'A Perfect Planet' producers praise China's green effort

The executive producer of A Perfect Planet, the new landmark documentary series made by veteran British wildlife filmmaker David Attenborough, has praised China for its efforts in trying to find a solution to the world's energy problems and spoken of his delight at the enthusiasm for wildlife programs among the Chinese audience.

Five-part series A Perfect Planet is a co-production of the BBC, Tencent Penguin Pictures, ZDF, China Media Group CCTV 9, France Televisions and The Open University, and begins transmission on CCTV 9 and Tencent on Jan 4. Once again, it features Attenborough, who over the last six decades has become one of the world's greatest educators and broadcasters of the natural world.

The show highlights the importance of the four great forces of nature – volcanoes, the sun, the weather and the oceans – in shaping the world in which we all live, and also has a fifth episode focusing on the damage being done to the natural balance by human beings, while also offering hope of how this impact can be lessened, a field in which producer Alastair Fothergill said China was playing a leading role.

"Yes China does have issues with pollution but they have been leaders in technology and the leading makers of solar panels," he said.

"Until recently there was not a lot of natural history programming being shown in China but I've heard the shows go down extremely well and are very well received.

"I'm really pleased our films are being seen in China, it's a very urban population so they need to see these things - the country is home to the world's biggest snow leopard population but how can you expect someone in Shanghai to care about that until they've seen them? There is a continuing need with every generation to show them the beauty of the natural world."

The opening episode of the series, which took four years to make, with scenes shot in 31 countries, focuses on the destructive and life-giving power of volcanoes, but it is the episode about the importance of the sun where China's natural wonders are on display, specifically snub-nosed monkeys in Shennongjia National Park.

Attenborough's previous series, Seven Worlds One Planet, also featured the creatures but that was during winter. This time, it is their behavior in fall that is featured.

Nick Jordan, who was the director and producer of the sun episode, said filming in China had been an exciting experience.

"The theme of the episode is about how the power of the sun drives the diversity of life on earth," he said. "In China as fall approaches, resources become very scarce, so the monkeys have to battle it out for pine cones, which are a very tasty high-calorie prized seasonal delight.

"It was filmed by local camera man Jacky Poon, who was there for several weeks and caught some amazing natural behavior. Previously we've seen the monkeys in the snow but this time it's in the golden leaves. It's a beautiful and spectacular sequence; I think the audience will love it."

Filming for the series was completed just before pandemic restrictions came in, and with Attenborough being 94, he is in the high-risk category for COVID-19 so has been housebound the whole way through.

This did present the challenge of how he would record his commentary for the film sequences, as he could not travel to the studio, but he revealed they had to use some imagination for him to work from home.

"We hung duvets all around the wall of my dining room to get rid of echo, and I spoke into a microphone on the table in front of me, watching the sequences on a monitor, with the commentary being recorded by a sound recordist sitting out in the garden, and a producer at the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol watching along and giving me feedback on my narration," he said.

"That way, we were able to record the entire commentary. We were concerned it would sound like an amateur set-up but it's indistinguishable from the professional way."