NHU filmography

This subarticle is kept separate from the main article, BBC Natural History Unit, due to size or style considerations.

This is a chronological list of selected television programmes and feature films produced or co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit since its inception in 1957. It is not intended to be exhaustive given the large amount of material the Unit has produced in its history, but it does capture all the major TV series and films for which it has gained recognition. A brief synopsis of pre-1957 radio and television programmes on a natural history theme made by the BBC is given in the History section of the main BBC Natural History Unit article.

The following abbreviations are used in the filmography table:

Contents

Selected NHU television productions

Series Title Year(s) Broadcast Subject Contributors
Look 1955–1969 Weekly magazine show Peter Scott (intr) Desmond Hawkins (prod) Tony Soper (prod) Jeffery Boswall (prod)
Faraway Look 1957 Wildlife of Australasia Peter and Philippa Scott (pres)
On Safari 1957–1965 Filming animals in East Africa Armand and Michaela Denis (pres)
Undersea World of Adventure/Adventure 1958–1960 Sea life Hans and Lotte Hass (pres) Tony Soper (prod)
Animal Magic 1962–1983 Weekly magazine show for children Johnny Morris (pres)
Private Lives 1967–1970 Series on individual species including kingfisher, cuckoo and fox Jeffery Boswall (prod)
The World About Us 1967–1983 Weekly blue-chip documentary strand Various (often independent productions)
Eastwards with Attenborough 1973 Expedition to South East Asia David Attenborough (pres)
Wildlife on One 1977–2005 Weekly series profiling different animals David Attenborough (narr)
Life on Earth 1979 The evolution of life David Attenborough (pres)
Natural World 1983–present Weekly blue-chip documentary strand Various (often independent productions)
The Living Planet 1984 How organisms adapt to their environment David Attenborough (pres)
The Living Isles 1985 British wildlife Julian Pettifer (pres) and Peter Crawford (prod)
The Really Wild Show 1986–2006 Weekly magazine show for children Terry Nutkins (pres), Chris Packham (pres), Michaela Strachan (pres) and others
Supersense 1988 Sensory perception in animals Andrew Sachs (narr)
The Trials of Life 1990 Animal behaviour David Attenborough (pres)
Land of the Eagle 1991 The colonisation of North America Alan Ereira (narr) and Peter Crawford (prod)
Realms of the Russian Bear 1992 Natural history of the former USSR states Nikolai Drozdov (pres)
Sea Trek 1992 Exploration of dive sites Martha Holmes (pres) and Mike deGruy (pres)
Life in the Freezer 1993 Natural history of Antarctica David Attenborough (pres) and Alastair Fothergill (prod)
The Private Life of Plants 1995 A study of the plants David Attenborough (pres)
The Wildlife Specials 1995–2007 One-off profiles of individual species David Attenborough (narr)
Alien Empire 1996 A series looking at the world of the insects John Shrapnel (narr)
Big Cat Diary 1996–2008 Family lives of the Masai Mara's lions, leopards and cheetahs Jonathan Scott (pres), Simon King (pres) and Saba Douglas-Hamilton (pres)
Birding with Bill Oddie 1997–2000 Birdwatching in the UK and abroad Bill Oddie (pres)
Land of the Tiger 1997 Natural history of the Indian subcontinent Valmik Thapar (pres)
Incredible Journeys 1998 Animal migration Geoffrey Palmer (narr) and Nigel Marven (prod)
The Life of Birds 1998 A natural history of birds David Attenborough (pres)
Living Britain 1999 British natural history Peter Crawford (prod)
Walking with Dinosaurs/Beasts/Monsters 1999–2005 CGI reconstruction of prehistoric creatures Kenneth Branagh (narr) and Tim Haines (prod)
Andes to Amazon 2000 A portrait of South American landscapes and wildlife Fergal Keane (narr)
Cousins 2000 Primates Charlotte Uhlenbroek (pres)
State of the Planet 2000 The impact of humans on the natural world David Attenborough (pres)
The Blue Planet 2001 A natural history of the oceans David Attenborough (narr) and Alastair Fothergill (prod)
Ultimate Killers 2001 Hunting techniques of predators Steve Leonard (pres)
Wild Africa 2001 A portrait of Africa's landscapes and wildlife Fergal Keane (narr)
Congo 2001 A portrait of the great central African river's forests and wildlife
Talking with Animals 2001 Animal communication Charlotte Uhlenbroek (narr)
Bill Oddie Goes Wild 2001–2003 Watching British wildlife Bill Oddie (pres)
The Life of Mammals 2002 A natural history of mammals David Attenborough (pres)
Wild Battlefields 2002–2003 How lions, polar bears, tiger sharks and wolves hunt their prey Sanjeev Bhaskar (narr)
Abyss, Amazon Abyss and Pacific Abyss 2002–2008 Expeditions exploring the deep oceans, the Amazon and the seas of Micronesia Kate Humble (pres) and Mike deGruy (pres)
Wild In Your Garden 2003 Garden wildlife Bill Oddie (pres), Kate Humble (pres) and Simon King (pres)
Wild Down Under 2003 A portrait of Australasia's landscapes and wildlife Matt Day (narr)
Jungle 2003 Wildlife of the world's rainforests Charlotte Uhlenbroek (pres)
Britain Goes Wild 2004 The coming of spring in Britain Bill Oddie (pres), Kate Humble (pres) and Simon King (pres)
British Isles - A Natural History 2004 The natural history of the British Isles Alan Titchmarsh (pres)
Life in the Undergrowth 2005 A study of terrestrial invertebrates David Attenborough (pres)
Europe: A Natural History 2005 A history of changing landscape and evoluting natural life of Europe through the ages with an eye towards the future Sean Pertwee (narr)
Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife 2005–2006 Watching British wildlife Bill Oddie (pres)
Coast 2005–2007 Journeying around Britain's coastline (additional material by the NHU) Nicholas Crane (pres) and Neil Oliver (pres)
Springwatch 2005–2008 Observing British wildlife in spring Bill Oddie (pres), Kate Humble (pres) and Simon King (pres)
Planet Earth 2006 A portrait of Earth's wildernesses and wildlife spectacles David Attenborough (narr) and Alastair Fothergill (prod)
Autumnwatch 2006–2008 Observing British wildlife autumn Bill Oddie (pres), Kate Humble (pres) and Simon King (pres)
Galápagos 2006 A natural history of the Pacific islands Tilda Swinton (narr)
Wild Caribbean 2007 A natural history of the Caribbean islands and Sea Steve Toussaint (narr)
Saving Planet Earth season 2007 A season of programmes dedicated to wildlife conservation David Attenborough (pres, "Sharing Planet Earth") and Alan Titchmarsh (pres, live fundraising evening)
Ganges 2007 A journey along the sacred river from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal Sudha Bhuchar (narr)
The Nature of Britain 2007 Showcase of British wildlife and habitats Alan Titchmarsh (pres)
Life in Cold Blood 2008 A series dedicated to reptiles and amphibians David Attenborough (pres)
Wild China 2008 The first-ever comprehensive natural history of China Bernard Hill (narr)
Lost Land of the Jaguar 2008 An expedition team records life in Guyana's remote rainforest Steve Backshall (pres), Gordon Buchanan (pres), Justine Evans (pres) and George McGavin (pres)
Nature's Great Events 2009 An intimate look at some of the millions of animals whose lives are affected by seasonal changes David Attenborough (narr)
Yellowstone 2009 A year in the life of the animals of Yellowstone National Park Peter Firth (narr)
South Pacific 2009 Natural history of the islands of the South Pacific Benedict Cumberbatch (narr)
Lost Land of the Volcano 2009 An expedition team records life in Mount Bosavi, an extinct volcano in New Guinea. Steve Backshall (pres), Gordon Buchanan (pres), and George McGavin (pres)
Life 2009 Blue-chip series looking at extraordinary animal behaviour from all parts of the natural world. David Attenborough (narr)
The Great Rift: Africa's Wild Heart 2010 A series looking at flora, fauna, and people of the Great Rift Valley. Hugh Quarshie (narr)
Mountain Gorilla 2010 Intimate footage of Africa's last mountain gorillas Patrick Stewart (narr)
Lost Land of the Tiger 2010 An expedition team records life in Bhutan and searches for a reported population of tigers close to the Himalayas. Gordon Buchanan (pres), Steve Backshall (pres), and George McGavin (pres)
Human Planet 2011 Mankind's incredible relationship with nature in the world today. John Hurt (narr)
Madagascar 2011 A natural history of Madagascar. David Attenborough (pres)
Frozen Planet 2011 seven-part survey of the polar regions. David Attenborough (pres)

Feature film productions

Title Release Year Subject Contributors
Deep Blue 2003 Feature-length version of The Blue Planet TV series Michael Gambon (narr), Alastair Fothergill (dir)
Earth 2007 Feature-length version of the Planet Earth TV series Patrick Stewart (narr), Alastair Fothergill (dir), Mark Linfield (dir)
The Meerkats 2008 Follows the daily struggles for survival of a meerkat clan in the Kalahari Desert Paul Newman (narr), James Honeyborne (dir)

See also

References

The material for this article has largely been drawn from the following sources: