Hidden Kingdoms

Hidden Kingdoms
Series title over a desert night sky
Also known as Mini Monsters (Discovery Channel Version)
スモール・プラネット～小さな仲間の物語～ (Japan)
Genre Factual
Narrated by Stephen Fry
Composer(s) Ben Foster
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 3 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Mike Gunton (Original Version)
Robert Zakin (Discovery Channel Version)
Producer(s)
  • Mark Brownlow (Original Version)
  • John Cavanagh (Discovery Channel Version)
  • Simon Bell (episode 1)
  • Verity White (episode 2)
  • Gavin Maxwell (episode 3)
Running time 60 minutes
Production company(s) BBC Natural History Unit
Discovery Channel
RTL Group
France Télévisions
CCTV-9
R.T.I S.p.A
Distributor BBC Worldwide
Release
Original network
Original release 16 January (2014-01-16) – 30 January 2014 (2014-01-30)
External links
Website

Hidden Kingdoms is a British documentary television series that was first broadcast on BBC One on 16 January 2014. The three-part series is narrated by Stephen Fry and shows how animals experience the world from their perspective.[1][2] Animals shown include a chipmunk, dung beetle, Rufous elephant shrew and treeshrew.[3]

In United States, the series was shown under the alternative title Mini Monsters, which aired at Discovery Channel on 31 May 2014.[4]

Production

Kim Shillinglaw, the BBC's head of commissioning for natural history and science, announced the series on 21 November 2013.[3] The following landscapes were used for the series: savanna, desert, jungle, forest and the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.[3] The executive producer is Mike Gunton, senior executive of the BBC Natural History Unit, and produced by Mark Brownlow.[3] Hidden Kingdoms is a BBC, Discovery, RTL Group, France Télévisions and CCTV-9 co-production, in association with R.T.I S.p.A.[3][5][6]

BBC Worldwide announced pre-sales for Hidden Kingdoms before the 2013 MIPCOM.[7] The series has been licensed to Network Ten (Australia), BBC Knowledge (South Africa), Sveriges Television (Sweden) and RÚV (Iceland).[7] BBC Worldwide also signed a deal with the Korean Broadcasting System.[8]

On-screen warnings of re-enacted elements were shown in Hidden Kingdoms. One of the scenes, featuring a mouse leaping to escape the jaws of a rattlesnake, was created by filming rattlesnakes making strikes at a hot towel placed above a camera, which was then merged with footage of the mouse.[9]

Episode list

# Title Original air date Overnight UK viewers (millions)
1"Under Open Skies"16 January 2014 (2014-01-16)3.41
2"Secret Forests"23 January 2014 (2014-01-23)3.52
3"Urban Jungles"30 January 2014 (2014-01-30)2.74

Reception

Overnight figures showed that the first episode on 16 January 2014 was watched by 14.4% of the viewing audience for that time, with 3.41 million watching it.[10] The second and third episodes attracted 3.52m (15.5%) and 2.74m (12.4%) respectively.[11][12]

Home media

In United Kingdom, BBC Shop released the 2D DVD edition of Hidden Kingdoms on 27 January 2014, and the 3D Blu-ray edition on 7 April 2014.[13][14]

In United States and Canada, DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released on 8 July 2014.[15][16]

In Germany, DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released on 19 December 2014.[17][18]

In Japan, both DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released on 3 July 2015,[19][20] while the second edition was later release on 3 November 2015.[21][22]

References

  1. ↑ "Fry to narrate Hidden Kingdoms". Belfast Telegraph. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Stephen Fry to be the voice of new BBC natural history show". Radio Times. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Stephen Fry to narrate BBC One Natural History Unit series Hidden Kingdoms". BBC. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Mini Monsters: About the Show". Discovery Channel. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "BBC Worldwide and CCTV9 unveil Hidden Kingdoms in new co-pro". BBC. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Paoli-Lebailly, Pascale (30 September 2013). "France Télévisions co-produces BBC Worldwide's Hidden Kingdoms". Rapid TV News. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  7. 1 2 "BBC Worldwide announces pre-sales for Hidden Kingdoms and Wild Brazil". BBC. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "BBC Worldwide signs deals with key players in South Korea". BBC Worldwide. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Conlan, Tara (11 December 2013). "BBC to air on-screen warnings of re-enacted elements in Hidden Kingdoms". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  10. ↑ Eames, Tom (17 January 2014). "Birds of a Feather edges Silent Witness on Thursday evening". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  11. ↑ Eames, Tom (24 January 2014). "Birds of a Feather bounces back to top Thursday ratings". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  12. ↑ Eames, Tom (31 January 2014). "Birds of a Feather down but still top on Thursday". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms (2D) (DVD)". BBC Shop. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  14. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms (3D) (Blu-ray)". BBC Shop. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  15. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms (DVD)". Amazon.com.
  16. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms (Blu-ray)". Amazon.com.
  17. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms - Im Königreich der kleinen Tiere (DVD)". Amazon.de.
  18. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms - Im Königreich der kleinen Tiere (Blu-ray)". Amazon.de.
  19. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms - First Edition (DVD)". Yahoo.co.jp.
  20. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms - First Edition (Blu-ray)". Amazon.co.jp.
  21. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms - Second Edition (DVD)". Amazon.co.jp.
  22. ↑ "Hidden Kingdoms - Second Edition (Blu-ray)". Amazon.co.jp.

External links

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