Stephen Fry’s new documentary series, A Year on Planet Earth, lands this month

Virgin Radio

6 Dec 2022, 14:14

One of the country's most celebrated broadcasters, comedians and authors, Stephen Fry is exploring the wonders of the animal kingdom in a brand new ITVX documentary series, A Year on Planet Earth. 

The show will tell stories from all corners of the globe and, in doing so, will reveal the ways in which almost all life is connected, and how where we are on our journey around the sun affects the lives of individual animals.

Beloved actor, comedian and writer Stephen will present the series, which combines extreme weather, incredible landscapes, wildlife spectacles and lovable animals.

A synopsis says that the six-episode documentary “reveals our planet in a completely new light, uncovering how animals react and adapt to shifting habitats and unexpected events,” and will uncover “never before seen footage of our favourite creatures.”

The series has been filmed - as its title suggests - across all four seasons, in more than 60 locations around the world, from looking at remote king penguin colonies on Marion Island, to studying giant pandas in monsoon season in China.

Other charismatic animals to be featured include grizzly bears, African elephants, polar bears, cheetahs, blacktip sharks, chipmunks, leatherback turtles, pandas and zebras.

The full series will drop on ITVX on 22nd December 2022, with the first episode looking at the plummeting temperatures that winter brings. Viewers will see a polar bear mother is preparing her cub for a life alone amid frozen sea-ice in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

Meanwhile, it is the southern summer on the other side of the earth, and breeding season for king penguins, who head to Marion Island between Antarctica and South Africa. The island is uninhabited, aside from the million or so King Penguins who flock there each year. 

Elsewhere in the first episode, a baby African elephant enjoys the season of play, but tougher times lie ahead.

Other filming locations for the series include Florida, Norway's forests, Vietnam, Canada's Rocky Mountains, Northern Australia, Mexico and Zimbabwe.

All episodes of A Year on Planet Earth will drop on ITVX on 22nd December 2022.