New Docuseries with Dara Ó Briain Coming to Channel 5

Channel 5 has ordered Wonders of the Sun with Dara Ó Briain, a new docuseries from BBC Studios Science Unit and Krempelwood.

The comedian, author, amateur astronomer and astrophotographer will take in the rare total solar eclipse and meet with solar experts at the forefront of their fields. He will talk to scientists who are researching how to protect the Earth from solar superstorms and engineers who are building a sun on Earth in the form of the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor.

This new two-part series follows on the tails of last year’s Wonders of the Moon with Dara Ó Briain, which is now available to stream on My5.

“I am thrilled to bring you these documentaries about the sun and how it both created us and will ultimately destroy us,” Ó Briain said. “Along the way, we see incredible things, including my first ever total solar eclipse, NASA mission control in Houston and the core of the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor. We learn how it all began and how it will all end. I mean, what more can we show you?!”

Denise Seneviratne, commissioning editor for non-scripted U.K. originals at Channel 5, commented, “Wonders of the Moon was such a joy to bring to Channel 5, and there is no better person to help explore our nearest star than Dara Ó Briain. As the recent incredible Northern Lights display across the U.K. last week demonstrated, the sun can be powerful and unpredictable! This will take us on a truly illuminating adventure that will shed light on how the sun shapes our existence.”

“It’s fantastic to be working with Channel 5 and Dara again,” added Steve Crabtree, executive producer for BBC Studios Science Unit. “Our audience loved his warmth, enthusiasm and enquiring mind, and now he gets to do it all over again, but this time about the star that we wouldn’t—and couldn’t—exist without, the star that controls the Earth’s ultimate destiny: Our sun.”