The Blue Planet

Background

The series took almost five years to make, involving nearly 200 filming locations. The fact that most of the ocean environment remains a mystery presented the production team with many challenges. Besides witnessing animal behaviour for the first time, the crew also observed some that were new to science. The producers were helped by marine scientists all over the world with state-of-the-art equipment.

Blue whales — whose migration routes were previously unknown — were located by air, after some of the animals had been given temporary radio tags. The camera team spent three years on standby, using a microlight to land on the water nearby when they finally caught up with the creatures in the Gulf of California. The open ocean proved more difficult and over 400 days were invested in often unsuccessful filming trips. After six weeks, the crew chanced upon a school of spinner dolphins, which in turn led them to a shoal of tuna. Off Mexico, the behaviour of a flock of frigatebirds guided the cameramen to a group of sailfish and marlin: the fastest inhabitants of the sea. Near the coast of Natal in South Africa, the team spent two seasons attempting to film the annual sardine run, a huge congregation of predators such as sharks and dolphins that assembles to feast on the migrating fish by corralling them into 'bait balls'. Meanwhile, in Monterey Bay, orca were documented attacking gray whales and killing a calf. Filming in the deep ocean required the use of special submersibles. One of them enabled the crew to dive over a mile into the San Diego trench, where the carcass of a 40-ton gray whale had been placed to attract a large variety of scavengers.

Upon its first transmission on BBC One, over 12 million people watched the series and it regularly achieved an audience share of over 30%.

DVD and Blu-ray

The series was available as a 3-disc DVD set (BBCDVD1089, released 3 December 2001), including interviews with the production team, a photo gallery and three additional programmes:

The first DVD has now been superseded by a 4-disc Special Edition (BBCDVD1792, released 3 October 2005), which features three extra programmes:

In the US, there is a different 5-disk Special Edition (BBC040754, released 2 October 2007). It contains the featured presentations as well as a 5th disk containing 4 special presentations:

BBC released a 3-disk The Blue Planet: Seas of Life on Blu-ray on 9 April 2013. It contains the featured presentations as well as a 3rd disk containing 5 special presentations:

plus interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

Books

The accompanying book, The Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans by Andrew Byatt, Alastair Fothergill and Martha Holmes (with a foreword by David Attenborough), was published by BBC Worldwide on 27 September 2001 (ISBN 0-563-38498-0).

The companion volume for the US market of the same book was published by Dorling Kindersley (DK) and release in 2002 (ISBN 0-789-48265-7).

Film

Deep Blue is a 2003 nature documentary film that is a theatrical version of The Blue Planet. Alastair Fothergill and Andy Byatt are credited as directors, and six cinematographers are also credited. The film premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain on September 20, 2003. It screened in over 20 territories from 2003 to 2005 and grossed over $30 million at the box office.

Live concert tour

The Blue Planet was turned into a theatrical presentation entitled The Blue Planet Live! and toured the UK in 2006. The UK live shows were presented by World Class Service Ltd. George Fenton conducted the Manchester Camerata Orchestra in Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham during December 2006, in three critically acclaimed shows. The tour continued in April 2007, again conducted by George Fenton, in London, Cardiff, Birmingham and returning to Manchester and Nottingham.

For the show, some of the most spectacular sequences from the series have been edited together and are displayed on a huge screen (18 metres wide and 3 storeys high). The presentation is introduced by a special guest.

The tour continued in April 2008 with dates at Wembley Arena, Nottingham Arena, Manchester Central, Cardiff St. David's and Birmingham Symphony Hall.

The Blue Planet Live! continues to be staged:

Sequel

In 2017, a sequel was announced with Attenborough returning as narrator and presenter.

Overseas

The series was sold to over 50 countries. In the United States, it was shown as The Blue Planet: Seas of Life with the episodes in a different order, the first one being retitled "Ocean World". The series aired on the Discovery Channel and was narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

Criticism

The series attracted some criticism when it was revealed that some of the footage was filmed at an aquarium in Wales. Series producer Alastair Fothergill said that around 2% of the whole series was filmed in tanks at aquariums.