Discovery Channel Announces 'Human Planet' Series

First came an unforgettable journey across the world's greatest habitats. Then viewers were brought nose-to-nose with Earth's wildest creatures. Now, the makers of PLANET EARTH and LIFE reverse the spotlight to focus on a species closer to home: humans. From oceans to jungles to deserts, the awe-inspiring new six part series HUMAN PLANET is a majestic portrait of people's incredible ability to survive and thrive in our planet's most extreme environments. The BBC/Discovery Channel co-production makes its US premiere on Discovery on Sunday April 10, 17 and 24, with two episodes airing from 8-10PM ET/PT each night.

Four years in the making, HUMAN PLANET tells the story of the complex, profound and sometimes challenging relationship between humankind and nature. The series was filmed in high definition in more than 70 locations to capture the most diverse and in some cases, never-before-seen stories of human endeavor. From the frozen Arctic to steamy rainforests, and from tiny islands in vast oceans to parched deserts, people have found remarkable ways to adapt and survive in the harshest environments possible.

"HUMAN PLANET is the story of us, uniquely told through the lens of the world's premier natural history filmmaking," said Clark Bunting, president and general manager of Discovery Channel. "Throughout the series, viewers will be transported to some of the most stunning locations on Earth to bear witness to intensely captivating stories of human perseverance and survival."

Each hour of HUMAN PLANET is tied to life in a particular habitat, including the Arctic, Rivers and Oceans, Mountains, Grasslands and Jungles, and Deserts. The sixth episode, Life at the Extremes, tells some of the greatest stories of the series. Exploring remote valleys, treacherous cliffs, flooding monsoon rains and even the urban jungle, each habitat has its own special challenges and gifts. In each, we find individuals, communities and traditions of astonishing color and vitality, including:

* Women and children who routinely cross the central Sahara to trade dates and collect water from a single well, using only the patterns of the stars and dunes for navigation.

* The Korowai people of West Papua, who live in wooden tree houses more than 10 stories above the forest floor -- the higher the house, the greater the prestige.

* Inuits of Northeast Canada who take advantage of extreme tides to harvest mussels; they can either drown or be crushed beneath the sea ice if they don't escape to the surface before the tides return.

* Children in Kenya who hunt for honey with birds as their guides, braving trees buzzing with African killer bees.

HUMAN PLANET is a breathtaking celebration of human ingenuity, showing us at our most beautiful, adaptive, cooperative, courageous, compassionate - and profoundly connected to our environment.

The series is a co-production of BBC and Discovery Channel. For BBC, Brian Leith is executive producer and Dale Templar is series producer. Alan Eyres is executive producer for Discovery Channel.

 

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