La catástrofe de Chernóbil

Why do nearly all narrators of documentaries describing past events have the infuriating habit of talking about them in the present tense rather than the past tense?

Are they illiterate or is it some pathetic attempt to make "stuffy old history" seem more current and appealing to the uninitiated?

Thankfully most of the educated contributors manage to avoid this annoying trait.

It is a great shame because once you notice it this technique ruins the enjoyment of the programme completely.

Ben Fogle is an intelligent educated man so I can only assume that he is reading from a script written by someone with an agenda or without a clue.