BBC announces Blue Planet II

The BBC has officially unveiled its latest blue-chip natural history series, Blue Planet II, and will launch it to international buyers at its Showcase event in Liverpool this week.

Sir David Attenborough will narrate the series, which was previously known as Ocean and will look at underwater environments and animals across every continent. BBC Studios’ NHU will make the series alongside copro partners BBC America, WDR and France Télévisions.

The show will launch later this year and comes soon after the success of Planet Earth II, which was originally titled One Planet and, like Ocean, was renamed just as Showcase began.

Blue Planet II comes over 15 years after the original underwater wildlife epic Blue Planet launched in 2001.

International buyers will get to see the first shots from the new series this week at BBC Worldwide’s annual Showcase market. Blue Planet II will be a key focus, in Liverpool, as Worldwide’s factual boss Mark Reynolds told TBI last week.

“Ocean is a key piece for later in the year,” Reynolds said. “We hope it can replicate the Planet Earth II success; the same ambition, and use of technology is brought to bear.”

Speaking as the newly-named series was announced today, Attenborough (pictured left in BBC series Great Barrier Reef) said: “I am truly thrilled to be joining this new exploration of the underwater worlds which cover most of our planet, yet are still its least known.”

James Honeyborne, executive producer, said: “The oceans are the most exciting place to be right now, because new scientific discoveries have given us a new perspective of life beneath the waves. Showing a contemporary portrait of marine life, it will provide a timely reminder that this is a critical moment for the health of the world’s oceans.”

The new series will run to 7x60mins with the final episode looking at the revolutionary filming techniques used, and making of the series.