Video: Blue Planet II’s Julian Hector & James Honeyborne

Julian Hector, head of BBC’s NHU, and Blue Planet II executive producer James Honeyborne talk to TV Real about the challenges of deep-sea filming and the importance of immersive natural-history filmmaking.

In 2001, BBC One premiered what it billed as the first-ever comprehensive look at life in the oceans. Sixteen years later, the British pubcaster revealed it had commissioned its acclaimed Natural History Unit (NHU) to produce a sequel, with Sir David Attenborough again on board. Blue Planet II aired at the end of last year in the U.K., where it was the highest-rated broadcast of 2017. The series, which has an original score composed by Hans Zimmer, has rolled out across the globe, arriving in the U.S. this month on BBC America. The sequel aims to reflect the wealth of new discoveries about life underwater that have emerged since the original.