BBC announces Planet Earth for plants and new global series fronted by David Attenborough
Will the new series make stars of our friends in the plant kingdom?
The BBC is hoping to make stars of the Earth’s planet kingdom with its next big natural history series, Green Planet.
Described by the Corporation as “Planet Earth from the perspective of plants” the forthcoming series promises to showcase the “emotional stories and surprising heroes in the plant world”.
Using up-to-date technological advances, the new five-part series aims to "demonstrate that plants are as aggressive, competitive and dramatic as animals – locked in desperate battles for food, for light, to reproduce and to scatter their young", say the BBC.
“They are social – they communicate with each other, they care for their young, they help their weak and injured," continues the Corporation's statement. "They can plan, they can count, they can remember.
“Plants are the stars of this series but there will also be box-office animals – plants are the arch-manipulators of the natural world. They bend the actions and lives of animals, including ourselves, to their own ends.”
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The production is being overseen by Mike Gunton who produced the recent acclaimed series Planet Earth II and worked on the recent Dynasties. It will deploy new developments in robotics, super-detail thermal cameras and ultra-high-speed to showcase the hidden life of our green friends.
The commission was announced by BBC factual boss Alison Kirkham who also unveiled the next series to be fronted by David Attenborough – One Planet, Seven Worlds.
The seven-part series will tell the story of the wildlife and landscapes of each of the Earth’s continents told in hour-long episodes.
Over the course of the series viewers will discover why Australasia is full of peculiar and venomous wildlife and why North America is “a land of opportunity where pioneers succeed”.
Another commission is Population with Chris Packham, a single film in which the naturalist examines global population forecasts that suggest we are heading for a world of 10 billion people by 2050 – and which many believe is unsustainable.
Packham, who has chosen not to have children, will scrutinise possible ways of stabilising the worldwide birth-rate.
Also in campaigning mode is Liz Bonnin. Following on from the success of her recent BBC1 programme Drowning in Plastic, Meat: A Threat to Planet Earth? sees her examine the problems of growing meat consumption and what can be done about it.
