BBC premieres Blue Planet II in UHD
October 17, 2017
Chris Forrester @ MIPCOM
BBC Worldwide has premiered the Corporation’s Natural History Unit’s latest landmark series Blue Planet II at MIPCOM in Cannes, and in Ultra HD.
Julian Hector, Head of the Natural History Unit, and Executive Producer James Honeyborne introduced the series to MIPCOM delegates in the Sony UHD Theatre.
The seven-parter, presented by Sir David Attenborough, has been pre-sold to over 30 countries, including Blue Ant Media’s licensed channel, BBC Earth, Australia (Channel Nine) and New Zealand (TVNZ) to Europe with Denmark (DR), Netherlands (NPO), Sweden (SVT), Spain (Telefónica’s BBC Earth block) and Portugal (RTP) all licensing the series. In Central and Eastern Europe, Estonia (ETV) and Lithuania (LRT) have also come on board.
Previously announced sales include Discovery Channel for Latin America and co-production partnerships with BBC America, Germany’s WDR and France Télévisions. Sony BBC Earth in India and BBC Earth channels across Africa, Nordics, Asia and CEE will also be premiering the series.
Filmed over four years covering every continent and every ocean, this sequel to 2001’s multi-award winning Blue Planet promises to take viewers on a revelatory and magical journey into the greatest, yet least known parts of our planet. By using cutting-edge breakthroughs in science and technology to explore this final frontier, the series will reveal the astonishing characters, otherworldly places and extraordinary new animal behaviours. Warm and compelling stories about marine habitats and their characterful inhabitants will build people’s emotional relationship with our oceans and bring a new perspective to this little-known world.
Paul Dempsey, President Global Markets for BBC Worldwide, commented: “Blue Planet II is shaping up to be another big international hit, hot on the heels of the hugely successful Planet Earth II. The BBC Studios Natural History Unit are in a league of their own when it comes to producing global event TV with this new series being epic in scale, ambition and dedication.”