David Attenborough

The trailer, titled The Prequel, features David Attenborough's narration over spectacular scenes of the Earth's oceans and the underwater inhabitants.

The five minute clip teases what is in store for the long-awaited sequel to the 2001 nature series; from slow-motion shots of blue whales soaring out of the ocean, to a glimpse of a bale of turtles occupying an entire beach as they slowly make their way to the sea, to close-ups of the extraordinary creatures on the sea floor.

In a world first, museum-goers will get special hands-on access to rare objects, while a 3D hologram of Attenborough will offer his own insight on each specimen in a one-on-one interactive experience.

He will be transformed into a hologram and will guide participants to virtually hold and handle fossils, bringing the objects to life. 

This virtual technology will allow people to hold up, peer inside, tilt and look more closely at the historic objects, which include fossils, bones and skulls from the museum’s world-famous collection.

Like an entire generation of wildlife film-makers, Alastair Fothergill was drawn to television by David Attenborough. His 1979 series, Life on Earth, showed the young Fothergill that natural history programming was “a good way to be paid to be near animals”.

Fothergill, who was recently made a Fellow of the RTS, spent almost three decades at the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU). This included a five-year stint as head of department, when he landed several global hits, including The Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet.

The successor to the award-winning Blue Planet from BBC Studios Natural History Unit follows the huge success of last year's Planet Earth II, also presented by Attenborough.

The seven-part documentary series has been four years in the making, with a team of wildlife filmmakers exploring the hidden depths of the earth's oceans for the return of the unique visual experience.

Sir David Attenborough said he was "truly thrilled to be joining this new exploration of the underwater worlds which cover most of our planet, yet are still its least known.”

He has led the camerawork on many of David Attenborough's landmark nature programmes.

We had a cuppa with him, where we learnt how challenging working with animals can be.

It’s a rare that two thoroughgoing BBC men are seen smiling, let alone laughing, inside the precincts of the House of Commons. When senior BBC people visit Parliament, they are invariably greeted by sceptical MPs, keen to give them a rough time. 

The atmosphere could not have been more different when, last month, the RTS invited Andrew Marr and Sir David Attenborough to hold a conversation at the Commons.  

During the event, which took place at the House of Commons, Sir David was also presented with an honourary RTS award for his work in television.

*Click here for the full event report and photo gallery*

Monday

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Speaking to the RTS All Party Parliamentary Group in the House of Commons the veteran natural history broadcaster said that today’s BBC commissioners were reluctant to back lengthy documentaries dealing with serious topics.

“One of the things which BBC Two did very well was to make serious programmes on serious subjects – 13 part series. That requires three years. There’s a great reluctance elsewhere to do those sorts of programmes…

“Today there is a tendency to do shorter series” He added to audience laughter: “’Today we present a new two-part series.’”