On Sunday there's a special "Making Of" episode of the Blue Planet II on BBC Earth showing how the BBC's natural history went about capturing the underwater content for the series.

This Sunday on BBC Earth (DStv 184) at 16:00 there's a special episode of the BBC's Blue Planet II, entitled "The Making Of" that's actually an episode showing and containing the extras that's available on the Blue Planet II DVD box set, that reveals the stories behind some of the memorable moments and how the footage was captured.

The Blue Planet II "Making Of" episode shows viewers the extremes the team from the BBC’s natural history unit went to and the ground-breaking filming technology used during their four years of filming to capture the cinematic underwater content from around the world.

The devastation that plastic wreaks on our environment and especially on our oceans is always a hot topic and the episode will show the impact plastic has on the worlds that co-exist with ours under the surface of our oceans.

BBC Worldwide to simulcast the debut episode of Blue Planet II on its BBC Earth and BBC Brit channels on DStv at the same time.

BBC Worldwide will now simulcast the debut episode of the upcoming Blue Planet II natural history documentary series that will be shown on BBC Earth (DStv 184), on the BBC Brit (DStv 120) channel as well.

When the Sir David Attenborough narrated, aqua-exploratory series starts on 4 February at 16:00 on BBC Earth on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in South Africa, it will also be simulcast to more viewers in South Africa, and across Africa, at the same time on the BBC Brit channel.

BBC Earth is an exclusively DStv Premium channel for its highest paying subscribers, with the channel that also has more limited distribution elsewhere through Africa on MultiChoice Africa with very few African nations where BBC Earth is available on DStv. The more generic BBC Brit however enjoys bigger carriage availability on DStv in Africa.

BBC Brit is also available on the lower DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscription tiers.

The Blue Planet II simulcast on BBC Earth and BBC Brit accomplishes two goals.

Firstly the simulcast of the premium series serves as an upsell marketing opportunity to expose lower-tiered DStv subscribers to what content is available on BBC Earth - something that might prompt some upgrades to DStv Premium.

Secondly it enlarges the potential audience that gets access to the show if they want to watch it with the combined channels' reach that could yield higher viewership and an increase in ratings - a plus for both BBC Worldwide South Africa as well as for MultiChoice.

BBC Worldwide South Africa will preview Blue Planet II to the media next week at an event screening; its PR agency told TVwithThinus this week that it will be for Johannesburg press only with no media from elsewhere invited to see the series beforehand.

Blue Planet II follows 16 years after the first BBC series and has been released as DVD and Blu-ray sets since 27 November 2017 on Amazon. The production team spent over 6 000 hours diving underwater, including filming in South Africa.

The BBC will follow up Blue Planet II with programmes looking at how ocean plastic and clothing manufacture are impacting nature.

BBC to follow-up David Attenborough's Blue Planet II on BBC Earth with programmes looking at how ocean plastic and clothing manufacture are impacting nature, and animal dynasties.

The BBC is following up Sir David Attenborough's Blue Planet II oceanographic series coming to Africa's viewers from next month on BBC Earth (DStv 184) with further documentary programmes looking at how plastic is killing the oceans, a shocking expose about clothing, and wildlife "dynasties".

The BBC commissioned Drowning in Plastic as as 90-minute documentary with presenter Liz Bonnin who will look at the shocking impact plastic in the sea is having on the world, travelling to horrific “plastic hot spots” to show viewers first-hand what all forms of plastics is doing to sealife along shorelines and in the open sea.

The Truth About What You Wear with presenter Stacey Dooley will examine the connections between fashion, modern-day clothing manufacture and rainforest deforestation, water contamination and pollution, in addition to the threats posed to endangered animal species like orangutans and jaguars.

Dynasty will be the BBC's new signature wildlife documentary TV series that will look at groups of lions, African hunting dogs, chimpanzees, tigers and emperor penguins and how they create "dynasties" and groups as family packs.

The BBC has also commissioned Spy in the Wild II for 2019 using cameras to travel with various animals on their migration journeys, as well as Equator from the Air, looking at the Earth's equator region from above.

Blue Planet II has been scheduled to start on BBC Earth (DStv 184) on Sunday 4 February at 16:00.

Sir David Attenborough slams Bear Grylls over killing animals for TV entertainment on his survival show The Island on the Discovery Channel.

Sir David Attenborough has slammed the TV survivalist Bear Grylls over his merciless slaughtering of animals for the sake of TV entertainment in Bear Grylls' survival show The Island, saying unlike Grylls he wouldn't kill an animal to make compelling television.

The narrator of the upcoming Blue Planet II on BBC Earth (DStv 184) from 4 February who will also soon be launching a new nature conservation series on Netflix, told Britain's The Sun newspaper that Bear Grylls will "have to answer for himself" about the killing of defenseless animals on The Island with Bear Grylls.

"We’ve never killed an animal. Bear Grylls will have to answer for himself. But I wouldn’t willingly kill an animal just to get a shot," said Sir David Attenborough.

In The Island with Bear Grylls broadcast on Discovery Networks International's Discovery Channel (DStv 121) in South Africa and across Africa, contestants have slaughtered pigs, turkeys, iguana and now also caiman crocodiles, with viewers who are outraged over the killings done for television. 

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in the United Kingdom in a statement has said "The RSPCA opposes practices that cause animals pain, suffering or death in the name of entertainment. It's unacceptable and could easily cause great distress to the animals".

Previously People for the Ethical ­Treatment of Animals (PETA), said about the Discovery Channel show: “The Island is the result of some worn-out idea about showing crude dominance over the wonders of nature, a deep ignorance of who animals are and a callous disregard for life”.

PETA over the animal killings says “There was no reason other than a desperate quest for ratings to harm and torment.”

About his new Netflix conservation series, Sir David Attenborough says "Netflix want me to do something on conservation and have asked me to do it, and I’ve said I would. There’s certain things that the BBC can do and can’t do, and I can see some reasons why to do a programme on Netflix rather than the BBC”.

Blue Planet II to start on BBC Earth on DStv on Sunday 4 February 2018 at 4pm as an 'immersive' TV experience - exactly a year after after Planet Earth II.

The BBC's next globally shown natural history series, Blue Planet II will start on BBC Earth (DStv 184) on Sunday 4 February at 16:00 as literally an "immersive" TV experience.

BBC Worldwide confirmed to TVwithThinus that, as expected, the Sir David Attenborough narrated oceanological follow-up series to Blue Planet will be shown in February 2018 on DStv, similar as to when Australians will start to see it.

The 7-episode Blue Planet II already concluded since it started at the end of October in the United Kingdom, Nordic regions, Europe, Asia and New Zealand and the 3-disc Blue Planet II has already been released as a DVD and Blu-ray sets and is being sold since 27 November on Amazon.

America and Canada will see it from 20 January 2018.

The start date of Blue Planet II on BBC Earth in South Africa on DStv is interesting: The 4 February is a day short of a year since the natural history series Planet Earth II started on BBC Earth in 2017 on Sunday 5 February in the same 16:00 timeslot.

Blue Planet II follows 16 years after the first BBC series, and was 4 years in the making, complete with a soundtrack from composer Hans Zimmer and Radiohead.

Produced by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, filming involved 125 expeditions to 39 countries, filming on every continent and every ocean.

The team spent over 6 000 hours diving underwater, filming everywhere from South Africa and the Seychelles to Norway and the Gulf of Mexico and Antarctica in a deep manned submersible.

In Antarctica they explored under icebergs; in the Gulf of Mexico they filmed methane volcanoes erupting.

Where life was thought to be impossible in the deepest point of the Earth's ocean, more than 11 kilometres down, they filmed creatures living under pressure equivalent to 50 passenger planes stacked on top of one another.

Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice general manager for content, who saw some of Blue Planet II earlier this year before the start of its run on the BBC in the United Kingdom, shared some fascinating insights about the series with TV critics and journalists covering television at MultiChoice's DStv media showcase press day in September.

"I was privileged enough to go to BBC showcase earlier this year and they had one evening that they hosted where Blue Planet II was the theme and they had 360 degree cinema-like screens around".

"The submerged vessels that they film from look like big flying saucers, made from glass."

"They showed one of them, filming, and they were basically saying, 'Okay, we've been here for 3 days now, lift-off', and they push a button, and there's nothing".

"And they go: 'Okay, there's no pressure. We can't go up.' And you can see people panicking. And they go: 'Oh, the comms have gone as well.' And then you just see a guy going: 'Okay, lets switch everything off."

"So they switch everything off - click - and it's black. And it's black for about a minute. And you hear the sounds of how they start to switch everything back on like when you switch your lights back on when your board is tripped at home - clack, clack, clack. And there's nothing."

"And you just hear panicked voices. And the next minute, about a minute - everything comes on: boom. And then they get a little bit of pressure and they lift. Quite, quite, amazing."

"This natural history film unit of the BBC is absolutely amazing - you all know they've been around for years," said Aletta Alberts.

Blue Planet II has episode titles ranging from "Coral Reefs" and "Green Seas" to "Coasts" and "The Deep" and one episode also looks at mankind's destructive impact on the oceans with pollution and plastics threatening the entire marine ecosystem.

BREAKING. BBC is ending its BBC Worldwide brand; folding it into BBC Studios as a new single commercial entity that will be known as BBC Studios.

The BBC is announcing that it is ending its BBC Worldwide commercial arm brand and folding it into BBC Studios. The combined, single commercial entity will be known as BBC Studios.

The BBC in a statement on Wednesday says that moving forward with one combined unit "will ensure the BBC is best placed to succeed both creatively and commercially and will better serve licence fee payers".

"At a time of an increasingly competitive and global market for production and distribution, this new organisational structure will bring the BBC into line with the rest of the industry, integrating programme production, sales and distribution in a single entity," says the BBC.

The commercial activities already carried out by BBC Worldwide - including content financing, sales and commercial channels - and BBC Studios, the BBC’s main programme production arm, is being combined into a simplified organisation.

BBC Studios launched as a commercial subsidiary in April 2017 and makes over 2 000 hours of programming a year.

Following the restructure, BBC Studios will employ approximately 3 000 permanent staff.

BBC Studios and BBC Worldwide already worked together on for instance the new documentary series Blue Planet II, currently shown in the United Kingdom, Asia and parts of Europe and set to debut on MultiChoice's DStv in Africa around February 2018.

"Joining forces will allow them to operate more simply and efficiently," says the BBC.

"All of the major established United Kingdom industry players integrate their programme production and distribution in this way."

"The TV industry has been changing fast and major global players are investing vast sums in content - but not primarily in British content reflecting British lives," says the BBC.

"A successful new BBC Studios will be better placed to make the investments others will not."

"Production arm BBC Studios is internationally recognised for making high-quality British programmes across a broad range of genres and specialisms. Boasting 81 awards so far this year, its output includes the highly acclaimed Blue Planet II, Strictly Come Dancing, Antiques Roadshow, EastEnders, Top Gear, the award-winning drama Three Girls, Louis Theroux’s latest documentary series and Drugsland".

"In a fast-changing TV industry, securing the future success of the BBC is vital," says BBC director-general, Tony Hall.

"Creating a single BBC Studios will bring the BBC in line with the industry, be simpler and more efficient."

The new BBC Studios will be led by Tim Davie as CEO and Mark Linsey as chief creative officer.

"Creating one company, in line with market norms, is a natural step in this market," says Tim Davie in the BBC statement.

"The new BBC Studios will be focused on the highest quality British content, underpinning our future financial return to licence fee payers."

"It will allow us to better serve customers, independent partners and the wider industry, resulting in world-class British productions for audiences in the UK and overseas. I am excited about the prospects ahead, and delighted to be part of the new organisation".

Mark Linsey says: "Bringing BBC Studios and BBC Worldwide together will help secure the BBC's future and guarantee our unrivalled creativity, risk-taking, quality and range."

WEIRD. You're going to be able to buy and watch the complete Blue Planet II in your home months before its on BBC Earth on DStv.

Something odd is happening: You're going to be able to buy and watch the complete new Blue Planet II series from the comfort of your home, literally months before the BBC's new Sir David Attenborough narrated natural history series will get broadcast on BBC Earth (DStv 184).

While the United Kingdom, Nordic regions, Europe, Asia and New Zealand are watching Blue Planet II since it started at the end of October, South African and African viewers are not getting the same treatment.

MultiChoice and BBC Worldwide will be showing Blue Planet II - but only sometime in 2018.

This underwater natural history series with pedigree series is not one of MultiChoice and BBC Worldwide's "Express from the US UK" programmes.

The 7-episode Blue Planet II will definitely be on BBC Earth, but a starting date is not yet known and hasn't been given to the South African press.

Australians will get to see it from February 2018 which is the time I would guess South Africans will start to see it on DStv as well.

It's possible that BBC Worldwide didn't want to start Blue Planet II too late in the year and have it run over the December holidays, but then why didn't it start end of October at the same time as in the United Kingdom where, and when, there was a big BBC media launch?

Here's the odd thing: South African and African viewers won't have to wait until sometime in 2018 to see it on BBC Earth on DStv. You'll be able to see it for Christmas and even before then.

The 3-disc Blue Planet II will be released as DVD and Blu-ray sets on 27 November on Amazon.

When the original Planet Earth came out in 2006 I bought several Blu-ray sets as gifts and one for myself - it was literally the first Blu-ray I ever bought.

I will probably do the same again with Blue Planet II.

It's odd and doesn't make any sense that BBC Worldwide would sell something already on DVD that it hasn't yet properly exploited on its television window because it ends up cannibalising its own potential TV viewership.

On the other hand, that is the crazy rough-and-tumble TV world we inhabit today.

As more and more TV goes today, I will watch BBC Worldwide's Blue Planet II - it's just that the way I'm going to see it will most probably not be as a linear broadcast on pay-TV.

BBC back to the depths with a second season of Blue Planet later in 2017 with Sir David Attenborough as narrator.

The BBC is following up Planet Earth II with a second season of Blue Planet that it did in 2001, with Sir David Attenborough (90) who will be the narrator of Blue Planet II set to debut later in 2017.

The 7-episode series from the BBC' Studios Natural History Unit, previously called Ocean but now renamed Blue Planet II, returns to the world's oceans with footage captured the past four years.

The show will bring viewers new sea creatures and phenomena captured with new camera technology ranging from the polar seas and coral atolls to the ocean depths, as well as the methane volcanoes erupting in the Gulf of Mexico and the "boiling sea" in the Pacific Ocean.

Blue Planet II will show new creatures like the hairy-chested Hoff crabs, snub fin dolphins that spit water through the air and a tool-using tusk fish filmed for the first time.

The camera team also captured the sophisticated hunting between a coral grouper and a reef octopus and giant trevally catching flying birds in mid-air. Cameras also take a dive with a sperm whale mother and calf into the deep.

New camera technology used include ultra high definition (HD) so-called "tow cams" filming predatory fish and dolphins front-on, as well as special suction cameras recording the view from the backs of large creatures like whale sharks and orcas.

Two unmanned submersibles were also used, recording footage from 1 000 metres under the Antarctic Ocean.

In a BBC statement Sir David Attenborough says "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".

"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," says James Honeyborne, Blue Planet II executive producer.

"Blue Planet II is taking its cue from these breakthroughs, unveiling unbelievable new places, extraordinary new behaviours and remarkable new creatures. 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".

Tom McDonald, the head of commissioning, at the BBC's natural history and specialist factual division says "Blue Planet II promises to combine the exceptional craftsmanship that our audiences have come to expect from BBC Natural History with genuinely new revelations about the creatures and habitats of the world's oceans".

"I have no doubt it will thrill and delight the audience and deliver a new benchmark in natural history film-making."