Something the BBC and Sir David Attenborough are the best in the world at is making science and nature documentaries.
Now Auntie and the 90-year-old broadcaster and naturalist have teamed up once again to give us "Planet Earth II", the sequel to 2006's "Planet Earth" and the BBC’s most impressive natural history series to date, which is taking viewers closer than ever into the private lives of animals, using techniques previously reserved for dramas such as Poldark or War and Peace.
The corporation has even commissioned a soundtrack by Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer, who is better known for scoring the films The Lion King, Gladiator and Batman.
The spectacular new series hits our screens on Sunday 6th November.
Planet Earth II: BBC gives natural world Hollywood blockbuster treatment
Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
29 October 2016
The Telegraph
It could be a scene directed by Steven Spielberg.
As tiny hatchling lizards break through their shells, hundreds of snakes pour through cracks in a cliff face triggering a life-or-death sprint for survival, accompanied by a nerve-jangling orchestral score.
But this isn’t Hollywood, it is Planet Earth II, the BBC’s most impressive natural history series to date, which is taking viewers closer than ever into the private lives of animals, using techniques previously reserved for dramas such as Poldark or War and Peace.
The corporation has even commissioned a soundtrack by Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer, who is better known for scoring the films The Lion King, Gladiator and Batman.
“We decided to film this as a drama, which is absolutely what it is,” said Zimmer. “The truly remarkable thing that all fiction pails into comparison to the reality that we have shown here."
The series is narrated by Sir David Attenborough Credit: BBC
Sir David Attenborough, who returns to narrate the series, said: “It’s very important that television should every now again take a very in depth view of something.
“There is nothing more important as far as I am concerned. It is incredible. It’s great stories. It’s important stories, it stories that take time and devotion.
“50 years ago there is hardly a species on Planet Earth II that anyone would have seen. They wouldn’t know about fairy terns or sloths.
And now everyone knows and it is remarkable.”
A mother pygmy three-toed sloth cradles her baby in her arms. Credit: BBC
The award-winning original Planet Earth aired in 2006 and was the first series to be commissioned in high-definition by the BBC. It has since been aired in 130 countries and was the most watched cable event of all time when it was broadcast in the US.
The new series is made in ultra-high definition 4K and has sought to go even deeper into the hidden lives of animals. The cinematic quality of the production has been achieved using hand-held gyro-stabilised cameras which has allowed cameramen to move alongside the animals while still achieving high-quality, wide-angled shots. Drones, remotely operated cameras and camera traps have also been used to reach areas where humans would struggle to visit or where people would scare animals away.
“These kind of sensibilities have been used in dramas and movies for years and we are applying them in the natural world,” said series producer Tom Hugh Jones.
“We have this incredible sequence of peregrines chasing pigeons amongst the skyscapers of New York, almost like a scene from Spiderman.”
A hatchling marine iguana sits on the head of an adult at Cape Douglas, on the island of Fernandina Credit: BBC
Many of the sequences which appear in the new series have been filmed for the first time, documenting animal behaviour that has never been seen before.
The mating displays of birds of paradise have been shot from above, the way a female bird would view it, while the Araguaia dolphin, which was only discovered in the Amazon in 2014, has been captured on film for the first time.
Bobcats hunting ducks and squirrels in the Rocky Mountains; lions hunting giraffes in Namibia; the strange behaviour of scorpion hunting bats and the ethereal glow of bioluminescent fungi are all broadcast firsts.
In the Galapagos Islands the team captured the strange world of marine iguanas, amphibious lizards which can hold their breath underwater for 30 minutes. Their offspring undergoes one of the most treacherous entries into the world which experts were entirely unaware of until the cameras started rolling.
Madagascar is famed for its lemurs a type of primate found nowhere else on Earth Credit: BBC
“We see these babies hatch out, and the camera tracks towards them, and suddenly this snake comes from under the camera,” said Mike Gunton, the executive producer.
“And then a couple of seconds later another snake and then another, and another, and another. They come out of the rocks. It’s like something from Indiana Jones, it’s truly amazing.
“A number of occasions on this programme we filmed things that nobody had seen before. I think Planet Earth took a very awe-inspiring view of the planet. It looked down on the Earth as God does whereas we’re saying "What is that view of the world like if you’re the animal?".
“We’re putting you the audience in the animals' shoes. Instead of the camera being far away from the animal it’s now three feet away.”
In January, the island of Zavodovski is covered with penguin chicks Credit: BBC
Watch the trailer:
The series is broken up into six habitats: ‘islands’, ‘jungles’, ‘mountains’, grasslands’, ‘deserts’ and, for the first time, ‘cities.’ The programme highlights how animals are adapting to make the most of urban landscapes. The team discovered that the largest populations of wild leopards now lives in the city of Mumbai in India, while the biggest group of peregrine falcons can be found in New York.
“The skyscrapers are like cliffs and provide the updraft they need for their flight and they also have got pigeons which is what they live on,” said Sir David.
“Over half of the human population lives in cities. More people are out of touch with the natural world. A lot of people don’t see anything of the natural world, except a rat. But since we depend on the natural world, understanding it is absolutely paramount.”
BBC Director General Tony Hall said: “We now have cameras which can capture what we couldn’t do before.
“We have got drones. We have an access to the world that we couldn’t have had a decade ago.”
Planet Earth II airs on BBC One on 6th November at 8pm.
Planet Earth II: BBC gives natural world Hollywood blockbuster treatment*
Now Auntie and the 90-year-old broadcaster and naturalist have teamed up once again to give us "Planet Earth II", the sequel to 2006's "Planet Earth" and the BBC’s most impressive natural history series to date, which is taking viewers closer than ever into the private lives of animals, using techniques previously reserved for dramas such as Poldark or War and Peace.
The corporation has even commissioned a soundtrack by Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer, who is better known for scoring the films The Lion King, Gladiator and Batman.
The spectacular new series hits our screens on Sunday 6th November.
Planet Earth II: BBC gives natural world Hollywood blockbuster treatment
Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
29 October 2016
The Telegraph
It could be a scene directed by Steven Spielberg.
As tiny hatchling lizards break through their shells, hundreds of snakes pour through cracks in a cliff face triggering a life-or-death sprint for survival, accompanied by a nerve-jangling orchestral score.
But this isn’t Hollywood, it is Planet Earth II, the BBC’s most impressive natural history series to date, which is taking viewers closer than ever into the private lives of animals, using techniques previously reserved for dramas such as Poldark or War and Peace.
The corporation has even commissioned a soundtrack by Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer, who is better known for scoring the films The Lion King, Gladiator and Batman.
“We decided to film this as a drama, which is absolutely what it is,” said Zimmer. “The truly remarkable thing that all fiction pails into comparison to the reality that we have shown here."
The series is narrated by Sir David Attenborough Credit: BBC
Sir David Attenborough, who returns to narrate the series, said: “It’s very important that television should every now again take a very in depth view of something.
“There is nothing more important as far as I am concerned. It is incredible. It’s great stories. It’s important stories, it stories that take time and devotion.
“50 years ago there is hardly a species on Planet Earth II that anyone would have seen. They wouldn’t know about fairy terns or sloths.
And now everyone knows and it is remarkable.”
A mother pygmy three-toed sloth cradles her baby in her arms. Credit: BBC
The award-winning original Planet Earth aired in 2006 and was the first series to be commissioned in high-definition by the BBC. It has since been aired in 130 countries and was the most watched cable event of all time when it was broadcast in the US.
The new series is made in ultra-high definition 4K and has sought to go even deeper into the hidden lives of animals. The cinematic quality of the production has been achieved using hand-held gyro-stabilised cameras which has allowed cameramen to move alongside the animals while still achieving high-quality, wide-angled shots. Drones, remotely operated cameras and camera traps have also been used to reach areas where humans would struggle to visit or where people would scare animals away.
“These kind of sensibilities have been used in dramas and movies for years and we are applying them in the natural world,” said series producer Tom Hugh Jones.
“We have this incredible sequence of peregrines chasing pigeons amongst the skyscapers of New York, almost like a scene from Spiderman.”
A hatchling marine iguana sits on the head of an adult at Cape Douglas, on the island of Fernandina Credit: BBC
Many of the sequences which appear in the new series have been filmed for the first time, documenting animal behaviour that has never been seen before.
The mating displays of birds of paradise have been shot from above, the way a female bird would view it, while the Araguaia dolphin, which was only discovered in the Amazon in 2014, has been captured on film for the first time.
Bobcats hunting ducks and squirrels in the Rocky Mountains; lions hunting giraffes in Namibia; the strange behaviour of scorpion hunting bats and the ethereal glow of bioluminescent fungi are all broadcast firsts.
In the Galapagos Islands the team captured the strange world of marine iguanas, amphibious lizards which can hold their breath underwater for 30 minutes. Their offspring undergoes one of the most treacherous entries into the world which experts were entirely unaware of until the cameras started rolling.
Madagascar is famed for its lemurs a type of primate found nowhere else on Earth Credit: BBC
“We see these babies hatch out, and the camera tracks towards them, and suddenly this snake comes from under the camera,” said Mike Gunton, the executive producer.
“And then a couple of seconds later another snake and then another, and another, and another. They come out of the rocks. It’s like something from Indiana Jones, it’s truly amazing.
“A number of occasions on this programme we filmed things that nobody had seen before. I think Planet Earth took a very awe-inspiring view of the planet. It looked down on the Earth as God does whereas we’re saying "What is that view of the world like if you’re the animal?".
“We’re putting you the audience in the animals' shoes. Instead of the camera being far away from the animal it’s now three feet away.”
In January, the island of Zavodovski is covered with penguin chicks Credit: BBC
Watch the trailer:
The series is broken up into six habitats: ‘islands’, ‘jungles’, ‘mountains’, grasslands’, ‘deserts’ and, for the first time, ‘cities.’ The programme highlights how animals are adapting to make the most of urban landscapes. The team discovered that the largest populations of wild leopards now lives in the city of Mumbai in India, while the biggest group of peregrine falcons can be found in New York.
“The skyscrapers are like cliffs and provide the updraft they need for their flight and they also have got pigeons which is what they live on,” said Sir David.
“Over half of the human population lives in cities. More people are out of touch with the natural world. A lot of people don’t see anything of the natural world, except a rat. But since we depend on the natural world, understanding it is absolutely paramount.”
BBC Director General Tony Hall said: “We now have cameras which can capture what we couldn’t do before.
“We have got drones. We have an access to the world that we couldn’t have had a decade ago.”
Planet Earth II airs on BBC One on 6th November at 8pm.
Planet Earth II: BBC gives natural world Hollywood blockbuster treatment*
Last edited: