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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| What David Attenborough should have said at the end of Blue Planet | What David Attenborough should have said at the end of Blue Planet |
| (30 days later) | |
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| Tue 12 Dec 2017 19.17 GMT | Tue 12 Dec 2017 19.17 GMT |
| Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 16.34 GMT | |
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| We find the sea a great source of solace and peace. The author Ronald Blythe has written of the sea’s “most wonderful monotony”, which “can drug the watcher into forgetting past, present and future”. | We find the sea a great source of solace and peace. The author Ronald Blythe has written of the sea’s “most wonderful monotony”, which “can drug the watcher into forgetting past, present and future”. |
| Watching Blue Planet II has been almost as hypnotic, with its sublime rendering of our turquoise oceans, a watery world almost without humans. | Watching Blue Planet II has been almost as hypnotic, with its sublime rendering of our turquoise oceans, a watery world almost without humans. |
| This lulling effect is at odds with the message the programme conveyed with new urgency in its final episode: that our oceans, upon which we depend, are under threat like never before. | This lulling effect is at odds with the message the programme conveyed with new urgency in its final episode: that our oceans, upon which we depend, are under threat like never before. |
| The BBC Natural History Unit, which makes these incomparable, world-leading works of art and science has come under increasing criticism for not telling the most urgent story of our times: humanity’s destruction of our planet. Blue Planet II is a riposte. Coral bleaching or plastic pollution, say, was not bundled into one final episode but scattered throughout the series. | The BBC Natural History Unit, which makes these incomparable, world-leading works of art and science has come under increasing criticism for not telling the most urgent story of our times: humanity’s destruction of our planet. Blue Planet II is a riposte. Coral bleaching or plastic pollution, say, was not bundled into one final episode but scattered throughout the series. |
| Its finale combined breathtaking footage of the most charismatic sea creatures with the most noble broadcaster deploying every fibre of his authority to hit us with overfishing, noise pollution, plastics and other toxins, ocean acidification and sea-level rise. | Its finale combined breathtaking footage of the most charismatic sea creatures with the most noble broadcaster deploying every fibre of his authority to hit us with overfishing, noise pollution, plastics and other toxins, ocean acidification and sea-level rise. |
| So as not to swamp us, Sir David Attenborough’s message was that hope, action and individuals can make a difference. This stirring stuff will help us do the easy bits – switch to reusable water bottles and coffee cups, or paper straws – and nudge policymakers towards tougher rules, such as outlawing single-use plastic and creating marine nature reserves (the campaign to protect 30% of the global ocean is admirably ambitious). | So as not to swamp us, Sir David Attenborough’s message was that hope, action and individuals can make a difference. This stirring stuff will help us do the easy bits – switch to reusable water bottles and coffee cups, or paper straws – and nudge policymakers towards tougher rules, such as outlawing single-use plastic and creating marine nature reserves (the campaign to protect 30% of the global ocean is admirably ambitious). |
| Blame the ocean, perhaps, but I was still soothed as much as stirred. Sir David is a saintly man who has done more to save our planet than any living person. But I hoped to be a little more jolted by Blue Planet II’s concluding piece to camera. We needed to hear the following: sustainable growth is a lie; we must renounce economic growth as a societal goal; we must consume much, much less. | Blame the ocean, perhaps, but I was still soothed as much as stirred. Sir David is a saintly man who has done more to save our planet than any living person. But I hoped to be a little more jolted by Blue Planet II’s concluding piece to camera. We needed to hear the following: sustainable growth is a lie; we must renounce economic growth as a societal goal; we must consume much, much less. |
| I write this still lacking the courage to unwrap my ludicrously over-packaged food at the supermarket till. But we can’t go on as we are. | I write this still lacking the courage to unwrap my ludicrously over-packaged food at the supermarket till. But we can’t go on as we are. |
| Poetry – and motions? | Poetry – and motions? |
| Repairing our dysfunctional relationship with the planet takes many forms. A brilliant crowdfunded campaign launched last week to get copies of The Lost Words into every Scottish primary school. And a new book of beautiful paintings by Jackie Morris and dazzling acrostic poems by Robert Macfarlane celebrates 20 everyday species – from acorn to wren – that are disappearing from everyday usage (and children’s dictionaries). | Repairing our dysfunctional relationship with the planet takes many forms. A brilliant crowdfunded campaign launched last week to get copies of The Lost Words into every Scottish primary school. And a new book of beautiful paintings by Jackie Morris and dazzling acrostic poems by Robert Macfarlane celebrates 20 everyday species – from acorn to wren – that are disappearing from everyday usage (and children’s dictionaries). |
| It’s simple, inspirational, and reconnects people of all ages with the joy of our ordinary neighbourhood species. How about the National Trust or the RSPB help get it into every primary school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland? Or, as the author Susan Hill points out, individuals can simply donate a copy or two to local schools. I’ll team up with a bookseller near me and do that in the new year. | It’s simple, inspirational, and reconnects people of all ages with the joy of our ordinary neighbourhood species. How about the National Trust or the RSPB help get it into every primary school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland? Or, as the author Susan Hill points out, individuals can simply donate a copy or two to local schools. I’ll team up with a bookseller near me and do that in the new year. |
| Rechannelling the nation | Rechannelling the nation |
| It sounds like a joke: Norwich, the city of Alan Partridge, wants to be the new home of Channel 4. But it shouldn’t be. Sending Channel 4 to Norwich, Newcastle or Liverpool (Manchester doesn’t need it) would be a belated corrective to the destruction of a regional TV industry (it’s forgotten, ancient history that the likes of Anglia and Granada once made brilliant national programmes). Labour’s plans to relocate parts of the Bank of England to the provinces should be mirrored in all corners of government. Rebalancing our geographically skewed economy will ameliorate everything from the housing crisis to ossified social mobility. | It sounds like a joke: Norwich, the city of Alan Partridge, wants to be the new home of Channel 4. But it shouldn’t be. Sending Channel 4 to Norwich, Newcastle or Liverpool (Manchester doesn’t need it) would be a belated corrective to the destruction of a regional TV industry (it’s forgotten, ancient history that the likes of Anglia and Granada once made brilliant national programmes). Labour’s plans to relocate parts of the Bank of England to the provinces should be mirrored in all corners of government. Rebalancing our geographically skewed economy will ameliorate everything from the housing crisis to ossified social mobility. |
| • Patrick Barkham is a Guardian columnist | • Patrick Barkham is a Guardian columnist |
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