New Attenborough series aims to be as influential as Blue Planet II was on plastic waste

A new BBC natural history series narrated by Sir David Attenborough airing later this month will have a conservationist message about the impact of the climate crisis at its heart.

Seven Worlds, One Planet will show “where humankind is negatively and positively impacting the health of the planet”, the corporation said on Monday as Attenborough launched the new series at a premiere in London.

The programme also marks a departure from predecessors in its expansive use of new drone filming techniques for a series that will capture new species and animal behaviours. Sequences include grave-robbing hamsters in Austria and polar bears using a never-before-seen hunting strategy to catch beluga whales in North America’s Hudson Bay.

Attenborough – who attended the screening of the first episode at a Leicester Square cinema as activists from Extinction Rebellion began a planned two-week shutdown of parts of the city – said the programme “celebrates biodiversity and the variety of life on our planet whilst also shining a spotlight on its challenges”.

Q&A What is Extinction Rebellion? Show Hide Extinction Rebellion is a protest group that uses non-violent civil disobedience to campaign on environmental issues. Launched in October 2018, with an assembly at Parliament Square to announce a 'declaration of rebellion' against the UK Government, the group has staged regular demonstrations against current environmental policies. More than 1,000 activists were arrested in April 2019 after protesters occupied four sites across London, as well as blocking roads, disrupting a railway line and conducting a protest at Heathrow. Other demonstrations have included a semi-naked protest inside the House of Commons and blockading streets in London, Cardiff, Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow. The group says climate breakdown threatens all life on Earth, and so it is rebelling against politicians who “have failed us”, to provoke radical change that will stave off a climate emergency. The movement has become global with groups set up in countries include the US, Spain, Australia, South Africa and India. Martin Belam Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu

“I’m thrilled that we’re about to share this incredible series with the world, which has been four years in the making by more than 1,500 dedicated people, on every continent,” the 93-year-old said.

The series, which will debut on Sunday 27 October on BBC One, will feature footage of animal habitats from each continent across seven episodes, starting with Antarctica.

Seven Worlds, One Planet has been purchased by broadcasters in China, the US, Australia and across all of Latin America. The BBC aims for it to emulate the tally of Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II, both of which were sold to more than 235 territories across the world.

Those involved are hoping that its conservationist message will resonate in a way that Blue Planet II’s story about the impact of plastic waste on the world’s oceans was credited with influencing public attitudes.

Q&A Why is the Guardian changing the language it uses about the environment? Show Hide The Guardian has updated its style guide to introduce terms that more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world. Instead of “climate change”, the preferred terms are “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown” and “global heating” is favoured over “global warming”. The scale of the climate and wildlife crises has been laid bare by two landmark reports from the world’s scientists. In October 2018, they said carbon emissions must halve by 2030 to avoid even greater risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. In May 2019, global scientists said human society was in jeopardy from the accelerating annihilation of wildlife and destruction of the ecosystems that support all life on Earth. The editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, says: “We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise, while also communicating clearly with readers on this very important issue. The phrase ‘climate change’, for example, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity.” Other terms that have been updated include the use of “wildlife” rather than “biodiversity”, “fish populations” instead of “fish stocks” and “climate science denier” rather than “climate sceptic”. Damian Carrington Environment editor

The screening was followed by a live satellite link-up with Mumbai’s Royal Opera House in India and South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind heritage site, which allowed 400 schoolchildren to watch the first episode.

The programme, which marks the first time the BBC’s Natural History Unit has explored every continent in a single series, is accompanied by the music of Hans Zimmer, who previously collaborated with the unit on Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II.

The BBC director general, Tony Hall, who introduced the screening, said the series “embodies the qualities that have become synonymous with the work of our Natural History Unit in Bristol”.

“The team there are true pioneers – they have an insatiable curiosity to discover new things. And that sense of adventure is why we’ve already committed to a pipeline of natural history landmarks.

“Since Planet Earth II we’ve been doing one a year, and we’ll continue to do that running up to 2023.

“We’ve never had that scale of ambition before and no other broadcaster in the world comes close to that kind of commitment to the natural world.”