BBC America Launches New Nature Micro-Net, ‘Wonderstruck,’ Doubling Down on Natural History Event Programming

As part of BBC AMERICA’s unprecedented commitment to landmark natural history series, the network announced today its first original series greenlight from BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, a groundbreaking six-part series, Eden(w/t), at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour. From executive producer Mark Brownlow (Blue Planet II, Planet Earth), Eden(w/t) joins BBCA’s upcoming slate of landmark event series including the Sir David Attenborough-fronted Seven Worlds, One Planet, Frozen Planet II, Planet Earth III and more.

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The network also announced that the first episode of Seven Worlds, One Planet, scheduled to premiere in the United States in early 2020, will be featured as a special sneak preview during the launch of Wonderstruck this fall. Blue Planet Now, a follow up to Blue Planet II, will also anchor the new micro-net.  Set to launch in Q4 2019, Wonderstruck will be the exclusive U.S. television home to the Planet Earth collection and other iconic series from the BBC Natural History Unit. The micro-net will transform BBC America every Saturday for 24 hours, offering viewers natural history content and storytelling that inspires curiosity, awe and wonder.

“The BBC’s Natural History Unit invented the genre of natural history filmmaking – we at BBC America are delighted to expand our ongoing co-production partnership to greenlight our new original series, Eden,” said Sarah Barnett, president of the entertainment networks group at AMC Networks. “The world may seem smaller than ever before, but there is still so much to be seen, and this show will take us to some of the most magnificent, still uncorrupted, corners of our planet.”

Eden offers the audience ultimate escapism into the most pristine and stunning habitats left on planet earth,” said executive producer Mark Brownlow. “Packed with wildlife spectacle, drama and new behaviors, we will reveal the surprising secrets to our Eden’s remarkable riches.”

Today, less than 15% of the land surface of our planet remains as untouched wilderness. Eden(w/t) will travel to six different and spectacular areas around the world, exploring the wildlife, untamed beauty, and fragility of these last, untouched and irreplaceable places on Earth.

The series will spend a year in these extraordinary wildernesses, following the iconic animals that not only live there, but whose stories reveal the inner workings of each precious paradise. In each episode, we travel to a new part of the world to explore one of these hidden Edens – from tangled forest to bleached-bone desert, towering peaks to teeming reefs – each with a secret that unravels to explain its extraordinary riches.

Eden is a BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for BBC AMERICA.

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 BAFTA Award-winner Jodie Comer. The network is the definitive home and co-producer of the most iconic natural history programming including Planet Earth IIBlue Planet IIDynasties, the upcoming Sir David Attenborough-narrated series Seven Worlds, One Planet and the return of the Emmy®-winning series Frozen Planet II and Planet Earth III- all a part of the new Saturday nature television destination, Wonderstruck, launching Q4 2019.  A joint venture between AMC Networks and BBC Studios (the commercial arm of the BBC), BBCA’s influential shows such as Doctor WhoOrphan Black, Luther and Broadchurch, among many others, have attracted critical acclaim and earned Emmy® Awards, Peabody Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, TCA Awards, NAACP Image Awards, an IDA Documentary Award, a Gotham Award and Golden Globes®. Created in 1998, the irrepressible network has garnered one of cable’s most curious, educated and affluent audiences, with many properties boasting super-fan levels of engagement. Its unscripted slate includes the iconic car show Top Gear, buzzy and hilarious The Graham Norton Show and the world’s biggest darts championships. Get caught up, BBCA offers full episodes On Demand across all major digital platforms, BBC AMERICA app and bbcamerica.com. Find out more by visiting press.amcnetworks.com.

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About BBC Studios Natural History Unit

From its home in Bristol, BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit produces the world’s most iconic natural history programs, such as Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II, which has been watched by more than a billion people globally. Ranging from technically challenging live shows and super-landmarks to long-running series and children’s content, the unit creates much-loved programs which set the gold standard for the industry, like DynastiesBlue Planet Live and Springwatch, as well as the forthcoming Seven Worlds, One Planet presented by Sir David Attenborough. The NHU is part of BBC Studios, a subsidiary of the BBC, which develops, produces and distributes bold, British content, making over 2,500 hours of content per year, operating in 22 markets globally, generating revenue of around £1.4bn and returning some £200m to the BBC each year.