TV review: David Attenborough excels again in Blue Planet II

Sir David Attenborough in his new TV series, Planet Earth II.

Sir David Attenborough in the new TV series Planet Earth II. Reviewed by Lin Ferguson.

Life here on earth is fraught with conflicts. Constant wars, cruelty to others endless merciless and haranguing bullies are practically the norm.

But beneath our oceans are communities and neighbourhoods living their lives wholly dictated by nature. Because of this there are no dictatorships, twisted criminals, famines,refugees or housing crises ... Mother nature rules.

Blue Planet II, the BBC nature documentary series (TV One), is blindingly beautiful. It is narrated by naturalist Sir David Attenborough noted for his almost languid delivery, calm with the odd urgent whisper.

He is now 90 years old, a truly wonderful silver-haired master.

And superb camera work had the team diving under the sea for 500 hours according to the publicity. They were certain heroes, descending, sliding cautiously and filming through the inky depths of the Antarctic ocean.

Incredible close-ups of the glistening evil eyes of huge sharks, frightening open-jaw shots of the Fang Fish and following the cruel slithering of the sea snakes toward their prey. There were brilliant bursts of colours like liquid rainbows sent out by these sea creatures lighting trails through the dark water. It was mesmerising.

There were shots of a sponge Attenborough descibed as one of marine life's most simple creature. et this irridescent white sponge with its tentacles reaching upwards was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

And his programme is one of the beautiful pieces of filming I've ever seen.
The series was debuted on October 29 and simulcast on BBC One, BBC One HD and BBC Earth channel, making it the first natural history series to premiere on the same day in the United Kingdom, Nordic regions, European countries and in Asia.

And the music, composed by award-winning film score composer Hans Zimmer, seemed effortless so the music, like the water, was liquid. The spellbinding voices were from British rock band Radiohead.

In September 2017, the BBC announced that Radiohead had collaborated with Zimmer to record a new version of Bloom, a song from their 2011 album The King of Limbs.

The new track, (Ocean) Bloom, was recorded alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra.