Planet Earth/The Blue Planet: Seas of Life Collector's Set

The Blue Planet: Seas of Life: “If there were a Nobel prize for wildlife filmmaking, these producers would get it.” – The Wall Street Journal

Planet Earth: “A tour de force…A masterpiece” – The New York Times

Simply stated, there has never been a nature or wildlife series as breathtaking as Planet Earth or The Blue Planet. Now, for the first time, these must-own productions are offered together in a special collector’s set. The BBC’s Natural History Unit spent the last ten years producing two of the most stunningly beautiful series ever created. Watch as spectacular photography and revolutionary ultra-high speed cameras offer the ultimate portrait of our planet. For the first time, you’ll visit impossible locations on land and beneath the sea as you experience never-beforeseen footage of earth’s best-loved, wildest and most elusive creatures—all captured with astounding clarity. The Chicago Tribune calls Planet Earth “an absolutely extraordinary achievement.” The New York Times raved, “a tour de force...a masterpiece,” while The Wall Street Journal wrote “If there was a Nobel Prize for documentary filmmaking, these producers would get it.” Narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Extras include interviews with the series producer, over three hours of behindthe- scenes footage, plus documentaries Amazon Abyss, Dive to Shark Volcano, Between the Tides, Antarctica, and the featurette Deep Trouble.
 

Planet Earth
Pole to Pole - This episode looks at our planet as a whole and considers the key factors that have shaped its natural history. Without freshwater there is no life on land, while the sun dominates the lives of all animals and plants on Earth and defines their habitats.

Mountains - This program explains the geological and volcanic forces that shaped the land and its mountain chains. Humans like to think that once they've climbed a peak, they have somehow conquered it. But they can only ever be visitors to this hostile world.

Fresh Water - Just three percent of the Planet's water is fresh water and it is our most precious resource. Where it flows or falls it controls the distribution of all terrestrial life. This episode follows the descent of rivers from their mountain sources to the sea, and showcases the unique and dramatic wildlife found within its unexplored waters.

Caves - Caves are one of the only habitats not directly driven by sunlight, but this doesn't mean there is no wildlife. This episode probes the mysterious, perpetual darkness and reveals the unknown underground world of caves, caverns and tunnels.

Deserts - When astronauts peer down on Planet Earth, the one environment they all notice are the deserts, which make up a staggering 30 per cent of the land's surface. From space they look empty and lifeless. A closer look reveals a very different picture...

Ice Worlds - A journey to the polar extremes of our planet, where for most of the year the Arctic and Antarctic are locked in ice. As the sun abandons one pole and journeys to the other, these frozen worlds undergo the most extreme seasonal transformation on the planet...

Great Plains - The vast open wildernesses of African savannah, Asian steppe, Arctic tundra and North American prairie are the great plains of the planet. Together they cover more than a quarter of the land on Earth and one living thing is at their heart - grass.

Jungles - Beautiful floating aerial shots introduce the world's most spectacular forest vistas and high-definition cameras enable unprecedented views of the species that live on the dark jungle floor.

Shallow Seas - The newly discovered coral reefs in tropical Indonesia reveal that they are one of the richest in the world. They are home to fantasy-like creatures - such as the head-butting pygmy seahorse, the flashing 'electric' clam and bands of 30-strong sea snakes...

Seasonal Forests - From the evergreen forests of the frozen North to the deciduous dry forests of the Equator, Seasonal Forests reveals the greatest woodlands on earth.

Ocean Deep - Oceans cover two-thirds of the planet, yet largely remain unexplored. For animals that dwell on the surface or within the deepest abyss, it's finding food and conserving energy that is paramount. Planet Earth travels the world to reveal the extraordinary lengths life takes in its bid to survive this immense and barren realm.

The Blue Planet
Ocean World - The blue whale is a perfect symbol for the oceans: the vast blue expanse that dominates our planet whilst still remaining largely unexplored and mysterious. Yet the oceans are an integral part of our lives. Their influence dominates the world's weather systems. They support an enormous range of life, from the largest whales to the smallest plankton, from hordes of sea birds to lonely, deep-sea fish. All this is governed by a complex system of biological and physical forces. This first episode demonstrates the sheer scale, power and complexity of the ‘Blue Planet'.

The Deep - A place of mountain ranges, perpetual night, pressure extremes and cold... and the weirdest life forms on our planet. A true voyage into the unknown with constant surprises in store. Fish with grotesquely cavernous mouths and cruel teeth lurk one kilometer below the surface. Any light is living light, but a glow in the dark may be meant to attract the opposite sex, unless it is the deep-sea angler fish who already has her mate conveniently fused to the end of her nose. On the floor of the ocean deep, all manner of primitive creatures crawl across the ooze.

Open Ocean - A void. Endless blue stretches in every direction. The sea bed is a staggering eight kilometers deeper down and the nearest island is 500 kilometers away. There is nothing save the burning sun above and the blackened abyss below.
How, then, does life exist? Finding the only shelter under floating matter, half-moon fish pick off parasites from the bizarre three-metro-long sun-fish; loggerhead turtles pause to nibble particles on a log; huge schools of sardine, yellow-tails and trigger-fish bring the number sheltering under the flotsam to their thousands.

Frozen Seas - Life on the edge of a frozen sea is tough. Pack-ice at both poles is constantly on the move, and in winter freezes solid with air temperatures 70°C below freezing. Only in spring, with the retreating ice and light reaching the water, does life begin again. Plankton blooms and feeds vast hordes of migrating fish, birds, whales, seals and polar bears.
Walruses rake the seabed for clams. Minke and humpback whales gorge themselves on gigantic swarms of krill. But it is a brief indulgence, for the ice soon returns and pushes life back into the ocean.

Seasonal Seas - Shafts of sunlight radiate through a green sea. This blazing light is the vital source of energy used by the countless billions of plankton which grow every spring and summer in the world's temperate sea, the richest of all habitats.
Forests of giant kelp, the fastest growing plant in the world, harbor thousands of animals. Sharks move in to pick off the vulnerable. Sea otters, brilliantly colored anemones, squid and exquisite leafy dragons are just a few of the other creatures that live in this cool, rich water.

Coral Seas - Bathed in warm, clear tropical water and brilliant sunlight, coral reefs are the rainforests of the sea. Surrounded by ocean deserts they are rich oases of life. Spectacular numbers make it necessary to stand out to survive. This competition is highly visible as brightly colored fish compete for food, territory and mates. But the corals themselves are also dynamic. Incredible time-lapse photography shows the dramatic formation of a coral reef, portraying its myriad inhabitants and its ultimate destruction.

Tidal Seas - Tides govern marine life. Tidal marshes are one of the most productive parts of the world. Numerous plants support numerous animals, yet life is not easy: predators are attracted to these enormous quantities of food, forcing animals to seek constant protection from attack. Relief comes with the crashing waves, as the tides flow once more.
Between the tides, when the sands become depleted of food and air, the worms, clams and shrimps just endure the expected pause.

Coasts - The boundary between land and sea is an exciting place, with animals constantly coming and going. From the open oceans, millions of seabirds are forced to come onto land to breed. Sea eagles steal kittiwake chicks from their nesting ledges. Turtles lay their eggs in the sand and marine mammals haul themselves out to fight on the beaches. Sea-lions emerge from the kelp to give birth, while killer whales come crashing in on the surf to snatch the sea lions' young.

Planet Earth
BAFTA® Awards
2007 - Best Original Television Music: George Fenton for Planet Earth
The Peabody Awards
2007 - Winner - The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by TV and radio stations, networks, producing organizations, individuals and the World Wide Web.
International Emmy Awards ®
2007 – Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming
2007 – Outstanding Music for a Series – George Fenton
2007 – Outstanding Nonfiction Series – Maureen Lemire, Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
2007 – Outstanding sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming - Kate Hopkins

Blue Planet
BAFTA TV Awards
2002 - Best Original Television Music, George Fenton
2002 - Best Photography, Factual
Emmy Awards
2002 - Outstanding Cinematography for Non-Fiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera)
2002 - Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore), music composed by George Fenton

When Olympic gold-medalist Michael Phelps was asked during the 2008 Beijing Olympics what he does to unwind, he replied, "Planet Earth, the documentary, is pretty much all I've been watching."