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''The Blue Planet'' is a British
nature documentary A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or television documentary, series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures. Nature documentaries usually concentrate on video taken in the subject's nat ...
series created and co-produced as a co-production between the
BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' T ...
and
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...
. It premiered on 12 September 2001 in the United Kingdom. It is narrated by
David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...
. Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans", each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of
marine life Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, aquatic plant, plants, algae, marine fungi, fungi, marine protists, protists, single-celled marine microorganisms, microorganisms ...
. The
underwater photography Underwater photography is the practice of capturing images beneath the surface of the water, often done while scuba diving, but can also be done while diving on surface supply, snorkeling, swimming, from a submersible or remotely operated und ...
included creatures and behaviour that had previously never been filmed. The series won a number of
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
and
BAFTA TV awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...
for its music and cinematography. The executive producer was
Alastair Fothergill Alastair David William Fothergill (born 10 April 1960) is a British producer of nature documentary, nature documentaries for television and cinema. He is the series producer of the series ''The Blue Planet'' (2001), ''Planet Earth (2006 TV ser ...
and the music was composed by
George Fenton George Richard Ian Howe Fenton (born 19 October 1949), known professionally as George Fenton, is an English composer. Best known for his work writing film scores and music for television, he has received five Academy Award nominations, several ...
. Attenborough narrated this series before presenting the next in his 'Life' series of programmes, ''
The Life of Mammals ''The Life of Mammals'' is a nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 20 November 2002. It is a documentary on the study of the evolution and habits of the various mamma ...
'' (2002), and the same production team created ''
Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is ...
'' (2006). A sequel series, ''
Blue Planet II ''Blue Planet II'' is a 2017 British nature documentary series on marine life produced as a co-production between the BBC Natural History Unit, BBC America, Tencent, WDR, France Télévisions and CCTV-9 in partnership with The Open Universit ...
'' was aired on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
in 2017.


Background

The series took almost five years to make, involving nearly 200 filming locations. The fact that most of the
ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...
environment remains a mystery presented the production team with many challenges. Besides witnessing some animal behaviours for the first time, the crew also observed some that were new to science. The producers were helped by marine scientists all over the world with state-of-the-art equipment.
Blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known ever to have existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...
s – whose migration routes were previously unknown – were located by air, after some of the animals had been given temporary radio tags. The camera team spent three years on standby, using a
microlight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...
to land on the water nearby when they finally caught up with the creatures in the
Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...
. The open ocean proved more difficult and over 400 days were spent in often unsuccessful filming trips. After six weeks, the crew chanced upon a
school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
of
spinner dolphin The spinner dolphin (''Stenella longirostris'') is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it rotates around its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a ...
s, which in turn led them to a shoal of
tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...
. Off
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, the behaviour of a flock of
frigatebird Frigatebirds are a Family (biology), family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, ''Fregata''. All have predominantly black plumage, l ...
s guided the cameramen to a group of
sailfish The sailfish is one or two species of marine fish in the genus ''Istiophorus'', which belong to the family Istiophoridae ( marlins). They are predominantly blue to gray in colour and have a characteristically large dorsal fin known as the ...
and
marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority. Name The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Taxonomy T ...
: the fastest inhabitants of the sea. Near the coast of
Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, the team spent two seasons attempting to film the annual
sardine run The KwaZulu-Natal sardine run of southern Africa occurs from May through July when billions of sardines – or more specifically the Southern African pilchard ''Sardinops sagax'' – spawn in the cool waters of the Agulhas Bank and move northwar ...
, a huge congregation of predators such as
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
s and
dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
s, that assembles to feast on the
migrating fish Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...
by corralling them into "bait balls". Meanwhile, in
Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...
,
orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...
were documented attacking
gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of , a weight of up to and lives between ...
s and killing a calf. Filming in the deep ocean required the use of special
submersible A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger ship, watercraft or dock, platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submarines, which are self-supporting and capable of prolonged independent ope ...
s. One of them enabled the crew to dive over a mile into the San Diego trench, where the carcass of a 40-ton gray whale had been placed to attract a large variety of scavengers. When first transmitted on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
, over 12 million people watched the series and it regularly achieved an audience share of over 30%. In 2018 a newly-discovered species of
phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater Aquatic ecosystem, ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), mea ...
(''
Syracosphaera azureaplaneta ''Syracosphaera azureaplaneta'' is a species of coccolithophore. This oceanic phytoplankton is not common, but is widely distributed and is known to occur in all the major seas, from tropical to sub-arctic regions. It is named after the BBC TV ...
'') was named by scientists in honour of the programme, and in recognition of David Attenborough's contribution to promoting wider understanding and awareness of the oceanic environment.


Episodes


Merchandise


DVD and Blu-ray

The series was available as a 3-disc
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
set (BBCDVD1089, released 3 December 2001 and re-released in 2003), including interviews with the production team, a photo gallery and three additional programmes: * ''Making Waves'': the making of ''The Blue Planet'' (50 mins) * ''Deep Trouble'': an ecological documentary (50 mins) * ''Blue'': a five-minute theatrical short The first DVD has now been superseded by a 4-disc Special Edition (BBCDVD1792, released 3 October 2005), which has three extra programmes: * ''The Abyss'' * ''Dive to Shark Volcano'' * ''Amazon Abyss'' In the US, there is a 4-disc Collector's Set edition (Released 2002), including 8 featurettes, interviews, photo galleries and one additional programmes: * ''Deep Trouble'': an ecological documentary (50 mins) In the US, there is also a 5-disc Special Edition (BBC040754, released 6 May 2008). It contains the same features as the US 4-disc versions, but includes a fifth disk containing four special presentations: * ''Amazon Abyss'': discover an array of creatures living in the Amazon * ''Dive to Shark Volcano'': venture to Cocoa Island, an underwater volcano * ''Beneath the Tides'': explore an estuary in winter * ''Antarctica'' BBC released a 3-disc ''The Blue Planet: Seas of Life'' on Blu-ray on 9 April 2013. It contains the featured presentations as well as a third disk containing interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and five special presentations: * ''Amazon Abyss'' * ''Dive to Shark Volcano'' * ''Beneath the Tides'' * ''Antarctica'' * ''Deep Trouble''.


Books

The accompanying book, ''The Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans'' by Andrew Byatt, Alastair Fothergill and Martha Holmes (with a foreword by David Attenborough), was published by
BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
on 27 September 2001 (). The companion volume for the US market of the same book was published by Dorling Kindersley (DK) and released in 2002 ().


Film

''Deep Blue'' is a 2003 nature documentary film that is a theatrical version of ''The Blue Planet''.
Alastair Fothergill Alastair David William Fothergill (born 10 April 1960) is a British producer of nature documentary, nature documentaries for television and cinema. He is the series producer of the series ''The Blue Planet'' (2001), ''Planet Earth (2006 TV ser ...
and Andy Byatt are credited as directors, and six cinematographers are also credited. The film was premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain on 2003. It screened in more than from 2003 to 2005 and grossed over at the box office.


Live concert tour

''The Blue Planet'' was turned into a theatrical presentation entitled ''The Blue Planet Live!'' which toured the UK from 2006 to 2008. The UK live shows were presented by World Class Service Ltd. George Fenton conducted the
Manchester Camerata The Manchester Camerata is a British chamber orchestra based in Manchester, England. A sub-group from the orchestra, the Manchester Camerata Ensemble, specialises in chamber music performances. The orchestra's primary concert venue is The Bridg ...
Orchestra in Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham during December 2006, in three critically acclaimed shows. The tour continued in April 2007, again conducted by Fenton, in London, Cardiff, Birmingham and returning to Manchester and Nottingham. For the show, some of the most spectacular sequences from the series have been edited together and are displayed on a huge screen (18 metres wide and 3 storeys high). The presentation is introduced by a special guest. The tour continued in April 2008 with dates at
Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...
,
Nottingham Arena Nottingham Arena (known for sponsorship reasons as the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham) is a multi-use indoor arena, part of the National Ice Centre in the Lace Market district of Nottingham, England. The National Ice Centre and Nottingham Aren ...
, Manchester Central, Cardiff St. David's and
Birmingham Symphony Hall Symphony Hall is a 2,262-seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...
. ''The Blue Planet Live!'' continues to be staged: * on 7 May 2010 at the Morsani Hall of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in
Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
performed by the
Florida Orchestra The Florida Orchestra is an American orchestra based in the tri-city area of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Florida. It was founded as the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony upon the 1968 merger of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the T ...
and conducted by Ward Stare. * in July 2011 in the
Mann Center for the Performing Arts The Mann Center for the Performing Arts (formerly known as the Robin Hood Dell West and Mann Music Center) is a nonprofit performing arts center located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia's West Fairmount Park, built in 1976 as the su ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
performed by the
Russian National Orchestra The Russian National Orchestra () was founded in Moscow in 1990 by pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev. It was the first Russian orchestra to perform at the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City and in Israel. History The RNO's first recording (1991 ...
, narrator
Jane Pauley Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host and author, active in news reporting since 1972. She first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the age of ...
* in June 2012 in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
performed by the
Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs ...
* in December 2014 in
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
at Corniche performed by the
National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The NSO regularly ...
* on 22 January 2015 in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
at
Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...
, as a part of the ''Philharmonia at the Movies'' series.


Sequel

In February 2017, the BBC announced a seven-part sequel had been commissioned, titled ''Blue Planet II'', with Sir David Attenborough returning as narrator and presenter. The sequel debuted on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
,
BBC One HD BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
and
BBC Earth BBC Earth is a brand used by BBC Studios since 2009 to market and distribute the BBC's natural history content to countries other than the United Kingdom. BBC Studios is the commercial arm of the public service broadcaster. BBC Earth commercia ...
channel on 29 October 2017.


Overseas

The series was sold to over 50 countries. In the United States, it was shown as ''The Blue Planet: Seas of Life'' with the episodes in a different order, the first one being retitled "Ocean World". The series was shown on the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...
and was narrated by
Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...
.


Awards and nominations


Criticism

The series attracted some criticism when it was revealed that some of the footage was filmed at an aquarium in Wales. The series producer, Alastair Fothergill, said that around 2% of the whole series was filmed in tanks at aquariums. A BBC spokesman argued that it would've been unethical to actually disturb the breeding process of wild
lobsters Lobsters are malacostracans decapod crustaceans of the family Nephropidae or its synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, in ...
for one of the scenes, which was why they made the decision to use the aquarium footage.


References


External links

* *
The Blue Planet
' at
BBC Earth BBC Earth is a brand used by BBC Studios since 2009 to market and distribute the BBC's natural history content to countries other than the United Kingdom. BBC Studios is the commercial arm of the public service broadcaster. BBC Earth commercia ...
*
The Blue Planet
' at
Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

''The Blue Planet''
on the Eden website
Discovery Channel's ''Blue Planet'' homepage

Simon King, Cameraman
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Planet, The 2000s British documentary television series 2001 British television series debuts 2001 British television series endings BBC television documentaries Documentary films about marine biology Discovery Channel original programming Television series by BBC Studios