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.

The format of Saving Planet Earth was something of a departure for the Unit, using celebrities not normally associated with natural history programmes rather than selecting a familiar face from its pool of specialists.

The season began with a special hour-long programme on BBC One entitled "Sharing Planet Earth", a clarion call for action to conserve nature, presented by David Attenborough.

A second five-part series on the CBBC Channel followed seven young competition winners on their own personal journeys to destinations including Brazil and Borneo to report on threatened species.

The season culminated with a live fundraising evening to raise money for a newly established conservation charity, the BBC Wildlife Fund.

Newsreader Fiona Bruce reports from Bandhavgarh National Park, where acclaimed wildlife cameraman and tiger expert Alphonse Roy has been watching and filming them for 20 years.

TV presenter Nick Knowles reports from Borneo, where orangutan numbers are being decimated due to the deforestation of the island and the growth of palm plantations.

The series culminated in a live fundraising event broadcast from Kew Gardens, hosted by Titchmarsh and featuring interviews with many of the BBC's natural history presenters, including Attenborough, Strachan, Bill Oddie, Kate Humble, Simon King, Steve Leonard, Jonathan Scott, Chris Packham and Charlotte Uhlenbroek.