Wild Down Under
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| Wild Down Under | |
 Series title card |
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| Picture format | 16:9 |
|---|---|
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Episode duration | 50 minutes |
| Creator(s) | BBC Natural History Unit |
| Executive producer(s) | Neil Nightingale |
| Narrated by | Matt Day |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| First shown on | BBC Two |
| Original run | 12 September– 17 October 2003 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Official website | |
Wild Down Under is a BBC nature documentary series exploring the natural history of the Australasian continent, first transmitted in the UK on BBC2 in September 2003. It was broadcast in Australia under the title Wild Australasia in February 2004
Each of the six episodes showcases a particular environment and, using a combination of sweeping aerial photography and wildlife footage, reveals how physical forces and human activity have transformed Australia from a lush green wilderness into a thriving nation increasingly plagued by drought and desertification.
Wild Down Under was co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Animal Planet. The series producer for the BBC was Neil Nightingale, the music was composed by Adrian Johnston and the English-language narrator was Matt Day.
The series forms part of the Natural History Unit's Continents strand. It was preceded by Wild Africa in 2001 and followed four years later by Wild Caribbean.
Contents |
[edit] Production
Wild Down Under is one of the most comprehensive surveys of Australasia's natural history ever filmed, with production of the series taking three years[1]. The aerial photography used extensively in the series was shot by Damon Smith.
As well as mainland Australia, the production team visited other locations across the continent for the fifth episode, Island Arks, including New Guinea, New Caledonia, Lord Howe Island, Macquarie Island and New Zealand.
[edit] Episodes
- Wild Down Under
- Desert Heart
- Southern Seas
- Gum-Tree Country
- Island Arks
- New Worlds
[edit] Merchandise
A DVD and book were released to accompany the TV series:
- A Region 2 and 4, 2-disc DVD set (BBCDVD1321) featuring all six full-length episodes was released on 27 October 2003. The bonus features on the DVD include an edition of Wildlife on One (Possums - Tales of the Unexpected), a fact file and the featurette Wild - Penguin Paradise. A Region 4 DVD with the same content was released under the title Wild Australasia in 2004.
- The accompanying hardcover book, Wild Down Under by Neil Nightingale, Mary Summerill, Hugh Pearson and Jeni Cleversy, was published by BBC Books on 18 September 2003 (ISBN 0-563-48822-0). The foreword is written by Tim Flannery. In Australia the book was released under the title Wild Australasia.
