Planet Earth III Set for 2022

The BBC has announced a raft of new natural-history programs, including Frozen Planet II in 2021 and Planet Earth III in 2022.

The British public broadcaster is planning five new series under the Planet strand, all focused on helping viewers understand the pressures on the environment and humankind’s relationship with the natural world.

“The BBC is world famous for its natural history programming and these new series will raise the bar even higher,” said Charlotte Moore, director of content at the BBC. “We know that audiences want shows that bring them the richest narratives, the best camerawork and the highest quality production values and they look to us to deliver this. Viewers around the globe have been captivated by the incredible stories that the Planets series have told and now new technology allow us to explore even more of the natural world than ever before. These new series will look in depth at specific aspects of the natural world, giving revealing and sometimes surprising insights to animals and the habitats they live in. It’s our biggest ever commitment to natural history and one we are proud of.”

The previously announced One Planet: Seven Worlds, airing later this year, will showcase the seven continents over seven episodes. It is presented by Sir David Attenborough. Co-producers are BBC America, Tencent Penguin Pictures, ZDF and France Télévisions. Set for 2020, Perfect Planet fuses blue-chip natural history and earth sciences over five episodes, showing how weather, ocean currents, solar energy and volcanoes support Earth’s diversity. Made by Silverback Films, it is co-produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures, France Télévisions and The Open University. Green Planet, a BBC One and PBS co-pro, is being billed as “Planet Earth from the perspective of plants.” It airs in 2021, as does Frozen Planet II, ten years after the original. For 2022, Planet Earth III promises to be the “most ambitious natural history landmark ever undertaken by the BBC.”

Tom McDonald, BBC’s head of commissioning for natural history and specialist factual, noted, “Planet Earth II, Blue Planet II and most recently Dynasties reinvented landmark natural history at BBC, delivering record-breaking global audiences and receiving awards around the world. These new titles reveal the scale of our ambitions in natural history, with a rich and innovative pipeline of titles up to 2022: the biggest commitment we have ever made in the genre.”