The sight of Sir David Attenborough, recognized as the Greatest Living Briton, passionately discussing Darwin’s thesis amid a rainforest, mountain top, or frozen wasteland captivates me like nothing else.
Returning to our screens is Sir David, featuring in a new series focused on the Earth’s poles, which promises a display of stunning brilliance that no one else can possibly rival.
Documenting the tale of the most extreme wildernesses on Earth, Frozen Planet showcases not only whales, seals, and penguins but also features one of the most remarkable individuals alive, a man nearing his seventh decade in broadcasting.
It’s been 32 years since Sir David last graced our screens – back then, at 53, he was hardly a spring chicken – while interacting with the playful gorillas in Rwanda featured in Life On Earth. In the forthcoming weeks, we will witness him, now 85, atop the North Pole for the first time ever, as he sprawls on an Arctic ice floe, mere feet away from a mewling baby seal, while just below the ice, a colossal killer whale lurks, ready to strike.
‘I never imagined I would reach the North Pole,’ he shares. ‘It’s an enchanting place, remarkably beautiful. I believe this series will be a landmark production, serving as a monumental survey of polar regions for years to come.’
Producing these series is an immense endeavor, resembling preparations for a military campaign more than a simple TV show. I had the privilege of spending time on the Greenlandic icecap, where the Frozen Planet crew was researching the alarming cracks forming in this large expanse of ice.
It was both a cold, exhilarating and awe-inspiring encounter. Take rope expert Tim Fogg, who is the go-to person if you need to descend into what resembles the open jaws of a frozen nightmare – a massive crevasse.
When your only lifeline consists of ropes, their significance escalates rapidly, especially when they prevent you from plunging into an icy fate. Justine Evans, a fearless camerawoman, along with a couple of glaciologists, has Tim dangling approximately 200ft below me. This delicate setup, a seemingly flimsy web of nylon cords anchored to the ice by several poles, is the only barrier between them and a half-mile drop into darkness.
I gaze downwards at the edge, praying that my sharp crampons will be sufficient to keep me from plunging into nothingness. Vanessa Berlowitz, the series producer, affirms that the BBC ‘never compromises on quality,’ taking every necessary measure to capture the best footage safely. If the shot requires someone to dangle from a cliff, explore a cave, or, like in this instance, from an icecap, Tim is the one who gets called.
For aerial shots that begin with a close-up of an individual caribou’s eyes before panning out to reveal a vast herd that seems to cover an expanse that looks like half of Canada, they turn to the talented Richard Burton, whose Cineflex camera is the only one globally capable of achieving such effects.
This Cineflex, mounted on a helicopter, utilizesA groundbreaking system that adjusts for aircraft movement, operated by a cameraman situated inside the helicopter, controls the zoom and direction of view via a joystick. By allowing filming from high above the animals, the camera offers a fresh perspective on their behavior without causing any disturbances – whether it’s wolves hunting buffalo in packs, baby beluga whales riding on their mothers’ backs, or a mother polar bear nursing her cubs.
Filming in these environments comes with unforeseen risks, despite all precautions. One day, Sir David – described by Ms Berlowitz as ‘utterly stoic, professional and gentlemanly at all times’ – expressed his worries about a minor crack that formed in the sea ice adjacent to the tents. Equipment was quickly moved to safer grounds, just as the crack expanded jarringly.
The major challenge for the Natural History Unit lies in surpassing their previous achievements. We have already witnessed polar bears clashing with walruses and herds of caribou thundering across the Canadian tundra. So what does Frozen Planet reveal that we haven’t encountered before? In fact, quite a lot.
The poles are enchanting landscapes unlike any other on Earth, where entire seas can freeze in just a fortnight and icebergs the size of nations can drift across the Southern Ocean. Moreover, these poles are transforming right before our eyes. During the shoot, the team joined a scientific expedition led by a diligent glaciologist named Alan Hubbard, whose goal is to investigate what occurs beneath the icecap – which explains the descents into the crevasses.
One of the stunning sapphire-blue lakes that appear on the icecap during high summer (which are forming earlier and growing larger) suddenly vanished down a hole in the ice – several billion gallons of water in mere minutes, accompanied by a rumbling icequake that left a crack in the mess-tent floor. Sir David, who was previously quietly skeptical about climate change, now expresses conviction in the scientific evidence indicating the world is warming.
His change of heart occurred a few years ago at a scientific conference. ‘I emerged from it completely convinced that we were raising carbon dioxide levels, and that it was making an impact,’ he states. Although he insists ‘this series is not a polemic,’ asserting that preaching won’t convey the message, Sir David remains pessimistic about the future. ‘This may be the last opportunity to witness some of these events,’ he warns.
Examples include love-scarred polar bears. While we have encountered many polar bears before, the footage capturing a massive male, bloodied and resolute as he drives off numerous suitors for his mate before walking away into the distance, never to see his cubs again, is new and deeply moving. Furthermore, the footage of a pack of Canadian wolves taking down a giant bison is disturbingly captivating.
Vanessa Berlowitz and her team take rightful pride in their unprecedented footage, including a dive into the awe-inspiring ice caves of Mt Erebus in Antarctica. We witness a pod of killer whales creating massive waves to destabilize seals from ice floes – recognized by scientists as the most intricate team hunt ever documented in the wild.
For the first time, we also observe the ‘brinicle’, a 10-foot-long icicle breaking away from the frigid ocean surface and descending towards the ocean floor, obliterating everything in its path like an alien death ray. Sir David revisits Scott’s Hut in the Antarctic – a place he first explored 17 years ago – where the explorer and his team endured a grueling winter before succumbing to the snow and ice during their ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1912. ‘It remains just as Scott left it,’ he says.
‘It might be the most evocative location I’ve ever experienced. The presence of individual human beings feels more powerful there than anywhere else.’
Producing all of this does not come cheaply. Creating Frozen Planet required four years, the chartering of 28 helicopters, 33 Skidoos, and assistance from HMS Endurance for three months. Consider this the next time someone proposes cutting the license fee – for the harsh reality is that series like Frozen Planet could not exist without it.
by David Livingstone