David Attenborough Returns To Present BBC’s ‘Blue Planet II’


Nature fans will be pleased to learn that Sir David Attenborough will be narrating the new seven-part BBC series Blue Planet II. While the naturalist Attenborough may be turning 91 in May, that hasn’t stopped him from undertaking this new project, which has been filmed over a four-year period.

David Attenborough has said that he is very excited to be presenting this new documentary series, especially as even though most of the Earth is covered by water, it is the least explored region on the planet. Attenborough hopes that Blue Planet II will change that.

“I am truly thrilled to be joining this new exploration of the underwater worlds that cover most of our planet, yet are still its least known.”

Sir David Attenborough with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on November 15, 2016. David Attenborough will host the new BBC nature series ‘Blue Planet II.’ [Image by WPA Pool/Getty Images]

Variety reports that BBC’s Blue Planet II aims to use the latest methods of scientific discovery to explore our oceans in this new documentary series, which will include the polar seas to the coral atolls.

“Blue Planet II’ explores the latest frontiers of scientific discovery, from icy-white polar seas to vibrant blues of the coral atolls, from the storm-tossed green Atlantic coastline to the black depths of the alien deep.”

Some of the creatures that viewers will be able to witness on this new David Attenborough series will be snub fin dolphins, hairy Hoff crabs (named after David Hasselhoff), a coral grouper, a reef octopus, a sperm whale mother with her calf, giant trevally and tusk fish. A statement on BBC’s Blue Planet II describes how we will also be able to witness the mysterious unknown of the Antarctic at 1,000 meters, which is a first.

“Viewers will encounter surprising new landscapes such as methane volcanoes which erupt in the Gulf of Mexico; and the so-called ‘Boiling Sea’ phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean. And by taking two manned submersibles to explore the Antarctic deep at 1,000 meters for the first time, the series will bring a ‘new world’ to the audience.”

James Honeyborne, the executive producer behind Blue Planet II, has said that our oceans are the perfect place to make new scientific breakthroughs and to discover new and previously unknown places, as well as new creatures.

“The oceans are the most exciting place to be right now, because new scientific discoveries have given us a new perspective of life beneath the waves. Blue Planet II is taking its cue from these breakthroughs, unveiling unbelievable new places, extraordinary new behaviors and remarkable new creatures.”

The last series that David Attenborough narrated was Planet Earth II, which was the biggest draw in 15 years for a natural history program, as The Guardian noted. 13 million people watched the first episode of this series and 10 million viewers on average watched the entire series.

In the U.S. version of Blue Planet, Pierce Brosnan replaced Attenborough’s voice, but David Attenborough was used for the U.S. edition of Planet Earth II. For the original Blue Planet, a 90-minute edit was created for cinemas and the series sold in over 50 countries.

David Attenborough at the 2017 Winter Television Critics Association in Pasadena, California on January 13, 2017. [Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

Tom McDonald, the BBC’s head of commissioning, has declared that the new David Attenborough narrated Blue Planet II will “deliver a new benchmark in natural history film-making.”

Blue Planet II promises to combine the exceptional craftsmanship that our audiences have come to expect from BBC Natural History with genuinely new revelations about the creatures and habitats of the world’s oceans. I have no doubt it will thrill and delight the audience.”

Blue Planet II is a production by the BBC Studios Natural History unit and is co-produced by BBC America, France Television, and the German broadcaster WDR Television. This show will also be in partnership with The Open University.

The new David Attenborough-narrated nature series Blue Planet II will be on BBC One later this year.

[Featured Image by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images]

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