“After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea,” says Sir David Attenborough, a man who – having spent his working life documenting the world of natural history – is about to launch what he has called “one of the most important films of his career” on the eve of entering his one hundredth year.Perhaps for the first time in those 100 years, Sir David is telling a story like never before because Ocean, a feature-length film and a production atypical to anything that has come before it – is not just a love-letter to the planet’s support system but a profound and direct call to arms to protect it. Not for the sake of nature. But for the sake of ourselves.

Afforded a cinematic production released this Thursday, May 8 before being rolled out to Disney+ later this year, Ocean meets Sir David reflecting on a lifetime in natural history television and feature production with a blue carpet premiere tonight at the Royal Festival Hall. 

“If we save the sea, we save our world,” says Sir David who this weekend admitted in an exclusive interview with The Times that he “won’t get to see the ocean’s recovery and restoration” but that the ‘young children seen playing on the beach today’ very well may do. At the very least, they will get to witness “perhaps the most consequential time for the human species in the past 10,000 years.”

Sir David will not get to see how that story plays out. But in Ocean – a co-production between the likes of Silverback Studios, OpenPlanet, The National Geographic, Arksen, and many other collaborative partners – he is certainly delivering his final attempt to steer the narrative. Because in Ocean, the world finally gets to see it all; the ocean in all its glory and wonder – the kind of visuals followers of Sir David’s career are already so used to seeing – contrast with the destruction being wrought upon it. All of it, closer than ever before.

Ocean with Sir David Attenborough will take viewers on a breathtaking journey to show there really is nowhere more vital for our survival, more full of life, wonder, or surprise than the ocean that covers 70% of our planet. Through spectacular sequences featuring coral reefs, kelp forests, and the open ocean, Sir David brings home the very reason why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable and flourishing.

“My lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery,” says Sir David. “Over the last one hundred years, scientists and explorers have revealed remarkable new species, epic migrations, and dazzling, more complex ecosystems beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man.

“In this film, we share some of those wonderful discoveries, uncover why our ocean is in such poor health, and – perhaps most importantly – show how it can be restored to health…”