It’s easy to detach yourself from Sir David Attenborough’s Planet Earth 2, with the natural world being so far away from human life.
The final episode of the mind-blowing documentary focused on cities and how the lives of animals and humans interact in the ever-changing urban environment.
After watching the direct effect that man has on other animals within a city, it is impossible to turn a blind eye to our ethnocentric perspective, and Attenborough brought the point home in his final speech.
We must protect our planet, and all those creatures who call it home. #PlanetEarth2 pic.twitter.com/9WpOWbMXgr
— BBC One (@BBCOne) December 11, 2016
Before last night, we had only heard his angelic voice narrating the scenes in nature.
Sir David appeared, on top of the Shard in London, to address the millions of viewers, saying:
Now, over half of us live in an urban environment. My home, too, is here – in the city of London. Looking down on this great metropolis, the ingenuity with which we continue to reshape the surface of our planet is very striking.
But it’s also sobering. It reminds me of just how easy it is for us to lose our connection with the natural world.
It is, surely, our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth.
…drop the mic.
That closing speech by Attenborough on top of the shard was something else #PlanetEarth2
— Conor McCann (@itisconor) December 12, 2016
The public were taken aback by Attenborough’s words and he inspired many to reflect on human duty to planet Earth.
What a wonderful series #PlanetEarth2 was! David Attenborough is right, we have a duty to protect this world from the mess we've put it in.
— Abi Goulding (@AbiGoulding13) December 12, 2016
The documentary is the highest-rated TV show on IMDB, with the first episode drawing in 9.2 million viewers.
Feeling fragile after #PlanetEarth2. Sir David Attenborough ended the series so poignantly and now I want to go save all the turtles. pic.twitter.com/5vVhNnBxJb
— Charlotte Walmsley (@CharlotteWalms) December 11, 2016
As Attenborough said his final words of the show and the camera panned out to show him majestically looking over our capital, the world wondered ‘what the fuck am I going to do on Sunday nights now?’
#PlanetEarth2 Wish more people would listen to Sir David Attenborough and #ActforWildlife pic.twitter.com/2Z9LpHO57s
— Jo W (@jowilis) December 11, 2016
The show’s producer has given us a smidgen of hope though, telling the Guardian it would be ‘crazy to count out’ a third season of Planet Earth.
We won’t hold our breathe though because there was a 10-year gap between the first and second.