Chris Packham Fires Back At Jeremy Clarkson After His Criticism Of David Attenborough

The former Top Gear recently claimed the latest season of Planet Earth is "driving me insane".
Sir David Attenborough
Sir David Attenborough
BBC/Humble Bee Films/Talkback Thames

At 97 years old, Sir David Attenbrough is widely seen as a national treasure, with a legion of fans from all generations thanks to his fascinating nature documentaries such as The Blue Planet and Our Planet.

However, it appears he has had one viewer switching off the recent third series of Planet EarthJeremy Clarkson.

While we’re sure Sir David won’t be losing any sleep over the former Top Gear host seemingly losing interest in his documentary, his reasons for doing so are rather bizarre.

In his latest column for The Sun, the Clarkson’s Farm host said: “Like most people, I’ve been glued to the third series of Planet Earth. But unlike most people, I hate it.

“Oh the photography is brilliant. Spellbinding even. But the words are driving me insane.”

Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeff Spicer via Getty Images

He fumed: “There used to be a time when Sir Attenborough would tell us all about the animal he’d found. Where it lived. How it mated. How it built a house. How it caught food. It was fascinating.

“But now all we ever get is: ‘Here’s a see-through fish with an orange stomach, and its future is threatened by climate change.’ And then it’s: ‘Here’s something with pointy teeth and soon it will be wiped out by global warming.’

”We know already. So please, in future, tell us about the animals, not the bloody weather.”

A bit of a weird take to attack a national treasure who has done so much for conservation and raising awareness of the planet, right?

Well, someone who took particular umbrage with Jeremy’s words was Springwatch presenter, Chris Packham.

Chris Packham
Chris Packham
Dave Benett via Getty Images

Referencing Clarkson’s hugely controversial column about Meghan Markle from last year, Chris wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Not content with fantasies of throwing shit over members of the royal family, he now slams the world’s greatest broadcaster and the man who has done more than anyone has or ever will to protect life on earth…”

He added: “What a massive cockchafer.”

While we’re unsure of the exact intention behind those final words, we can only assume that Chris was just referring to Jeremy as an agricultural pest, rather than anything too rude…

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