{"id":253825,"date":"2025-11-09T22:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T22:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/253825\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T22:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T22:17:07","slug":"kingdom-review-david-attenborough-never-fails-to-make-nature-awe-inspiring-nature-documentaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/253825\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingdom review \u2013 David Attenborough never fails to make nature awe-inspiring | Nature documentaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I watch a leopard hunt in Kingdom, the BBC\u2019s latest David Attenborough-narrated documentary, I find myself thinking about a YouGov survey<\/a> from a few years ago that found that half of Britons wouldn\u2019t take a free trip to the moon, with 11% turning it down because \u201cthere isn\u2019t enough to see and do\u201d. As well as it providing a fantastic insight into the great British public\u2019s psyche (would outer space be better if it had Alton Towers?), I can\u2019t help but wonder if it also explains the pressure that TV commissioners feel under to find new ways to interest the pesky human race in sights that would previously have been greeted with wonder.<\/p>\n

Back in 2017, Blue Planet II<\/a> was the most-watched programme of the year, with 14.1 million viewers tuning in to see dolphins surf on prime time. Today, the six-part Kingdom has been bumped to the teatime slot, and finding out which Strictly celeb\u2019s rumba has been voted the most mediocre is deemed more important to the schedule.<\/p>\n

Still, it is not as if Attenborough, and the enormous team behind him, have stopped trying. Billed by the BBC as \u201cone of the most ambitious projects\u201d ever undertaken by its Natural History Unit, Kingdom was filmed over the course of five years and has an impressive scope. But it focuses on the lives of four African animal families \u2013 leopards, hyenas, wild dogs and lions \u2013 as they jostle for dominance in a fertile river valley in Zambia.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It is essentially Game of Thrones if Cersei was a hyena and everyone was competing for some dinner. Watching the opening title sequence, in which images of the various animal dynasties are superimposed over a map of their territory, you half expect Sean Bean\u2019s face to pop up on the northern border.<\/p>\n

Winter is coming! No, sorry, that\u2019s some leopards. We are introduced to Olimba, undisputed queen of the valley for a decade, who is teaching her son Moyo, and daughter, Mutima, about danger at the local mud bath. As Moyo \u2013 courageous but quite daft \u2013 wanders through the water oblivious to a hippopotamus camouflaged beneath, Mutima looks on from the sidelines with a stare many sisters will recognise. Disaster is averted this time (we\u2019re only 11 minutes in, after all) but the producers may as well hold up a sign that reads \u201cFORESHADOWING\u201d. Viewers with a sensitive disposition should not get attached to Moyo\/Jon Snow.<\/p>\n

Shots of elephants, giraffes and zebras congregating at the river are striking. It\u2019s as if we\u2019re spying on utopia<\/p>\n

As we watch Olimba hunt to feed her cubs, new arrival Storm \u2013 a wild dog and rival queen \u2013 enters with her pack stage left to get the prey for herself. Outnumbered, Olimba has no choice but to hide from the dogs in a treetop; a humbling sight for such a majestic creature.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re siding with the leopards at this point, nature conveniently provides a plot twist. As Storm enjoys her feast, hyenas \u2013 a species typically twice the size of wild dogs \u2013 turn up to try to steal her spoils. Suddenly you find yourself swapping allegiances. Team Wild Dog! But also Team Leopard.<\/p>\n

Saying that, I can only respect pregnant hyena Tandala. While her family are off nabbing prey, she keeps out of the drama, sunbathing by the water with her eyes half shut. Anthropomorphism risks aside, by the time Tandala is hiding her snack in the river to keep it away from her annoying relatives, you can\u2019t help but see your mum storing the Celebrations under the bed because your dad won\u2019t stop eating the Maltesers Teasers.<\/p>\n

Team wild dog! One of Storm\u2019s older sons greets the newest pups. Photograph: BBC Studios\/Anna Place<\/p>\n

Wildlife shows often spotlight the innate quest for survival, and Kingdom puts it at the forefront. But the shots of supporting characters \u2013 from elephants and giraffes to zebras \u2013 congregating at the river are some of the most striking, as if we are spying on utopia.<\/p>\n

The third act brings another pack to threaten the leopard\u2019s reign, and with it, the most emotive scene of the hour. When Moyo goes missing, Olimba searches day and night for her son. By morning, Moyo has been found dead, his wounds likely caused by a lion.<\/p>\n

We have been privileged to see much of this before. And yet that\u2019s the thing about the Attenborough franchise in 2025. No matter how many times viewers have watched similar chains of events, it is still deeply moving to hear a mother call for her child and know he is not coming back.<\/p>\n

The episode ends with a cliffhanger, when Storm\u2019s new litter are surrounded by a group of lions. Seven puppies hide in a den but one is left behind. Attenborough teases the next episode: \u201cCan Storm rescue her pup in time or will it have to face the lions alone?\u201d<\/p>\n

Repetitive? Perhaps. Awe-inspiring, exhilarating and affecting? Certainly.<\/p>\n

Kingdom aired on BBC One and is on iPlayer now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As I watch a leopard hunt in Kingdom, the BBC\u2019s latest David Attenborough-narrated documentary, I find myself thinking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-253825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-unitedkingdom","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}