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Planet Earth III

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Planet Earth III
GenreNature documentary
Presented byDavid Attenborough
Composers
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes8
Production
Producers
  • Nick Easton
  • Will Ridgeon
  • Kiri Cashell
  • Charlotte Bostock
  • Sarah Whalley
  • Theo Webb
  • Fredi Devas
  • Steve Greenwood
Running time60 minutes
Production companyBBC Studios Natural History Unit
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release22 October (2023-10-22) –
10 December 2023 (2023-12-10)
Related

Planet Earth III is a 2023 British nature documentary series produced by the BBC Studios Natural History Unit in co-production with ZDF, FTV, The Open University, BBC America, BBC Studios, ZDF, France Televisions and NHK. It is the third instalment in the Planet Earth series, with Sir David Attenborough reprising his role as narrator like its predecessors. It premiered in the UK on 22 October 2023.[1][2]

Production

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The BBC greenlit Planet Earth III in February 2019, alongside four other natural history productions: Seven Worlds, One Planet, A Perfect Planet, The Green Planet and Frozen Planet II. The announcement was accompanied by a BBC Earth teaser trailer to promote all five series.[3][4]

The Planet Earth III team filmed in 43 countries and six continents during the five-year production. The series required 134 individual shoots, 50 of which were managed remotely due to the travel restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local film-making teams were directed from the UK to gather the material for the remotely-managed shoots.[5][6]

The production team succeeded in using the latest technology and filming techniques, some of which were developed especially for this series. These included:

  • the first ever 'onboard' view from a southern right whale using a motion camera tagged to the animal[7]
  • the development of a specially-constructed filming rig to get underwater and split-screen shots of African jacanas[8]
  • filming inside Vietnam's Hang son Doong Cave using twin drones to simultaneously illuminate and film the cave.[9]

Rare species, behaviours and events captured on film for the first time included:

  • the first footage of blue sharks feeding on a raft of flying fish eggs[10]
  • previously undocumented behaviours in treehoppers, insects native to the rainforests of Ecuador, including maternal care and a symbiotic relationship with bees[11]
  • the first extensive coverage of humpback whales trap-feeding, a new feeding behaviour first documented in 2011.[12]

David Attenborough officially joined the production in August 2023.[13] He appears in person to present the opening and closing episodes of the series, filmed on location at Downe Bank Nature Reserve in Kent.[14] For the remaining episodes he provides narration.

In September 2023 the BBC released an extended trailer for Planet Earth III, with footage from the series accompanied by Attenborough's narration and the brand new song "Mother Nature". The song was a collaboration between composers Hans Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers Music, singer-songwriter RAYE, and Bastille. Zimmer, Jacob Shea, Sara Barone, producer Russell Emanuel and Bastille’s Dan Smith collaborated on the original score for Planet Earth III. A reworking of Bastille’s hit single, "Pompeii", entitled "Pompeii MMXXIII", plays over the end credits.[15]

Episodes

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The series comprises eight episodes.[16]

No.TitleOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions)
1"Coasts"22 October 2023 (2023-10-22)7.62
2"Ocean"29 October 2023 (2023-10-29)5.98
3"Deserts & Grasslands"5 November 2023 (2023-11-05)6.22
4"Freshwater"12 November 2023 (2023-11-12)5.67
5"Forests"19 November 2023 (2023-11-19)6.00
6"Extremes"26 November 2023 (2023-11-26)5.58
7"Human"3 December 2023 (2023-12-03)5.41
8"Heroes"10 December 2023 (2023-12-10)4.91

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.8/10.[17]

Writing for The Guardian, critic Rebecca Nicholson gave the series five stars out of five, stating that "it is possible to watch and enjoy it purely for the astonishing footage – but it will horrify you, too."[18]

Reviewing for the Financial Times, Dan Einav awarded the first episode five stars out of five, writing that "at a time when the news reveals the world to be a dark and ugly place, Planet Earth stirringly reminds us of its overwhelming beauty."[19]

In a review for The Times, Carol Midgley awarded the series four out of five stars, calling it "magnificent, but it's a fast track to becoming really quite sad." She also noted that the crew reportedly broke their non-intervention rule to rescue trapped turtles and sea lions while filming, but considered this a positive act, writing "Good for them. Who wouldn’t help a suffering creature?"[20]

The Evening Standard reviewer Elizabeth Gregory gave the series four stars out of five, writing that the series struggles to meet the challenge of balancing "being both captivating and concerned". Gregory highlighted the shift in focus compared to the previous two Planet Earth series towards showing “how animals are adapting in extraordinary ways, to survive the new challenges they face”, portraying "a sense of the magic of life on our planet – and how close we are to losing it."[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Sir David Attenborough's Planet Earth III - "We must now look at the world through a new lens"". BBC. 2023-10-16. Archived from the original on 2023-10-17.
  2. ^ "When is Planet Earth III on TV and how can I watch it?". Discover Wild Life.
  3. ^ "BBC Earth Announces 'Planet Earth III,' 'Frozen Planet II,' and Three Others In Development". FStoppers. 2024-05-09.
  4. ^ "Seven Worlds, One Planet / Perfect Planet / Frozen Planet II / Green Planet / Planet Earth III" (video). youtube.com. BBC Earth. 2019-02-09.
  5. ^ "Sir David Attenborough's Planet Earth III - "We must now look at the world through a new lens"". BBC Media Centre. 2023-10-22.
  6. ^ "Planet Earth III: How the production team spent five years filming, and 797 days in quarantine". TVBEurope. 2023-10-16.
  7. ^ "Planet Earth III Episode 1 Coasts - Everything you need to know". BBC Media Centre. 2023-10-22.
  8. ^ "Planet Earth III Episode 4 Freshwater - Everything you need to know". BBC Media Centre. 2023-11-07.
  9. ^ "Planet Earth III Episode 6 Extremes - Everything you need to know". BBC Media Centre. 2023-11-21.
  10. ^ "Planet Earth III Episode 2 Ocean - Everything you need to know". BBC Media Centre. 2023-10-24.
  11. ^ "Planet Earth III Episode 5 Forests - Everything you need to know". BBC Media Centre. 2023-11-14.
  12. ^ "Planet Earth III Episode 7 Human - Everything you need to know". BBC Media Centre. 2023-11-28.
  13. ^ "Sir David Attenborough to present Planet Earth III". BBC Media Centre. 2023-08-31.
  14. ^ "Planet Earth III Episode 1 Coasts - Everything you need to know". BBC Media Centre. 2023-10-22.
  15. ^ "Musical line up and 'first look' extended trailer unveiled for Planet Earth III". BBC Media Centre. 2023-09-29.
  16. ^ "Planet Earth III". BBC Earth.
  17. ^ "Planet Earth III". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  18. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (2023-10-22). "Planet Earth III review – David Attenborough creates yet more majestic TV". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  19. ^ Einav, Dan (2023-10-21). "Planet Earth III — David Attenborough reminds us of the world's beauty". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  20. ^ Midgley, Carol (2023-11-15). "Planet Earth III review — magnificent but a fast track to sadness". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  21. ^ Gregory, Elizabeth (2023-10-16). "Planet Earth III: animals dazzle against the odds". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
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