David Attenborough’s Ocean film is ‘biggest message he’s ever told’

Published

6 months ago

May 7, 2025

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Sir David Attenborough’s latest film is “the biggest message he’s ever told”, its directors have said – with one telling Sky News the broadcaster’s final words on saving the world’s oceans brought him to tears.

Ocean With David Attenborough, released in cinemas this week to mark the broadcaster’s 99th birthday on Thursday, mirrors his lifetime as it takes viewers through 100 years of discoveries about Earth’s seas.

The presenter hopes the film could help protect the planet from climate change.

He filmed with crew members over two years to show coral reefs, kelp forests and the open seas, to show why healthy oceans are so important for keeping the planet stable.

King Charles was among the guests at the premiere, held at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, and spent time with Sir David on the red carpet.

Toby Nowlan, one of Ocean’s directors, who has worked with the broadcaster for about 16 years, told Sky News entertainment correspondent Katie Spencer that the film was “very different” to any of his previous work.

“Nothing has come close to how important this film is,” he said. “I remember sitting on a very cold beach off Sussex, filming with him, and we were doing the opening and closing words for the film.

“It was such a poignant moment. They were the most powerful words I’ve ever heard him say.”

Sir David speaks of how, after almost 100 years on Earth, he believes the planet’s oceans are the most important area to protect. “And if we save the ocean, we save our world,” Nowlan said. “It really hit me and, yeah, I welled up.”

He added that while Sir David’s message is his “biggest” yet, ultimately it is one of hope.

“There’s been a lot of doom and gloom over the last few years – we want the take home to be: if we save our ocean, we can make a huge difference for our climate, for our fisheries, for conservation, for food security.”

‘The man never stops’

Fellow director Keith Scholey met Sir David when he was a zoology student in the 1980s and started working with the broadcaster.

“I’ve had this privilege all my career of working with the great man,” he said. “He is a huge team worker. He does what he does incredibly well, he expects very high standards, but it’s always been a really fun process working with him.”

He also has an “extraordinary” work ethic, Scholey said. “The man never stops and I think for him, time is very precious and you never waste time. He certainly never wastes time. And that’s infectious to all the people who work with him.”

And Sir David still has more to come, he added. “I’m sure this isn’t his last documentary at all, and in fact I know there are other things happening, but I think this is a really important one.”

Colin Butfield, another of the film’s directors, said all the crew would get “swept up” in the broadcaster’s enthusiasm and energy.

‘If there’s a strange creature at the end, he’ll go anywhere’

Actor and travel presenter Sir Michael Palin, former US secretary of state and climate envoy John Kerry, and astronaut Tim Peake were also among the celebrities and well known figures at the film’s premiere.

Mr Kerry told Sky News he was “genuinely optimistic” about the future of the planet and that Ocean would be “a new motivator and a strong message that people will find inescapable”.

He added: “We all love the ocean. Everybody thinks it’s just too big to be damaged, but that’s not true. All around the world, it is currently being attacked by human beings in ways that are just not sensible, but easily correctable.”

Sir Michael described Sir David’s brilliance as a communicator – and joked about some of the situations he has filmed in over the years.

“He has a lovely way of telling stories and he obviously loves discomfort. If there’s some sort of strange creature at the end of it, he’ll go anywhere…

“He’s had it far worse [than me]. I’ve been to various places that he’s been to and I know what it’s like filming in the cold, but, you know, he lies down to look at penguins. I must say, I walk through them, but there you go.”

He said Sir David’s output “leaves all the rest of us behind”.

Sir Michael added: “I mean we’ve got to keep going because he’s setting such an example. But he does it with a sense of wonder… he does it because he’s amazingly curious about the world and still has this sense of wonder when he talks about what he’s doing. It’s really inspiring.”

UK

Prince Harry expresses pride at fighting for his country and calls for veterans not to be forgotten

Published

2 hours ago

November 5, 2025

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Prince Harry expresses pride at fighting for his country and calls for veterans not to be forgotten

The Duke of Sussex has written about the privilege of serving his country ahead of Remembrance Day and appealed for people to consider former service personnel who carry the “weight of war”.

In a passionate essay, Prince Harry has warned how easy it is for veterans to be forgotten “once the uniform comes off”.

Former soldier Harry, who undertook two frontline tours to Afghanistan, has paid tribute to former servicemen and women across the UK, and describes Remembrance as “not simply a minute’s silence” but “a call to collective responsibility”.

“Every November the world, for a moment, grows quieter. We pause, together, to remember.

“Remembrance has never been about glorifying war. It’s about recognising its cost: the lives changed forever and the lessons paid for, through unimaginable sacrifice. It’s also about honouring those who, knowing that cost, still choose to serve,” he wrote.

In the 647-word essay entitled The Bond, The Banter, The Bravery: What it means to be British, Harry called on people to remember “not only the fallen, but the living” who carry the “weight of war” and urged them to knock on veterans’ doors and “join them for a cuppa… or a pint” to hear their stories and “remind them their service still matters”.

He added that he was “moved” each year by Norfolk-based Scotty’s Little Soldiers charity, which supports bereaved military children.

He also praised the “resilience” of those he met in Ukraine who had been injured in the war, and described the “courage reborn, camaraderie restored” seen at his Invictus Games competition.

It is “proof that service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off”, he wrote in the piece, released as his brother Prince William prepared to hand out awards for his Earthshot Prize in Brazil.

While recognising he is no longer a working royal in the UK, he expressed his love of the “things that make us British”.

He wrote: “Though currently, I may live in the United States, Britain is, and always will be, the country I proudly served and fought for.

“The banter of the mess, the clubhouse, the pub, the stands ridiculous as it sounds, these are the things that make us British. I make no apology for it. I love it.”

Harry’s personal message may feel like an own goal

To us it may feel like an unfortunate clash. William in Brazil to talk about the environment, Harry in Canada for Remembrance, both brothers trying to draw attention to causes they’ve supported for a very long time.

Both, I suspect, wishing we’d focus on what they’re actually trying to say, rather than what we think it means that they’re both on significant trips at the same time.

I know that both sides share a frustration that the headlines will pit them against each other, it has also been suggested that Harry’s team did make royal communications aware of his Canada plans.

The release of a particularly personal article about his life in the military, his observation that it’s easy for veterans to be forgotten and an apparent longing for what he defines as Britain, is intriguing though.

Especially when you can’t help but wonder whether it really needed to be published on the same day as his brother’s Earthshot Awards.

Sometimes these things feel like an own goal when it comes to the stream of stories about brothers divided, although how much should we bear the responsibility for perpetuating that narrative?

Harry also wrote that: “Remembrance isn’t confined to one weekend in November”.

“It’s a lifelong commitment to empathy, gratitude, and action; to be kinder, more united, and braver in protecting what those before us fought to preserve.”

UK

‘Hope won’: London mayor Sadiq Khan compares newly-elected New York mayor to his leadership

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2025

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'Hope won': London mayor Sadiq Khan compares newly-elected New York mayor to his leadership

New York has followed London by choosing hope over fear in electing Democrat Zohran Mamdani as its new mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan said.

Mr Mamdani, 34, defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa to become the city’s first Muslim mayor and the first of South Asian heritage.

London mayor Sir Sadiq drew comparisons to his own 2016 victory as he congratulated Mr Mamdani, who will become New York’s youngest mayor in more than a century when he takes office on 1 January.

US latest: Trump downplays Democrats’ wins

Sir Sadiq called it a “historic campaign”, adding on X: “New Yorkers faced a clear choice – between hope and fear – and just like we’ve seen in London – hope won.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson also congratulated Mr Mamdani, telling Sky News: “I wish him well.

“It’s a wonderful job to have secured.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said Mr Mamdani’s success “will resonate throughout the world” as he called it a “story where no one is left behind”.

“It’s time to write that story across England and Wales too,” he added.

Mr Mamdani’s victory was a setback for Donald Trump, who had thrown his weight behind Andrew Cuomo, a former Democrat running as an independent.

The mayor-elect described himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare” and said New York had shown “a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him”.

The US president had threatened to cut federal funding to New York if Mr Mamdani won.

In his victory speech, Mr Mamdani said: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”

UK

Manhunt for foreign prisoner after mistaken release from HMP Wandsworth

Published

5 hours ago

November 5, 2025

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Manhunt for foreign prisoner after mistaken release from HMP Wandsworth

Another foreign prisoner is on the run after being mistakenly released, Sky News has learnt.

The error at HMP Wandsworth in south London happened on 29 October – just five days after the high-profile release of migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford in Essex.

It was also two days after Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy announced enhanced checks on prisoner releases.

Manhunt latest: Foreign prisoner on the loose

The Metropolitan Police confirmed to Sky News: “Shortly after 1pm on Tuesday 4 November, the Met was informed by the Prison Service that a prisoner had been released in error from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday 29 October.

“The prisoner is a 24-year-old Algerian man.

“Officers are carrying out urgent enquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody.”

Sky News understands the prisoner was serving time for trespass with an intent to steal but has previously committed sexual offences.

It is understood he is not an asylum seeker.

‘Utterly unacceptable’

It is not yet clear why it was nearly a week between the latest release at Wandsworth and the police being informed that an offender was at large.

Sir Keir Starmer was not aware of the incident until the Met Police announcement, Downing Street said.

The prime minister’s spokesman told reporters: “The Met have released a statement I think in the last few minutes.”

He said “one mistaken release is one too many” and the case was “utterly unacceptable”.

“It’s important the police are given the time and space to bring him back into custody. And we will look into the circumstances behind this as a matter of urgency,” he added.

The PM’s spokesman could not say when Mr Lammy became aware of the error, after the cabinet minister refused to answer several questions in the House of Commons on the incident from the shadow defence secretary.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wrote on X: “James Cartlidge asked the Deputy PM FIVE times to tell us if ANOTHER migrant sex offender had been accidentally released from prison.

“Instead of answering, Lammy lost his temper.

“Now we read it HAS happened again & he’s been on the run for a week.

“This is a shambles of a government.”

Lammy ‘outraged and appalled’

Sky News understands Mr Lammy did know about the prisoner release before he stood up in the Commons and was pressed on the issue by the Conservatives.

“If we knew, one can only assume the justice secretary knew,” a spokesman for Ms Badenoch said, adding Mr Lammy should come back to the chamber “and do a statement as soon as possible”.

Mr Lammy said afterwards he was “absolutely outraged and appalled by the mistaken release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police”, adding his “officials have been working through the night to take him back to prison”.

“Victims deserve better and the public deserve answers,” he said.

It is understood Mr Lammy believed it would have been irresponsible to talk about the case – involving several agencies – while details were still emerging.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted on social media: “Another dangerous criminal is on the loose thanks to Labour. What a total farce.”

The numbers of these types of errors has risen recently, with 262 instances between March 2024 and March 2025.

The Conservatives described the Kebatu episode as a “national embarrassment”.

In the aftermath of the Kebatu manhunt, Mr Lammy promised “the strongest release checks that have ever been in place”.

He also ordered an independent investigation into the Kebatu release, which is being led by former Deputy Commissioner of the Met Police Dame Lynne Owens.

“This latest incident exposes deeper flaws across the failing criminal justice system we inherited,” Mr Lammy added in his statement on Wednesday on the HMP Wandsworth error.

“Dame Lynne Owens’ investigation will leave no stone unturned to identify these issues, so we can fix them, improve safeguards and ensure the public is properly protected.”

‘Dangerous situation’

The Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said: “Just when you couldn’t think things could get any worse for the Ministry of Justice, somehow they have. It would be laughable if the situation weren’t so dangerous.

“This is yet another grave mistake from the government. The public deserves a full explanation about how this has happened again. That should start with David Lammy coming back before Parliament this afternoon for why he failed to answer this pressing question in PMQs as well as a full explanation of how it took almost a week for this to come to light.

“It’s utterly unacceptable that public safety has been put at risk yet again. Both the government and the Prison Service must own up to their failures and guarantee that these mistakes will stop happening once and for all.”