Planet Earth starts tonight

[Carol Haynes]

In the UK this evening is the start of a new 11 part TV series "Planet Earth" which looks amazing.

I'm sure this is going to be franchised around the world so hopefully everyone will get a chance to see it but to whet your appetite check out the BBC website here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/planetearth/

Have a look at the Planet Earth Explorer which has some amazing clips from the programmes.

There is a sequence filmed in Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico (being a caver I am really looking forward to this). Apparently it took the BBC 2 years to get permission to film there - it isn't possible to imagine the problems they must have had getting all the equipment in place!! Check under Geology clips at http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/planetearth/realmedia/

[Hirudin]

Unfortunately you are unable to access this content. This is offered only to audiences in the UK.

Darn UK Crowd TV shows, quit getting my hopes up!

I hope PBS picks this up!

[Carol Haynes]

As far as I can tell it was sponsored not only by the BBC but a number of other broadcasters from around the globe. Doubtless it will get a wide airing. If not I'm sure it will be released on DVD

By the way the best TV series on a similar subject ever made was Earth Story by Aubrey Manning. It was made by the BBC but the rights were acquired by a US company. Now it is available on DVD. If you are interested they are selling it at a knock down price $899.99 (for the 8 episodes).

[mouser]

only $900? why not buy two just in case one dvd gets scratched.

[Hirudin]

only $900? why not buy two just in case one dvd gets scratched.

Sure beats recording it off the TV for free!

[Baseman]

By the time we get it here S.A. you'll all have forgotten what it was about... 

[rjbull]

The photography is AWESOME.  Snow leopards, even!  Only thing I didn't like was the background music, which I found obtrusive, like where the beats get faster as the hunting dogs close in for the kill.  That's emotionally manipulative.  But the rest is  terrific.

[KaysLover]

I read a few weeks ago that this series was going to be awesome.

I unfortunately missed the first part, but when I watched it yesterday, I was absolutely gob smacked at the scenes of the snow leopard. 

BTW at the start of yesterday show they commented that they had 9 million viewers to the first part.

[Carol Haynes]

Agreed the Snow Leopard footage was awesome. I had seen a little of that before as the same team produced an earlier programme just on the Snow Leopard - but it ended when they had to leave as one of the team got Mountain sickness. Obviously they had been back to film in the same area and the footage of the mother and cub as well as the hunting were just amazing. What incredible patience these film crews have - 7 weeks on your own in a hide without anything to report!! Either total dedication or completely barmy

I was also very taken with the secret filming of the Panda nursing the baby in the cave.

[Carol Haynes]

For those who can't wait for the TV version to arrive in far flung corners of the world the BBC have announced the DVD release. It will be released in December (so you still have to wait) but you can pre-order and get excited at http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/bbcdvd1883&bklist=%3Cvenda_bklist1%3E and the book to accompany the series at http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/0563522127&bklist=%3Cvenda_bklist1%3E

There is already a really interesting book about the making of the series (with lots of photos) available: http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/0563493585&bklist=%3Cvenda_bklist1%3E

I'm not sure but I think most of the DVD videos are region 0 (i.e. will play in all regions) but I can't guarantee that on one that hasn't been released yet! Some say Region 2+4 on the box but don't actually seem to be regionally encoded (eg. "Life in the Undergrowth" says region 2+4 but when I use NeroInfo tool it reports no regional encoding).

[Baseman]

Thanks Carol for the Info sure is well looking into...

[rjbull]

CarolHaynes,

I hope you were rivetted last night?  We've seen pictures of the "guano bats" before, but they had plenty of other things that I hadn't seen, like the Yucatan cenotes.

[Carol Haynes]

I loved the caves epsiode (being a bit of spelunker myself).

Have to say though I was a bit disappointed with the Lechuguilla footage. Don't get me wrong it was great, but given they were the last film crew ever likely to be given permission to film there they really didn't even begin to scratch the surface (so to speak).

I realised they were leaving the best until last but 5 minutes to show by far the largest known cave system in the world, and the most unusual ...

Mind you all power to them getting 500kg of equipment that far underground - most people would struggle to get themselves there

Thankfully I have a large collection of photos to drool over

[rjbull]

Have to say though I was a bit disappointed with the Lechuguilla footage.

I rather thought the same.  They kept telling you the formations were 6 metres long, but there wasn't really a sense of scale.  I've seen better-lit and more impressive still pictures of British caves.  Maybe the series is trying to do either too much, or too little: it certainly majors on eye candy, but I felt that David Attenborough's own earlier series were more informative.

[Carol Haynes]

So that people know what we are talking about here are a couple of photos to wet the appetite (thanks to Dave Bunnell, note that they are copyrighted but I have permission to use up to 5 on a non-commercial website).

If you want to see more of Dave's pictures and what he gets up to have a look at his website at http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/under_earth/

Click the thumbnails for larger versions:



It is well worth looking at his 'virtual cave' page (link as above) if you want to know more about caves and how they are formed. Note a lot of the terminology is US specific, there are other terms used in other places! For example, Rimstone Pools are called Gour pools in the UK.