BBC Wildlife Specials

BBC Wildlife Specials
Genre Nature documentary
Presented by David Attenborough
Narrated by David Attenborough
Composer(s) Various
Country of origin United Kingdom
Language(s) English
No. of episodes 21
Production
Producer(s) Neil Nightingale
Keith Scholey
John Downer
Running time 50 or 60 minutes
Production company(s) BBC Natural History Unit
John Downer Prods.
Broadcast
Original channel BBC One
Picture format Before 1999: 576i (4:3)
Since 1999: 576i (16:9)
Audio format stereo
Original run 14 April 1995 (1995-04-14) – 23 April 2008 (2008-04-23)

The BBC Wildlife Specials are a series of nature documentary programmes commissioned by BBC Television. The Wildlife Specials began with a pilot episode in 1995. A further 15 programmes were made over the next decade, and more recently the format has been expanded into two short series. The earlier programmes were produced in-house by the BBC's specialist Natural History Unit, but the more recent Spy in the... titles are made by the independent producer John Downer Productions. Each Wildlife Special is narrated by David Attenborough (except for the 2010 Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice which was narrated by David Tennant) and features one of the most high-profile animals of the natural world.

"The world's leading natural history filmmakers meet the world's most charismatic animals"

— BBC tagline

Contents

Broadcast and production history

The Wildlife Specials have always been broadcast on BBC One. Following a pilot episode on the great white shark in 1995, a sequence of six further programmes were transmitted in 1997, screened as part of the Natural History Unit's 40th anniversary celebrations. Later programmes were screened on an intermittent basis, typically at holiday times to attract a family audience. Viewing figures for the 1997 series peaked at 9.5 million viewers for the polar bear special.

Although they are frequently filmed subjects, the Wildlife Specials incorporate the latest filming techniques and scientific research to present the creatures in a new light, as described in the examples below:

Programmes

A list of programme titles with original broadcast date:

Episode 1: "The Journey" (2007-01-14)
Episode 2: "The Crossing" (2007-01-21)
Episode 1 (2008-03-30)
Episode 2 (2008-04-06)
Episode 3 (2008-04-13)

Awards

Merchandise

To date, four of the early Specials have been released on DVD on 23 May 2004 both individually and as a box set (BBCDVD1580); they are Eagle (BBCVD1481), Serpent (BBCDVD1482), Leopard (BBCDVD1483) and Tiger (BBCDVD1485).[1] The first eight Specials were also previously released on VHS.

Many of the later Specials have also been given DVD releases. Lions: Spy in the Den, Elephants: Spy in the Herd and Bears: Spy in the Woods were collectively released as The Spy in the... Collection (BBCDVD1996) on 2 October 2006. Trek: Spy on the Wildebeest (BBCDVD2760) and Tiger: Spy in the Jungle (BBCDVD2759) were released on individual DVDs on 9 June 2008.

To accompany the 1997 Specials, a hardcover book The BBC Natural History Unit's Wildlife Specials (ISBN 1-900-72416-2) was published by Trident Press on 10 November 1997 with a foreword by David Attenborough, an introduction by series producer Keith Scholey, and a chapter on each of the six animals by the individual programme producers.

References

  1. ^ "Four Wildlife Specials Released on Individual DVDs". BBC Press Office. 28 May 2004. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2004/05_may/wildlife_specials.shtml. 

External links

David Attenborough's television and radio series
The Life series
Other TV series
DVD collections
Radio