If you happened to be in Piccadilly Circus last night (10 February) you'd have seen something quite spectacular.
As dusk fell, everyone's favourite lustrous-toned naturalist, David Attenborough, 'took over' the largest advertising display in Europe for 20 minutes, with a giant 3D animation of foliage springing up and spreading out across a 'concrete' backdrop.
Attenborough (his face accompanied by subtitles; unfortunately those silky vocals weren't to be heard) was there to remind us about the importance of plant life. "We depend upon them for every mouthful of food we eat and every lungful of air we breathe," he said, as traffic rattled ironically by.
"We must now work with plants, make the world a little greener, a little wilder. If we do this our future will be healthier, safer and in my experience, happier." Couldn't say it better myself, Dave.
In the fifth and final episode of his BBC show, The Green Planet, Attenborough visits Piccadilly Circus, revealing how plants still survive and thrive in inhospitable urban climates.
The famous Eros statue was also given a 'green' makeover (this one was real, not digital), the fountain and its steps covered in seasonal flowers and foliage by floral artist Alice McCabe. It was something of a call-back to previous centuries when the Circus was known for its flower sellers.
Around the corner from Piccadilly Circus, on Regent Street, you can currently visit a free augmented reality Green Planet experience, featuring a David Attenborough hologram. This one, fortunately, talks.
