What was the landmark 2006 television series Planet Earth?

Planet Earth is a critically acclaimed 2006 nature documentary miniseries produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Spanning eleven episodes, the series offered global overviews of different biomes and habitats while pioneering high-definition wildlife filmmaking. Narrated by David Attenborough, it became the foundation for a major documentary franchise that later included sequels like Planet Earth II and Planet Earth III.

What we know

• Planet Earth is a 2006 nature documentary television miniseries co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, BBC Worldwide, Discovery Channel, and NHK, in association with CBC. [2]
• The original series took five years to make, was the most expensive nature documentary series commissioned by the BBC at the time, and was the first to be filmed in high definition. [2]
• The series consists of eleven episodes, each featuring a global overview of a different biome or habitat followed by a ten-minute behind-the-scenes featurette. [2]
• David Attenborough narrated the original version of the 2006 series and returned to present and narrate its subsequent sequels. [2, 4, 5]

Where to go next

• what followedHow did Planet Earth II utilize new filmmaking technologies?
• whenWhat topics are covered in Planet Earth III?
• the bigger pictureHow does the BBC Natural History Unit produce documentaries?
• whoWho is Sir David Attenborough?
• what caused itHow was The Blue Planet related to the creation of the franchise?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a university become involved in producing a major wildlife series?The Open University acted as a co-producer alongside commercial networks for Planet Earth III.

Sources

• [1]Planet Earth (Wikidata Q377165) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Planet Earth (2006 TV series) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Planet Earth (franchise) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Planet Earth II · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Planet Earth III · CC BY-SA 4.0