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As I watch a leopard hunt in Kingdom, the BBC’s latest David Attenborough-narrated documentary, I find myself thinking about a YouGov survey from a few years ago that found that half of Britons wouldn’t take a free trip to the moon, with 11% turning it down because “there isn’t enough to see and do”. As well as it providing a fantastic insight into the great British public’s psyche (would outer space be better if it had Alton Towers?), I can’t help but wonder if it also explains the pressure that TV commissioners feel under to find new ways to interest the pesky human race in sights that would previously have been greeted with wonder.
Back in 2017, Blue Planet II was the most-watched programme of the year, with 14.1 million viewers tuning in to see dolphins surf on prime time. Today, the six-part Kingdom has been bumped to the teatime slot, and finding out which Strictly celeb’s rumba has been voted the most mediocre is deemed more important to the schedule.
Still, it is not as if Attenborough, and the enormous team behind him, have stopped trying. Billed by the BBC as “one of the most ambitious projects” ever undertaken by its Natural History Unit, Kingdom was filmed over the course of five years and has an impressive scope. But it focuses on the lives of four African animal families – leopards, hyenas, wild dogs and lions – as they jostle for dominance in a fertile river valley in Zambia.
It is essentially Game of Thrones if Cersei was a hyena and everyone was competing for some dinner. Watching the opening title sequence, in which images of the various animal dynasties are superimposed over a map of their territory, you half expect Sean Bean’s face to pop up on the northern border.
Winter is coming! No, sorry, that’s some leopards. We are introduced to Olimba, undisputed queen of the valley for a decade, who is teaching her son Moyo, and daughter, Mutima, about danger at the local mud bath. As Moyo – courageous but quite daft – wanders through the water oblivious to a hippopotamus camouflaged beneath, Mutima looks on from the sidelines with a stare many sisters will recognise. Disaster is averted this time (we’re only 11 minutes in, after all) but the producers may as well hold up a sign that reads “FORESHADOWING”. Viewers with a sensitive disposition should not get attached to Moyo/Jon Snow.
As we watch Olimba hunt to feed her cubs, new arrival Storm – a wild dog and rival queen – enters with her pack stage left to get the prey for herself. Outnumbered, Olimba has no choice but to hide from the dogs in a treetop; a humbling sight for such a majestic creature.
If you’re siding with the leopards at this point, nature conveniently provides a plot twist. As Storm enjoys her feast, hyenas – a species typically twice the size of wild dogs – turn up to try to steal her spoils. Suddenly you find yourself swapping allegiances. Team Wild Dog! But also Team Leopard.
Saying that, I can only respect pregnant hyena Tandala. While her family are off nabbing prey, she keeps out of the drama, sunbathing by the water with her eyes half shut. Anthropomorphism risks aside, by the time Tandala is hiding her snack in the river to keep it away from her annoying relatives, you can’t help but see your mum storing the Celebrations under the bed because your dad won’t stop eating the Maltesers Teasers.
Wildlife shows often spotlight the innate quest for survival, and Kingdom puts it at the forefront. But the shots of supporting characters – from elephants and giraffes to zebras – congregating at the river are some of the most striking, as if we are spying on utopia.
The third act brings another pack to threaten the leopard’s reign, and with it, the most emotive scene of the hour. When Moyo goes missing, Olimba searches day and night for her son. By morning, Moyo has been found dead, his wounds likely caused by a lion.
We have been privileged to see much of this before. And yet that’s the thing about the Attenborough franchise in 2025. No matter how many times viewers have watched similar chains of events, it is still deeply moving to hear a mother call for her child and know he is not coming back.
The episode ends with a cliffhanger, when Storm’s new litter are surrounded by a group of lions. Seven puppies hide in a den but one is left behind. Attenborough teases the next episode: “Can Storm rescue her pup in time or will it have to face the lions alone?”
Repetitive? Perhaps. Awe-inspiring, exhilarating and affecting? Certainly.
