wildlife

Filmed over a stretch of nearly four years, the programme features footage from Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Borneo, Thailand and Siberia.

The first episode – entitled “Beneath The Waves” – takes viewers on a journey around Asia’s oceans. “Above The Clouds” will showcase elephants living in high-altitude tea plantations and red panda hiding in the Himalaya, among others. Polar bears, Himalayan wolves and sea eagles all fight for survival in “The Frozen North”, before viewers enter the jungle in the fourth episode, “Tangled Worlds”.

Wildlife film-maker Justine Evans recently had a friend visit her home near the Forest of Dean. As night fell, Evans took them mountain biking through the forest trails, which she regularly does with her wolfdog for no other reason than “it’s quite fun doing it in the dark”.

While they were out night riding, Evans recalls her friend turning to her and saying, “Oh, it’s not all that spooky, is it?”

SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters sees celebs sink their teeth into their fear of oceans by jumping into shark infested waters. The as yet unconfirmed ‘A-listers’ will be swimming with gradually bigger and more dangerous sharks off Bimini, an island in The Bahamas home to 10 different breeds of shark.

On top of this, the stars will be educated on why sharks aren’t quite as intimidating as they seem, learning about their place in the ecosystem and why the world without them would actually be a lot scarier than the sharks themselves.

Seven years ago, documentary producer Tom Mustill was kayaking with a friend in Monterey Bay, California, when an adult humpback whale breached beside them, landing on their kayak. They were forced underwater and narrowly avoided being crushed by the whale. Fortunately, he and his friend escaped uninjured. 

Meerkat: A Dynasties Special follows on from the award-winning 2018 series, Dynasties, and once again sees Sir David Attenborough narrate the dramatic story of a vulnerable species.

In one of the harshest environments on Earth, a young meerkat queen, Maghogho, is struggling to establish her dynasty.

The Makadikadi salt pans of Botswana are so hot and dry that almost no life can survive, yet it is there that Maghogho must raise her pups.