New York – May 5, 2016 – Ahead of Sir David Attenborough’s milestone 90th birthday, BBC AMERICA announces its first major natural history co-production, The Hunt, will premiere Sunday, July 3 at 9/8c. Narrated by famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough, the new series comes from multi-Emmy®-winning executive producer Alastair Fothergill (The Blue Planet, Frozen Planet) and series producer Huw Cordey (South Pacific, Frozen Planet)—the makers of the landmark series Planet Earth, which captivated audiences around the world in over 130 countries.
“In advance of the Olympics this summer, BBCA presents event TV that showcases the ultimate natural race — that of predator vs prey in the animal world. From the genius team behind Planet Earth, The Hunt is nature storytelling taken to the next level – as thrilling as anything scripted, and – in Ultra HD – as shockingly beautiful as anything on television today,” said Sarah Barnett, President and General Manager of BBC AMERICA.
Through character driven stories, The Hunt illustrates in dramatic detail the strategies predators use to catch their prey (and those that the prey use to escape), with each episode centering on one of our planet’s key habitats. From open grasslands and dense forests to the arctic and the open ocean, the cutting-edge seven-part series features rarely seen wildlife and animal behavior – revealing like never before the challenges predators and prey face in these very different worlds.
“What I hope will become apparent is this: predators usually fail. People don’t realize how hard it is. We want the audience to engage in this real-life drama…There are no heroes or villains. The point is, you never know if they will succeed: in the hunt, the outcome is never certain,” said Alastair Fothergill, Executive Producer of The Hunt.
The Hunt is produced by Silverback Films for the BBC and co-produced by BBC AMERICA with BBC Worldwide and NDR Naturfilm. The series is executive produced by Alastair Fothergill with Huw Cordey serving as series producer. Music is by award-winning composer, Steven Price, who won an Academy Award in 2014 for his score to Gravity. Tom McDonald is the Commissioning Editor for the BBC. BBC Worldwide is the global distributor of this series.
The US premiere screening of The Hunt will be presented by Alastair Fothergill and Huw Cordey on June 22 at the internationally-renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver on the Opening Night of the international television and content festival, SeriesFest: Season Two.
NOTE TO EDITORS
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SYNOPSES
EPISODE ONE – THE HARDEST CHALLENGE: SUNDAY, JULY 3, 9/8c
The contests between predators and prey are the most dramatic events in nature. The premiere episode reveals the extraordinary range of techniques predators use to catch their prey – from a leopard using all its powers of stealth to stalk impala in broad daylight to wild dogs, whose tactic is to wear down their prey over long distances; from Nile crocodiles, the planet’s most patient predators, to killer whales who use teamwork and intelligence to take on humpback whales. But even with these finely tuned strategies, the outcome is far from certain. Surprisingly, most predators fail most of the time.
EPISODE TWO – IN THE GRIP OF SEASONS – ARCTIC: SUNDAY, JULY 10, 9/8c
This episode looks at the challenges of hunting in the Arctic, the most seasonal place on Earth. To a predator, seasonal change is a problem; it means that all the parameters of the hunt – the conditions, the strategies, the prey – change too. The only option for the Arctic’s top predators – the wolf, the Arctic fox and the polar bear – is to continually adapt to their changing world, exploiting the good times and enduring the bad.
EPISODE THREE – HIDE AND SEEK – FOREST: SUNDAY, JULY 17, 9/8c
This episode follows tigers, harpy eagles, chimpanzees, army ants and other predators as they rise to the challenge of hunting within the forest – a dense, confusing, three-dimensional world (one in which even finding prey is a maddening task). The prize for succeeding at nature’s great game of hide-and-seek is one worth winning. Forests cover one third of the land surface, and concealed within are over half of the species on Earth.
EPISODE FOUR – HUNGER AT SEA – OCEANS: SUNDAY, JULY 24, 9/8c
This episode follows blue whales, sharks, sea lions, frigate birds, dolphins and albatrosses to reveal the strategies they use to hunt for prey in the big blue. The open ocean is an immense wilderness that covers more than half the surface of our planet, yet for the most part it’s a watery desert, largely devoid of life. Predators face an endless search to find and catch food, yet these great tracts of ocean are home to some of the most remarkable hunters on the planet.
EPISODE FIVE – NOWHERE TO HIDE – PLAINS: SUNDAY, JULY 31, 9/8c
The open arenas of grassland and desert make up half of all land on our planet. In these exposed habitats, predators like cheetahs, bald eagles and lions can usually see their prey. But it works both ways: their prey can see them too. With nothing but open vistas, the element of surprise is hard-won, and predators must make their own opportunities.
EPISODE SIX – RACE AGAINST TIME – COASTS: SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 9/8c
The coast is the dynamic border between land and sea; powered by the tides and thrashed by waves, this is a world of continuous change. Opportunities never last long here, so hunters are always in a race against time. The coast is the only place on the planet where predators from air, land and sea come together. Dolphins that leave the safety of the sea to fish, walking octopuses, ingenious monkeys, fishing wolves and the greatest gathering of feeding humpback whales come to the coast to hunt. For all, timing is everything.
EPISODE SEVEN – LIVING WITH PREDATORS – CONSERVATION: SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 9/8c
In the finale episode, The Hunt visits the frontline of the conflict with the world’s top predators, meeting the scientists fighting to save them. Crossing five continents and combining landmark natural history footage with real-life human drama, it checks the pulse of the earth’s iconic animals – including lions, tigers, polar bears and blue whales. With three-quarters of the planet’s carnivores now in decline, can people find ways to live with predators before they disappear forever
Created in 1998, BBC AMERICA is a hub of innovative, culturally contagious programming like the ground-breaking un-scripted series Top Gear, the top-rated science-fiction phenomenon Doctor Who, and the fan-favorite Orphan Black. The influential channel has been the launch pad for talent including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, and Graham Norton — all adopted as American pop culture icons. A joint venture between BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) and AMC Networks, BBCA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including four Emmy® Awards, five Golden Globes® and 12 Peabody Awards. The irrepressible network has garnered one of cable’s most curious, educated and affluent audiences, with many properties boasting super-fan levels of engagement. Available on cable and satellite TV in nearly 77 million homes, BBC AMERICA broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, is available On Demand across all major digital platforms and offers full episodes online at bbcamerica.com. Find out more by visiting press.bbcamerica.com or follow us on twitter.com/bbcamerica.
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