BBC lines up new Liz Bonnin series on the Galapagos and a spectacular space view of the Earth's weather systems
Bonnin will front a three-part series about the Pacific islands with A Perfect Planet poised to be a weather show like no other when it airs in 2020
Planet Earth II was one of the TV smashes of the year – and those iguana-chasing racer snakes one of 2016’s best TV moments.
And 2017 promises more goodies for nature lovers. One of the aces up BBC1’s sleeve, RadioTimes.com can reveal, is a new three-part series about the Galapagos Islands called Mission Galapagos.
Fronted by Countrywise’s Liz Bonnin and scheduled for later this year, the programme aims to us cutting edge technology, according to the BBC.
“The Galapagos Islands, born from a cauldron of magma bubbling below the islands, their violent history is closely entwined with the spectacular animals that now inhabit them,” said a BBC statement. “Known as nature’s greatest experiment, the Islands lie at an intersection of global currents, and once a year, when the wind and the currents change, a unique set of events begin.
“Our team of presenters and scientists will use pioneering technology to study the secrets of these islands and their creatures from on land, above and below water, and from the sky.
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“Using the latest in tagging technology, underwater mapping, cinematography, thermal cameras and more, we will track the most mysterious creatures, solve unanswered riddles, explore ancient islands reclaimed by the sea, and encounter the islands’ volcanic underbelly.”
Mission Galapagos is being made for the BBC by Anthony Geffen, the natural history producer behind Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef series.
In addition, BBC1 is hard at work on its “landmark" series for 2020.
A Perfect Planet, which is being overseen by another Attenborough collaborator Alastair Fothergill for his independent production company Silverback Films, will look at forces of nature that keep this planet what it is - tides, currents, the water cycle.
Special features will include time lapses from space, according to the producer who says he was inspired to develop the project after seeing the film Gravity and the “unique space view” it offered.
“A lot of people have made weather shows, but nobody has done it and photographed it in an absolutely beautiful, landmark way,” Fothergill added.
“I’ve done space views in my series in the past, but almost always they just geographically locate you. What nobody has done is time-lapse from space, and there are a lot of events on our planet, like hurricanes and storms, that you need to see from outer-space in order to really appreciate their power.”
