Planet Earth II (2016)

Planet Earth II is the BBC natural history television series narrated by David Attenborough. The series was produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol with Mike Gunton as the executive producer and Tom Hugh-Jones as the series producer. The series originally aired on BBC One between November and December 2016. The six-episode series provides thorough documentation of the planet’s major habitats using technical approaches developed in the decade since the original Planet Earth (2006). Each episode runs approximately fifty minutes.

The six episodes are: “Islands,” “Mountains,” “Jungles,” “Deserts,” “Grasslands,” and “Cities.” The series covers approximately one hundred species across more than forty countries. The score was composed by Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea, and Jasha Klebe.

The series was produced over four years and used technical advances that had become available since Planet Earth’s 2006 production. The Planet Earth II is consistently cited among the major natural history productions of the 2010s. The series’s specific approach combined the thorough habitat-based structure of the original Planet Earth with considerably improved cinematography, audio recording, and storytelling techniques. The introduction of “Cities” as the final episode represented the first major Attenborough series to dedicate an episode to urban environments and the wildlife that’s adapted to them.

The series became the most-watched natural history production in BBC history at its release and shifted natural history programming’s specific approach to character-driven sequence construction.

The Technical Generation

The series deployed technical approaches that hadn’t been available during Planet Earth’s 2006 production. Camera stabilization had advanced considerably. The Movi gimbal stabilization systems (which became available around 2013) allowed handheld filming with image quality previously available only from large vehicle-mounted equipment. Drone cinematography had become technically practical and aesthetically acceptable for major productions. Low-light camera sensitivity had improved through several generations of digital sensor development. Audio recording technology had advanced to support more specific species identification.

The technical improvements shaped what content the series could effectively capture. The mountain goat sequence in episode two follows specific animals through specific terrain at image quality and stability that previous handheld cinematography couldn’t have provided. The pygmy three-toed sloth sequence in episode one documents a critically endangered species with image quality that supports conservation communication. The flamingo flock sequence in episode five uses aerial cinematography that the original Planet Earth’s helicopter work couldn’t have achieved.

The technique shows how each technical generation in documentary production enables specific new content. The improvements compound over time. Planet Earth II’s specific contribution is the thorough deployment of the decade’s technical advances in service of natural history documentation.

The Character-Driven Sequences

The series’s most-discussed structural innovation was its specific commitment to following individual animals through extended narrative sequences. Previous Attenborough series had typically presented species-level information illustrated through individual examples. Planet Earth II committed to extended sequences following specific named or implied individuals across multi-stage narrative arcs.

The iguana-and-snakes sequence in episode one (“Islands”) is the most-cited example. The sequence follows a specific newly-hatched marine iguana attempting to reach the ocean across a beach inhabited by racer snakes. The sequence stages multiple snake-iguana interactions, multiple escape attempts, and the eventual outcome across approximately five minutes. The audience reads the sequence as a specific individual’s story instead of as generic species behavior. The technique extends what natural history storytelling can accomplish by deploying narrative structures that drama uses.

The sequence’s specific success produced extensive cultural conversation in 2016 and showed that natural history programming could compete with scripted entertainment for audience attention. Later BBC natural history productions have continued to develop the character-driven approach.

The Cities Episode

The series’s sixth episode (“Cities”) covers urban wildlife and the specific ways animals have adapted to human-built environments. The episode represents the first major Attenborough series to dedicate an episode to urban ecology. The content includes leopards in Mumbai, peregrine falcons in New York City, hyenas in Harar Ethiopia, langurs in Jodhpur, and starlings over Rome.

The episode’s specific argument extends the Attenborough corpus into territory the series hadn’t previously covered comprehensively. Urban environments are now significant wildlife habitats. Multiple species have adapted to human-built conditions. Some species (peregrine falcons among them) have recovered from previous population declines partly through urban habitat use. Some species (urban leopards) maintain populations adjacent to human settlements through specific behavioral adaptations. The episode shows that contemporary natural history must include urban ecology as a major subject area.

The technique shows how documentary subject matter expands as the actual conditions change. The world that earlier Attenborough series documented included relatively limited urban wildlife. The world of 2016 included considerably more urban wildlife. The documentary response to actual conditions is suitable adaptation instead of refusal to address new subjects.

Is Planet Earth II as good as people say?

10/10. One of the major BBC natural history productions of the 2010s and the demonstration that later landmark productions can considerably extend the work of earlier landmark series. The technical generation deployment, the character-driven sequence approach, the Cities episode innovation, and the snow leopard documentation all earn the series’s standing. Watch the complete six-episode series. Planet Earth II is the explicit successor to the 2006 original and as evidence that natural history programming continues to develop substantively across multiple production generations.

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