Planet Earth: Asia

Asia is magnificent, epic, four years in the making — and we haven’t even got to the best episodes yet.

The script tends to humanise animal processes that we identify as fun – dating and mating, homebuilding and pampering – rather than the end-of-life stuff. There were plenty of extraordinary things witnessed here. .... For better or worse – take your pick – there was no section devoted to climate change.

Asia emerges as a reminder of all that could be lost if we don’t stay alert, but it’s also pure natural-world magic.

Attenborough’s minimal contribution throughout remains key.

It is filmed beautifully, edited with wit, soundtracked with flair and narrated with warmth and authority. .... It is notable that, in this first episode at least, Asia has toned down the rhetoric that permeated Planet Earth III, for example, of the Anthropocene and human-induced destruction.