NEW YORK – September 10, 2024 – BBC AMERICA and BBC Factual today announced that renowned naturalist and three-time Emmy® Award-winner Sir David Attenborough (Mammals, Planet Earth III) will present Asia, a seven-part natural history series about the wildlife on our planet’s largest continent. Covering the length and breadth of Asia, the series will reveal its most remarkable landscapes and animals, and stories featuring dramatic, previously unseen behavior. Asia will premiere on BBC AMERICA and AMC+ in 2025.
Filmed over the course of nearly four years, this is the first time that Asia has been the focus of a landmark BBC wildlife series. From the vast Gobi Desert, to the jungles of Borneo, and from the polar wilderness of Siberia, to the coral seas of the Indian Ocean, this series will showcase the breathtaking variety of Asia’s wildest places.
Seven, one-hour episodes will feature dramatic wildlife stories from each corner of the continent. In Nepal, we’ll follow rhinos taking part in a bizarre courtship ‘kiss-chase’ ritual. In the foothills of the Himalaya, we’ll meet the red panda, Asia’s shyest (and possibly cutest) mammal – amidst forests of bamboo. Five thousand meters up on the Tibetan Plateau, we’ll witness a lone wolf hunting a herd of antelope, relentlessly chasing them for hours on end. In Sri Lanka, we’ll join elephants that have learned to become highway thieves – holding up buses to get food from the passengers. And in the rich waters of the Western Pacific, we’ll swim with sea snakes and fish that have learned to team up, in order to hunt together in huge shoals.
Filming locations include Lake Baikal, the vast taiga forest, the Lut Desert in Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula’s Empty Quarter. The series also features several Asian cities – Tokyo, Bangkok, Taipei, Bhopal, Hanoi and Singapore.
Asia is the largest continent, and no other place is as rich in superlatives. It has the highest mountain range; the deepest ocean the tallest jungles; and the biggest cave.
Asia’s wildlife is equally impressive. The continent is home to six species of bear, three species of rhino and five species of big cat – more than Africa. It is also the land of the unexpected – the mysterious sea bunny, bizarre mudskipper, elusive purple frog, and fluorescent deep-sea squid.
This contemporary view of Asia will celebrate the diversity of life on the continent but will also feature the conservation challenges and potential solutions. On a continent that is home to well over half the world’s human population, there is a growing movement within Asia to protect its wild places and animals – these stories of conservation heroes will feature prominently in the series.
Iconic landscapes and intimate behavior will be filmed using the very latest techniques, allowing audiences to experience the beauty and wonder of Asia like never before.
Asia, a 7×60’ for BBC One and iPlayer, is made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced with BBC AMERICA, France Télévisions and ZDF, in deals facilitated by BBC Studios, who hold global distribution rights. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Executive Producer is Roger Webb, the Series Producer is Matthew Wright and the Commissioning Editor is Sreya Biswas, Head of Commissioning, Natural History.
About BBC AMERICA
BBC AMERICA is a hub of innovative, culturally contagious programming including the Peabody Award-winning series Killing Eve starring Golden Globe® and SAG® Award-winner Sandra Oh and Emmy® Award-winner Jodie Comer. The network is the definitive television home and co-producer of the most iconic natural history series and franchises including Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Dynasties, Eden: Untamed Planet, Frozen Planet and Seven Worlds, One Planet. BBCA transforms every Saturday into Wonderstruck, a weekly destination for wildlife and wonder. A joint venture between AMC Networks and BBC Studios (the commercial arm of the BBC), BBCA’s influential shows such as Doctor Who, Orphan Black, Luther and The Graham Norton Show have attracted critical acclaim and earned Emmy® Awards, Golden Globes®, Peabody Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, NAACP Image Awards, TCA Awards and more. BBC AMERICA is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. Find out more by visiting press.amcnetworks.com. BBCA on social: YouTube – Twitter – Instagram – Facebook – Tumblr
About AMC+
AMC+ is the company’s premium streaming bundle featuring an extensive lineup of popular and critically acclaimed original programming from AMC, BBC America, IFC, and SundanceTV and full access to targeted streaming services Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited, which feature content such as A Discovery of Witches, Creepshow, and Boyhood. The service features a continually refreshed library of commercial-free content, with iconic series from the AMC Networks portfolio including Mad Men, Halt & Catch Fire, Hell on Wheels, Turn: Washington’s Spies, Rectify, Portlandia, Orphan Black and series from The Walking Dead Universe, among many others. The service also offers a growing slate of original and exclusive series including Gangs of London, Dark Winds, and the first two series in a new Anne Rice universe, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches. With new movies released every Friday, AMC+ is the newest destination for exclusive film premieres direct from theaters all year long. AMC+ is available in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Spain and is available in the U.S. through AMCPlus.com, the AMC+ app, and a number of digital and cable partners.