Planet Earth/ Earth: The Biography Collection (Blu-ray)

Planet Earth
The epic series that has left viewers across the world in awe celebrates the Earth as never before. Planet Earth takes you to places you've never been to experience sights and sounds never before captured on film. Prepare to be overwhelmed by the beauty and majesty of Planet Earth.

Earth: The Biography
Earth is an incredible, exceptional planet with an amazing life story full of cataclysmic disasters, eleventh-hour coincidences that save it from extinction, and an astonishing power to continually regenerate. This landmark series uses breathtaking footage and specialist imaging to tell the story of the great forces that shape the planet - volcanoes, the ocean, the atmosphere and ice.

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.

Earth: the Biography
Volcano - Volcanoes have a fearsome reputation. In reality, they are the most important force in the creation of the planet as we know it today. Abseiling into a lava lake and cave-diving in a cenote, this episode shows how the heat that fuels volcanoes also drives some of the most fundamental processes on the planet.

Atmosphere - This episode ventures into the stratosphere in a Cold War fighter, travels to Siberia and discovers why Argentina is one of the stormiest places on Earth. All to show why our atmosphere is unique and utterly crucial for life.

Ice - Ice may be nothing more than frozen water but it holds extraordinary power. Descending 150m down a frozen waterfall, this episode looks at a glacier in action from below and discovers why the huge Jacobshaven glacier is retreating, how it shaped our past and why it may now threaten our future.

Oceans - Travelling from Hawaii to the Amazon and Ethiopia and then on to the Mediterranean, this episode tells the story of the oceans - fierce waves, huge tidal bores, global currents and the future dangers of global warming.
Rare Earth - This episode looks at the big picture of Earth's place in Space. It has taken four-and-a-half billion years and several great catastrophes to turn it from a barren rock to the unique planet we know today.

Planet Earth
"...jaw-dropping television from start to finish." -Sunday Express

"...sure to be the most dramatic and talked-about TV event of the year ... it might not be an overstatement to suggest that this series is so breathtaking that some viewers could find themselves at serious risk of respiratory failure." -Michael Holden, Mail On Sunday

"One programme towers head and shoulders above everything else tonight ... this is the most awesomely spectacular and wide-ranging natural history series to have hit our screens, the crowning achievement of the BBC's Natural History Unit ... Even on a non-HD screen, these images look very special. There's a clarity and depth that is closer to what we expect to see in a cinema ... With the right kind - and size - of HD TV screen, the effect is amazing." -Nigel Andrew, Daily Mail

"...it really isn't a show you can watch any less than twice. On the third viewing, I note, my boggling about the magnitude of Nature (Herds! Shoals! Teeth! Wing! Tundra!) had shifted, solipstically, to boggling about the magnitude of the humans. Dear God, but some effort has been put into this series. However amazing the creatures are that we witnessed, this is also a programme about how brilliant us guys - people - are." -Caitlin Moran, The Times

"Every few years we are treated to a series so compelling that it puts all other shows in the shade ... Every single second of these epic new films is a joy to behold ... mindblowing..." -Daily Mirror

"Planet Earth is the BBC's Natural History Unit at its biggest and boldest." -Sally Kinnes, Sunday Times

"This is the BBC doing what it does best - beautifully made, ambitious programmes fronted by a genuine, world-class expert. If I were looking forward to it any more, I would need a knife and fork for it." -Richard Hammond, Daily Mirror

"These programmes should be compulsory viewing for every school child, before they ... start to believe that it does not matter what happens to other species on this planet."- Philip Coggan, Financial Times

"...marvellous to look at ... breathtakingly beautiful photography..." -Peter Paterson, Daily Mail

"Stirring, hugely enjoyable and likely to be a deservedly massive hit ... almost every scene gained an instant place in television history." -James Walton, Daily Telegraph

"...sets a new benchmark in broadcasting ... an exquisite feast, from the opening sequence ... a natural history treat complimented expertly, as ever, by David Attenborough's polished commentary." -Robin McKie, Observer

"...filmed with such crispness and clarity that even my knackered old television, which I suspect once belonged to John Logie Baird himself, looked as if it had secretly been upgraded for high-definition broadcasts." -Thomas Sutcliffe, Independent

"...essential viewing ... crammed with grandeur ... and even humour." -Karl French, Financial Times
"Stunning footage ... it was like a snapshot of our planet in action, from its continental weather systems to its tiniest pond-life and, without trying, it instilled a deep sense of awe and respect. With a uniquely intelligent and cliché-free voiceover from David Attenborough, Planet Earth did exactly what good TV should. It showed us things we'd never get a chance to see otherwise, and left us feeling grateful for the experience. It also reminded us that the real world can be as amazing as anything conjured up by computer graphics ... a vivid reminder of why we all need to start caring, now."- Matt Baylis, Daily Express

"...the crowning glory of David Attenborough's extraordinary career." -David Chater, The Times

Earth: The Biography
"We find ourselves at the top of Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia. Beneath there is a sea of bright-red lava that is bubbling through a black stone crust: like blood boiling up from the deep. At that point, I was hooked ... A dazzling tour of our planet's rocky wonders ... the programme does rely heavily on its fine photography as the camera swoops over fault lines, into craters and along seabeds boiling with underwater eruptions. The end result, I am pleased to say, is absolutely riveting." - Observer

"Not lacking for ambition ... It's fascinating stuff." - Guardian

"There are impressive shots of molten lava, and [the programme] manages to get across a lot of information - particularly about how volcanoes create and sustain life." - The Times

"[A] great big new series about the forces that have shaped life on Earth ... The theme tonight is volcanoes, which means lots of awesome, no-expense-spared footage of lava. When you can learn more in an hour of TV than in a year's worth of lessons - and be entertained at the same time - sometimes I wonder why schools still exist at all." - Daily Mirror

"... makes rocks rock." - The Times

"There really is nothing quite so bodice-rippingly educational to be found on midwinter television as [this] masterclass on The Power of the Planet ... seeking to sex up earth-science ... And it works. As the hour draws to an end, there's a sense of awe." - Guardian

"A gorgeous-looking series." - Sun

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

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."