“Our Planet” is the first nature documentary series produced by Netflix, narrated by David Attenborough. It was released in full on April 5, 2019, and created by Silverback Films, led by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The same team is behind well-known BBC series such as “Planet Earth,” “Frozen Planet” and “The Blue Planet.” Steven Price composed the music, collaborating with singer Ellie Goulding on the theme song “In This Together.”
The series follows the wildlife and natural wonders of eight different ecosystems, from the Arctic wilderness and the deep sea to Africa’s vast landscapes and the jungles of South America. Unlike traditional nature documentaries, it places much greater emphasis on human impacts on the environment, with a central focus on how climate change affects all living things.
Production took nine and a half years, with filming in 50 countries and more than 600 people involved. Netflix said it was expected to be watched by 25 million households in its first month; by March 2021, it had reached 100 million households. A second season, titled “Our Planet II,” was released in June 2023. There is also an hour-long episode titled “Our Planet – Behind The Scenes,” available among Netflix’s additional videos.
The premiere took place on April 4, 2019, at London’s Natural History Museum. Guests included Prince Charles with his sons William and Harry, David Beckham with his son Brooklyn, Ellie Goulding and Attenborough himself. In his speech, Prince Charles said he hoped “Our Planet” would educate hundreds of millions of people about the action needed, while Attenborough called on people to become responsible and thoughtful citizens of this planet, our only home.
Reviews were largely positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a 93% approval rating with an average of 8.33/10, while on Metacritic it scores 88/100. The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan gave it 4 out of 5 stars, noting that it shows more clearly the fragility and interconnectedness of all species and ecosystems. Vox’s Bryan Resnick wrote that the series reminds us we live in an age of staggering wildlife loss caused by human development, overfishing, deforestation and climate change, and does not let us forget it.
There were reservations, however. The Telegraph’s Ed Power called it visually dazzling but very familiar, awarding it 3 out of 5 stars and saying that it presents life on Earth as a ballet of teeth and claws, lacking the innovation of earlier Attenborough series. Lucy Jones in The Independent felt that its most important feature was incorporating the harsh reality of global warming, mass species extinction and environmental degradation into the narrative, but added that the series should be more radical and name those responsible for ecocide, such as the fossil fuel industry, fishing, agriculture and plastics.
One related controversy concerned the walrus scene, in which Netflix edited together footage from two different beaches in Russia, filmed in 2017; producer Sophie Lanfear clarified that the sequence includes footage from two separate beaches. The producers called the scene “the most powerful story they found in four years of filming.” Parents of children in Canada and other viewers also complained about some intense scenes.
From June 20, 2020, the series aired on Indonesian television channel TVRI as part of the educational program “Belajar dari Rumah” (Study from Home), through a partnership between the Ministry of Education and Culture and Netflix; it was the first Netflix original documentary series ever broadcast on conventional television. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Netflix made the first season available for free on YouTube as educational material. The series also has an official website.
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