but intrinsically related, moving together with the precision of a Swiss watch.

And if that’s too intellectual for you, grab a copy just to see a monstrous white pointer shark throw itself bodily out of the water to catch a leaping seal. This BBC series sets new bench-marks with camerawork that will be marvelled at for years to come. Map-like satellite pictures of shifting deserts are merged with aerial perspectives of migrating elephants and unusual underwater images of those same behemoths swimming (The Making of Planet Earth is sure to be a spectacle in its own right). Each sequence goes further than the last to underline the sheer organisation of our natural world.

It’s hard to walk away from this series convinced that, as Kel Richards put it, an explosion in a brick factory happened to produce a radio station. Craftsmanship rather than chaos seems the more likely explanation. Programs like Planet Earth remind us why the Bible considers the wonders of creation to be a knock-down argument for the existence of God – evidence which even the most careless observer will be held accountable for.

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