Asia (BBC1)

Rating:

Is there anything more reassuring on a Sunday evening than seeing Sir David Attenborough walk into the set, ready to introduce us to a new series?

That means we’re almost certainly going to enjoy an hour of the best television has to offer.

Of all the wonderful places in the world, he said from a wood-paneled room at the Natural History Museum, one continent holds more riches than any other. If you think you’ve seen the best the natural world has to offer, think again.

He’s now 98, but there was still an unmistakable spark of excitement in his eyes when he presented his new series Asia.

There will be seven programs, and we started under the waves with a colorful fish called the Moorish Idol.

Sir David Attenborough’s new series Asia is an hour of the best of television

A grilled mudskipper sitting in the mud in the mangroves of the Indonesian island of Java

A group of sperm whales socialize at the surface in the deep waters of the Indian Ocean

Sir David may be 98 years old, but there’s still an unmistakable spark of excitement in his eyes as he introduces his new series.

These are decorated with bright yellow, white and black stripes, which undoubtedly make them very attractive to underwater camera crews.

But that leaves them at a fatal disadvantage. You might as well get a tattoo of a sign that says, “Lunch is served.”

It wasn’t long before a flock of hungry sharks appeared with a gleam in their collective eyes.

When Sir David takes us underwater, it doesn’t take long for the sharks to arrive. They must have the best agent in the natural world.

The sharks made short work of the Moorish idols. We were able to observe from above a swarming yellow mass desperately trying to escape the relentless gray pursuit.

Once the sharks’ work was done, this mass of black, white and yellow had been reduced to just eight rather forlorn idols.

With that, we headed off to Komodo Island and the Manta Ray, which looks like a cross between a stealth bomber and a Hercules with the cargo door open.

They glide with relaxed jaws through the water, feeding on plankton. And when they’ve had enough, they enjoy a trip to an underwater version of a spa.

A young Yunnan snub-nosed monkey exploring its forest in the Hengduan Mountains of China

A once-extinct family in the Takhi Wilderness in Mongolia’s Hustai National Park

An Asian water monitor lizard found in the middle of Bangkok at Lumpini Municipal Park

Small butterfly fish nibble on the rays, feeding on plankton and dead fish. For the butterfly fish, it’s a square meal. For the rays, it’s a bit of a treat before returning at feeding time.

Much of the Asian underwater world appears to have been designed by a CGI wizard working under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs.

There is a slug called Sea Bunny because it looks like a toy rabbit, with black-tipped ears. And in the Sea of ​​Japan, there are firefly squid, whose tiny blue and green lights look like a Poundland Christmas tree ornament.

The cinematography, as usual with BBC natural history films, was exceptional. It’s easy to forget that while the wonders of the deep go about their daily lives – eating each other, reproducing, or just looking colorful and weird – there’s someone in a wetsuit and a camera who watches them.

Long may they continue.