MISSISSIPPI – Morgan Freeman’s rich, majestic voice has graced a number of documentaries over the years, about religion, Jewish refugees and even penguins.

The American actor’s next one has a scope and subject that befit a man popularly known as the voice of God, thanks to the comedy film Bruce Almighty (2003): the entire history of life on Earth.

Life On Our Planet, an eight-part series showing on Netflix, takes viewers through billions of years, beginning at the dawn of time.

Starting with single cells in a primordial soup and sweeping through the age of the dinosaurs and the development of human civilisation, the series charts the rise and fall of countless species.

As Freeman narrates, the show depicts the “great battles for survival and the dynasties that would take over the world”.

Produced by Silverback Films in association with Hollywood film-maker Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, it relies on visual effects to conjure up lifelike pre-historic creatures, including woolly mammoths, a four-winged dinosaur called the Anchiornis and, of course, the Tyrannosaurus rex.

Visual effects make up 30 to 40 per cent of each episode. The remainder consists of footage shot in 45 countries including Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Morocco and the United Kingdom.

Despite the show’s title, this planetary saga frequently dwells on death.

In scene after scene, predators stalk their prey: a flying reptile swoops down on an unsuspecting sea turtle, a crocodile eyes a wildebeest and a squid pounces on a shrimp, the hunts charged with suspense by Freeman’s booming voice.

“The shrimp never saw it coming,” he says, as the squid enjoys its meal.

Death also comes to entire species, with the show’s narrative punctuated by five mass extinctions that together kill off millions of creatures.

Each event destroys one group of animals and paves the way for another, progressing from invertebrates to dinosaurs to eventually mammals.

Freeman, who won Best Supporting Actor for his role as an ex-boxer in Million Dollar Baby (2004), hopes viewers stick around long enough to see the end of the series, when Life On Our Planet depicts the ascendancy of humans – the only species capable of bringing about its own mass extinction.

“It was said that God created the heavens and the earth and put man in control,” the 86-year-old said.

“That’s a big mistake if God actually did that because, in just a few million years, we’ve almost created another extinction-level event.”

In a telephone interview from his home in Mississippi, Freeman spoke about the roots of his unmistakable vocal style, his admiration for legendary British natural historian David Attenborough and his fears about the planet’s future.

How did you decide to join this project?

Well, the planet itself and the history thereof interests me. I call myself a “planetist” because I am concerned mostly about what is happening on Earth. It sort of creeps up on you, watching how things are going.

We all know about the changing climates. That is a human thing. No animals are causing it. We are causing it. And it is happening; we can see it now.

What is your routine and process when you are narrating?

There was a script and a studio microphone. Some of them require a lot of takes. Because if you read through a paragraph and you slur a word or two, you have to go back and fix that.

Particularly in this show, there are a lot of these creatures that have names that are sort of maddening.

I recorded in Mobile, Alabama. I also live down on the Alabama coast, so if I get work while I am down there, I will go to a studio that I frequent in Mobile.

As you look back on previous documentaries you have narrated, which ones stand out to you?

I did March Of The Penguins (2005) and that was awesome. I really learnt quite a bit about how penguins live and interact.

When you are narrating, it is actually a learning process in itself. So I find these kinds of documentaries very interesting.

Part of the joy of doing it is learning all of that. You just absorb it and it goes down inside you somewhere.

What do you feel is different about narrating compared with acting?

When you are narrating, the point is to try and to be clear and not speak in a monotone. I guess it is a trick or gift or something. I seem to be pretty good at it.

I am a big fan of David Attenborough. He has that knack of getting information across.

You are known for your very distinctive voice. How did you develop that?

When I was in school at the Los Angeles Community College, I was taking theatre arts classes, which includes voice development. And I had a very good instructor there. That was the beginning of it.

What are you hoping people take away from Life On Our Planet?

How tenacious life is. If we can get enough information out in time, things will probably change, but not for a lot of us. The planet itself is what is alive. And we do not need to be here. NYTIMES

• Life On Our Planet is available on Netflix.