BBC Wildlife Specials

BBC Wildlife Specials
Genre Nature documentary
Presented by David Attenborough
Narrated by David Attenborough
David Tennant
Composer(s) Various
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 29 (22 specials)
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.
Release
Original network BBC One
Picture format Before 1999: 576i (4:3)
Since 1999: 576i (16:9)
Audio format stereo
Original release 14 April 1995 (1995-04-14) – present

The BBC Wildlife Specials are a series of nature documentary programmes commissioned by BBC Television. The series premiered in 1995, and 22 specials have been produced to date, with most of the more recent ones consisting of multiple episodes. The earlier programmes were produced in-house by the BBC's Natural History Unit, but the more recent Spy in the ... titles were made by the independent John Downer Productions. The first 18 specials, through 2008, were narrated by David Attenborough. Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice (2010), Penguins: Spy in the Huddle (2013) and Dolphins: Spy in the Pod (2014) were narrated by David Tennant.

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

—BBC tagline

Broadcast and production history

The Wildlife Specials have always been broadcast on BBC One. Following the pilot Great White Shark: The True Story of Jaws, transmitted in 1995, a sequence of six further programmes were broadcast in 1997, as part of the Natural History Unit's 40th anniversary celebrations. Later specials were screened on an intermittent basis, typically at holiday times to attract a family audience. Viewing figures for the 1997 programmes peaked at 9.5 million, for Polar Bear: The Arctic Warrior.

Although the animals featured in the specials are frequent documentary 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

David Attenborough in the opening sequence of Lions: Spy in the Den

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)
Episode 1 (2009-01-04)
Episode 2 (2009-01-11)
Episode 1: "The Journey" (2013-02-11)
Episode 2: "First Steps" (2013-02-18)
Episode 3: "Growing Up" (2013-02-25)
Episode 1 (2014-01-02)
Episode 2 (2014-01-09)

Awards

Wildlife Special: Tiger DVD cover

Merchandise

To accompany the transmission of the 1997 specials, the hardcover book The BBC Natural History Unit's Wildlife Specials (ISBN 1-900-72416-2) was published by Trident Press on 10 November 1997. It includes a foreword by David Attenborough, an introduction by series producer Keith Scholey, and six chapters about the animals featured in those specials, each written by the producer of the programme about that particular animal.

On 23 May 2004, four of the early specials, Leopard, Eagle, Tiger: The Elusive Princess, and Serpent, were released on DVD, both individually and as a box set.[2] The first eight specials were released previously on VHS.

Other specials were released on DVD later. Lions, Elephants, and Bears were collectively released as The Spy in the ... Collection on 2 October 2006. Trek and Tiger: Spy in the Jungle were each released separately on 9 June 2008.

References

  1. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/wildlife-specials-spy-collection/id757350029
  2. ↑ "Four Wildlife Specials Released on Individual DVDs". BBC Press Office. 28 May 2004.

External links

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