Programme commissioners were keen for a follow-up, so Alastair Fothergill decided that the Natural History Unit should repeat the formula with a series looking at the whole planet.
The idea for Planet Earth was born, and the series was commissioned by Lorraine Heggessey, then Controller of BBC One, in January 2002.
The series featured films contributed by a number of celebrities on the plight of various endangered species, and coincided with the launch of the BBC Wildlife Fund, a charitable organisation which distributes money to conservation projects around the world.
The television series culminated in a live fundraising telethon on BBC Two, hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, which raised over £1 million for the charity.
Wild Night In was presented by Kate Humble, Chris Packham and Martin Hughes-Games and featured conservation projects which had benefited from the support of the BBC Wildlife Fund.
Produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and broadcast in May 2012, the programme was presented by Richard Hammond and Julia Bradbury.
[11] Broadcast three times per week, teams of nature experts and documentary makers monitored the activity of animals in their area, reporting back on the day’s events.
[13] Animals featured included meerkats in the Kalahari Desert, American black bears in Minnesota, lions and African bush elephants in East Africa, toque macaques in Sri Lanka, gray whales off the coast of California, polar bears in Svalbard and giant otters in Peru.
[15] Alongside the commissioning of the television series, BBC Worldwide and GreenLight Media secured financing for a US$15 million film version of Planet Earth.
[18] David Attenborough was replaced as narrator by high-profile actors: Patrick Stewart for the UK market and James Earl Jones for the United States.
[22][23] It has grossed more than $108 million worldwide; in the nature documentary genre, only March of the Penguins has achieved greater box-office success.