The BBC has announced that world renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough is to present Blue Planet II*, the brand new seven part landmark series from the multi-award winning BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, which will be broadcast later this year on BBC Earth.
Twenty years ago, a team of wildlife film makers from the BBC’s Natural History Unit set out to make a series on the world’s oceans, the breadth and scale of which had never been seen before. Broadcast in 2001, the multi award-winning ‘The Blue Planet’, presented by Sir David Attenborough, cemented the Unit’s peerless reputation for underwater filming.
Now, a generation on, the NHU has returned to these underwater worlds for Blue Planet II, with even more ambitious filming and a fresh cast of extraordinary aquatic animals, spending some four years filming off every continent, and in all of the earth’s oceans, to immerse the audience in some of the most expansive but least known parts of our planet.
David Attenborough said: “I am truly thrilled to be joining this new exploration of the underwater worlds which cover most of our planet, yet are still its least known”.
Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content, said: “The BBC’s world renowned natural history unit are set to captivate audiences once again with unmissable stories of ocean life presented by the one and only David Attenborough -it really doesn’t get much better than that!”
James Honeyborne, Executive Producer, said: “The Oceans are the most exciting place to be right now, because new scientific discoveries have given us a new perspective of life beneath the waves. Blue Planet II is taking its cue from these breakthroughs, unveiling unbelievable new places, extraordinary new behaviours and remarkable new creatures. Showing a contemporary portrait of marine life, it will provide a timely reminder that this is a critical moment for the health of the world’s oceans.”
Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual, said: “Blue Planet II promises to combine the exceptional craftsmanship that our audiences have come to expect from BBC Natural History with genuinely new revelations about the creatures and habitats of the world’s oceans. I have no doubt it will thrill and delight the audience; and deliver a new benchmark in Natural History film-making”.
Blue Planet II explores the latest frontiers of scientific discovery, from icy-white polar seas to vibrant blues of the coral atolls, from the storm-tossed green Atlantic coastline to the black depths of the alien deep.
Viewers will encounter surprising new landscapes such as methane volcanoes which erupt in the Gulf of Mexico; and the so-called “Boiling Sea” phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean. And by taking two manned submersibles to explore the Antarctic deep at 1000m for the very first time, the series will bring a “new world” to the audience.
Astonishing new creatures, including hairy-chested Hoff crabs; snub fin dolphins that spit water through the air; and a tool-using tusk fish, have been filmed for the first time, and the crew was able to capture some extraordinary examples of behaviour, such as sophisticated hunting between a coral grouper and a reef octopus; giant trevally that catch flying birds in mid-air; and a dive with a sperm whale mother and calf, as she heads deep into the abyss to hunt.
The series’ camera teams have worked off every continent, and across every ocean, often in collaboration with marine scientists. They have developed new filming technologies, including UHD ‘tow cams’ that allow predatory fish and dolphins to be filmed front-on; UHD suction cams which enable the viewer to ‘travel’ on the back of large creatures such as whale sharks and orcas; and a UHD probe camera that immerses the viewer into the world of miniature marine life.
Blue Planet II, a 7×60’ for BBC One, is made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced with BBC America, WDR and France Télévisions in partnership with The Open University. It is Executive Produced by James Honeyborne and Series Produced by Mark Brownlow, and was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller of TV Content and iPlayer and Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual.
Blue Planet II will be launched to international TV buyers at BBC Worldwide Showcase 2017 (19th – 22nd February) with a special event dedicated to the series. BBC Worldwide Showcase is the world’s largest single-distributor sales market, attracting around 700 delegates from around the world.
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For more information, please contact:
Jeanne Leong
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Jeanne.Leong@bbc.com
Jessie Lim
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5295
Email: Jessie.Lim@bbc.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
* Previously announced as Ocean
Blue Planet II is a BBC Studios Natural History Unit production, co-produced with BBC America, WDR and France Télévisions. A BBC Open University partnership.
Following the outstanding success of Planet Earth II last year, Blue Planet II is its successor as the natural history landmark series for 2017
Episode two of Planet Earth II, was the most watched natural history programme for at least 15 years, with an audience of 13.14m viewers (the highest rating episode)
The series average for Planet Earth II was 10.15m
About BBC Worldwide
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