The Frozen Planet

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The Frozen Planet
Picture format	(HDTV)
Episode duration	60 minutes
Creator(s)	BBC Natural History Unit
Producer(s)	BBC, Discovery Channel
Executive producer(s)	Alastair Fothergill

Narrated by	David Attenborough
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Original channel	BBC One
No. of episodes	6

The Frozen Planet is a forthcoming nature documentary series, co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel and filmed by the BBC Natural History Unit. Other production partners are the Discovery Channel Canada, ZDF (Germany), Antena 3 (Spain) and Skai TV (Greece).^[1] The production team, which includes executive producer Alastair Fothergill and series producer Vanessa Berlowitz, were previously responsible for the award-winning series The Blue Planet (2001) and Planet Earth (2006), and The Frozen Planet is being billed as a sequel of sorts. David Attenborough will return as narrator^[2], and as with Planet Earth, the series will be shot entirely in HD.

The six-part series will focus on life in the Arctic and Antarctic, regions of the planet that are currently experiencing a more rapid rate of climatic change than any other. The production team were keen to film a comprehensive record of the natural history of the polar regions, because climate change is affecting landforms such as glaciers, ice shelves, the extent of sea ice as well as threatening the future of many species.

Filming is currently underway, and will focus particularly on the challenges facing polar bears and Arctic wolves in the north and adelie penguins and wandering albatross in the south, although storylines are still being developed. After an introductory episode, the next four episodes will depict the changing seasons at the poles, before a final episode focusing on mankind’s activities at the poles.^[3] Filmmakers will be working in new locations, including Antarctica’s active volcanoes and the Russian Arctic. Sequences already captured include migrating eider ducks and footage of a fur seal colony from the air. The aerial photography will again use the Cineflex cameras pioneered on Planet Earth, which enables steady footage to be captured from long-range without disturbing the animals.

The Frozen Planet is due to be broadcast on BBC One in autumn 2011, with the US broadcast on Discovery following in spring 2012.^[4] Some reports suggest that the series will run to eight episodes in the US.