Chris Packham blasts Jeremy Clarkson after ex Top Gear host criticised Attenborough’s Planet Earth series

Packham accused Clarkson of slamming the ‘world’s greatest broadcaster’

Chris Packham has savaged Jeremy Clarkson in an angry online rant after the former Top Gear presenter took at swipe at the BBC’s Planet Earth III , narrated by David Attenborough.

Writing in his Sun column, Clarkson appeared to complain that Attenborough’s new series was too focused on discussing climate change and did not have dialogue dedicated to the animals featured in the show.

Packham, a wildlife presenter best known for presenting BBC nature series Springwatch, sprung to Attenborough’s defence on Twitter/X calling Clarkson a “massive cockchafer”.

The Independent has contacted Clarkson’s representatives for comment.

The first episodes of the new series of Planet Earth III discuss stories about nature in decline and the effects of climate change on the future of the planet. However, Clarkson did not seem impressed.

“Like most people, I’ve been glued to the third series of Planet Earth. But unlike most people, I hate it,” wrote Clarkson.

“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.”

Sir David Attenborough at the global launch of BBC Studio’s Planet Earth III (PA Wire)

“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.’”

Clarkson continued: “And then it’s: ‘Here’s something with pointy teeth and soon it will be wiped out by global warming.’”

The Grand Tour presenter said that global warming is something “we know already”.

“So please, in future, tell us about the animals, not the b***** weather,” he concluded.

Packham, who is a passionate conversationist, quickly jumped to Attenborough’s defence on Twitter/X. Packham pointed to last year’s controversy when Clarkson had to apologise for the remarks he made about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, in that same column.

In the fiercely criticised piece, Clarkson stated he hated Meghan on a “cellular level” and he dreamt of the day she would be forced to parade naked through Britain while crowds chanted “shame” and hurled “excrement” at her.

The International Press Standards Organisation watchdog received more than 25,100 complaints in the wake of The Sun’s publication of Clarkson’s column about Markle in December last year. It is IPSO’s most complained-about article in history.

Hitting out at Clarkson on Twitter, Packham wrote in full: “Not content with fantasies of throwing s*** over members of the royal family he now slams the worlds greatest broadcaster and the man who has done more than anyone has or ever will to protect life on earth.”

“What a massive cockchafer” he added. A cockchafer is a type of beetle.