Philip Stevens takes a look behind one of the most ambitious natural history projects ever attempted for broadcasting, Planet Earth Live— aired in 140 countries around the world — followed the lives of baby animals
“PLANET EARTH Live is a potent combination of the big landmark global spectacles that the natural history unit at the BBC is known for — with a new digital innovation of live broadcasting and realtime story telling. We were out there around the world telling the story of the earth, as it happens, as nature writes the script.” Those are the words of Tim Scoones, executive producer of Planet Earth Live. The programme — which aired across several global BBC platforms during May — involved broadcasting in six different time zones, across five diverse continents, in seven locations.
“We chose May because this is a critical month for the young animals’ struggle for survival,” explains Scoones. “The lives of the Earth’s youngest animals truly hung in the balance over the course of the series including baby elephants in Kenya, black bears in Minnesota, macaque monkeys in Sri Lanka, meerkats in South Africa, grey whales in the Pacific and lion cubs in the Masaai Mara.” Even with its considerable
Final sound checks from Sri Lanka! Toque macaques investigate one of thePlanet Earth Livemicrophones
experience of covering numerous animal and mammal related stories, the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU) needed over a year to plan such an extensive undertaking.