BBC Wildlife Specials
Nature documentaries featuring innovative filming techniques and scientific research.
The BBC Wildlife Specials are a series of nature documentary programmes commissioned by BBC Television, premiering in 1995. The series has produced 22 specials to date, with earlier programmes made in-house by the BBC's Natural History Unit and later titles produced by John Downer Productions. The first 18 specials through 2008 were narrated by David Attenborough, while later entries such as 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.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Nature documentary
- Presenter
- David Attenborough
- Narrator
- David Attenborough; David Tennant
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Episodes
- 29 (22 specials)
- Producer
- Neil Nightingale
- Keith Scholey
- John Downer
- Runtime
- 50 or 60 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Broadcast and production history
The Wildlife Specials have always aired on BBC One. Following the pilot Great White Shark: The True Story of Jaws in 1995, six further programmes were broadcast in 1997 as part of the Natural History Unit's 40th anniversary celebrations. Later specials were screened intermittently, 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. The specials incorporate the latest filming techniques and scientific research. During production of Polar Bear: The Arctic Warrior, the producer and cameraman were trapped on an ice floe for 20 hours but captured the first scenes of newborn cubs in the den. Leopard: The Agent of Darkness used infrared cameras to reveal nocturnal hunting of baboons. Eagle: The Master of the Skies employed aerial photography to capture eagles dropping tortoises from height to smash shells; fifteen of the world's sixty eagle species were filmed. A remote-controlled airship captured aerial footage of humpback whales breaching for Humpback Whale: The Giant of the Oceans. Lions: Spy in the Den was the first special commissioned from an independent production company; John Downer Productions developed mobile remote-controlled cameras including the 'Boulder Cam' disguised as a rock, enabling first footage inside a pride's den. This technique was developed further for the later Spy in the ... specials about elephants and bears. Serpent: Through the Eyes of the Snake used high-speed photography, x-ray imaging and miniature cameras on snakes' heads. In Tiger: Spy in the Jungle, trained elephants carried 'Trunk Cam' and 'Tusk Cam', while 'Log Cam' gathered unique jungle wildlife footage. For the two-part special Trek: Spy on the Wildebeest, cameras disguised as tortoises and crocodiles, and an aerial camera christened 'Dragonfly Cam', were developed.
Merchandise
A hardcover book titled The BBC Natural History Unit's Wildlife Specials was published by Trident Press on 10 November 1997, featuring 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 early specials—Leopard, Eagle, Tiger: The Elusive Princess, and Serpent—were released on DVD individually and as a box set; the first eight specials had previously been released on VHS. Lions, Elephants, and Bears were collectively released as The Spy in the ... Collection on 2 October 2006, while Trek and Tiger: Spy in the Jungle were each released separately on 9 June 2008.
More in 1990s British Documentary Television Series
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