When the BBC’s Planet Earth docuseries premiered back in 2006, it was one of the most interesting documentaries of its kind. Five years in the making, Planet Earth was both vivid and memorable (and expensive), and now, nearly a decade later, Netflix has signed on with the Planet Earth team to create another docuseries of its ilk. This time, the title will be Our Planet.
As noted prior, it took the team five years to get enough wondrous footage to fill eleven episodes for the BBC. This time around, Netflix has given the team four years to put together eight episodes for the streaming service. The announcement was made this morning, but the project doesn’t seem to have gotten underway yet; thus, it will be quite a while before Our Planet hits the streaming service. Fans will be able to bingewatch Our Planet to their heart’s content starting in 2019.
Our Planet, like Planet Earth, will head into areas that are mostly untouched by humanity, including oceans, deserts, and forests. Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, who run Silverback Films, are producing the project and the WWF conservation organization is set to give the team access to protected areas they might otherwise not have been able to film in. In addition, Our Planet will be shot in 4K, not that you should need an UltraHD TV to understand how stunning the series should look.
When Planet Earth was released even on basic DVD, the picture was pretty sound. We saw mushrooms growing and whales in the ocean, eyeless creatures living in caves and birds and gazelles living on the African savanna. We saw all of that and much, much more, including polar bears heading out after a winter spent hibernating.
In many ways, Our Planet sounds a lot like Planet Earth, but there’s certainly still room for documentary filmmakers to explore the wild world and shoot footage that will entice viewers. In fact, following the release of Planet Earth, Silverback went on to produce Blue Planet, Frozen Planet, African Cats, Bears, and more--all of which look at the natural world in ways many citizens never get to see it.
As noted prior, it'll still be awhile before we actually see any footage from the endeavor. Netflix hasn’t even found a narrator for the new series, yet. Regardless, we’ll keep you updated as Our Planet moves forward.
