BBC Worldwide announces pre-sales for Hidden Kingdoms and Wild Brazil

BBC Worldwide announces pre-sales for Hidden Kingdoms and Wild Brazil #MIPCOM2013 http://bbc.in/15y603t via @BBCWpress

BBC Worldwide has announced pre-sales for Hidden Kingdoms to a raft of broadcasters, ahead of MIPCOM 2013. The stunning three-part series from the BBC’s Natural History Unit, co-produced with Discovery, RTL, France Télévisions and CCTV9 in association with R.T.I S.p.A., has been licensed to Australia (Network Ten), South Africa (BBC Knowledge), Sweden (SVT) and Iceland (RÚV). From the Producer behind Planet Earth and South Pacific (Mark Brownlow) and the Executive Producer of Africa, Life and One Life (Mike Gunton), Hidden Kingdoms (3x50’) puts the microscope on tiny animals and their exciting lives. It brings nature to life using the latest filming technology and combining that with innovative storytelling, up-close footage and an in-depth perspective on the natural world.

Mark Reynolds, Director, Factual Content BBC Worldwide said: “The pre-sales for our outstanding productions such as Hidden Kingdoms and Wild Brazil are a testament to the quality of BBC Worldwide’s content at MIPCOM this year. Our factual slate has something for everyone. Hidden Kingdoms, Deadly Pole to Pole, Life Below Zero – The Thaw and Wild Brazil take your breath away, The Moaning of Life and Top Gear offer wit and surprising insights and How to Build a Planet gives an opportunity to learn more about the world.”

Another thrilling series on BBC Worldwide’s factual slate, being produced by Adjacent Productions for The National Geographic Channel US, is Life Below Zero – The Thaw (6x45’). It follows the drama and hardships experienced by four Alaskan households in different corners of this merciless territory as they face a whole new set of challenges after the harsh winter.

Wild Brazil is another new title on BBC Worldwide’s factual slate, pre-sold to Germany (WDR) and Sweden (SVT). From the producers of Meerkat Manor and Elephant Diaries (Lucinda Axelsson) and 24/7 Wild and Springwatch (Tim Scoones), the spectacular 3x50’ BBC/Discovery Channel co-production goes to Brazil, the wild heart of South America and home to more species than any other country on the planet, to take an intimate look at the lives of some of the country’s most iconic animals in a fresh and exciting way. The natural history slate also features Deadly Pole to Pole (30x30’) in which British naturalist, writer and television presenter, Steve Backshall, embarks on an epic journey from the Arctic to the Antarctic in search of the deadliest animals on Earth.

How to Build a Planet (2x50’) introduces the greatest ever engineering project designed to build planets, solar systems and galaxies from scratch and, using stunning interactive CGI, it reveals step by step how a world is put together. The series is a BBC/Science Channel co-production and the presenter-led version features Richard Hammond (Top Gear).

Factual entertainment titles include The Moaning of Life, a funny and insightful five-part travelogue with a difference, presented by Karl Pilkington (An Idiot Abroad) as well as the 20th series of the world’s most popular car show Top Gear with special highlights including Top Gear Top Fails, Top Gear: The Worst Car In The History of The World, Top Gear’s Top 41 and Top Gear Festival: Sydney.

BBC Worldwide stand – G3.40


NOTES TO EDITORS


Programme information:

Hidden Kingdoms 2D (3x50’)

Small worlds, giant stories. It’s time for the little guys to take centre stage. Prepare to be shrunk down and immersed into magical worlds full of fantastical creatures living incredible, action-packed lives. Featuring a cast of miniature marvels all less than a foot in size, Hidden Kingdoms reveals life on a different scale, designed for maximum energy and emotion. From chipmunks to beetles, these creatures are all at the mercy of the elements. When you are just a few inches tall, raindrops fall like meteorites, dust stings like gravel and a sudden gust of wind feels like a tornado. Filmed against a backdrop of the planet’s most iconic landscapes – savannah and desert, jungle and forest, and metropolis – Hidden Kingdoms reveals these worlds in a new, hyper-real way, and from a whole new perspective.

Producer: Mark Brownlow (Planet Earth, South Pacific)

Executive Producer: Mike Gunton (Africa, Life, One Life)

A BBC/Discovery/RTL/France Televisions/CCTV9 co-production in association with R.T.I S.p.A. distributed by BBC Worldwide



Deadly Pole To Pole (30x30’)

Deadly just got deadlier. Steve Backshall embarks on an epic journey that takes him and his trusty crew from the Arctic to the Antarctic in search of the deadliest animals on earth. Experiencing new countries and new adventures, Steve discovers animals like the lobster munching goliath groupers of Cuba, the much feared and respected oceanic white tip shark, and the world’s only carnivorous caterpillars. Multiple cameras capture every aspect of the action, while groundbreaking time slice technology reveals the world of sharks and birds of prey as never seen before on Deadly Pole to Pole. And, for the first time ever, Steve looks at deadly forces of nature, from red hot molten lava and unexplored underwater caves to exploding supervolcanoes and mighty glaciers.

Series Producer: Scott Alexander

Executive Producer: Jonny Keeling (Expedition Tiger, Expedition Wolf)

A BBC production distributed by BBC Worldwide



Wild Brazil (3x50’)

Land of fire and flood. Brazil is the wild heart of South America, home to more species than any other country on the planet. But it is also a land of extremes, where animals must learn to adapt to survive. This series follows the intimate lives of an exceptional set of animal characters as time moves from the vast floods of the wet season to the ravaging fires of the dry season. From the early days of a baby tufted capuchin, one of the cleverest monkeys in the world, to the giant river otter family forced to go head to head with the local jaguars, Wild Brazil brings some of the country’s most iconic species to the screens in a fresh and exciting way, offering an intimate and unforgettable window on this exciting and vibrant country.

Series Producer: Lucinda Axelsson (Meerkat Manor, Elephant Diaries)

Executive Producer: Tim Scoones (24/7 Wild, Springwatch)

A BBC/Discovery Channel co-production distributed by BBC Worldwide



How To Build A Planet (2x50’)

Constructing the cosmos. It’s the ultimate engineering project – but just how do you build a planet, a solar system and a galaxy from scratch, and what happens if you get any part of it wrong? This exciting series draws on specially filmed interviews with the world’s top scientists and engineers and, starting with the raw materials of gas, dust, ice and metal, uses stunning interactive CGI to show step by step how a world is put together. A cosmic construction foreman supervises each stage in the building of the earth, the solar system and the galaxy, but like any construction project there will be mistakes – a moon in the wrong place or a little too much iron in the mix. Even minor slip-ups will have surprising consequences… out of these mistakes will come real insights into what makes our planet and our solar system exactly right for us.

Executive Producers: Will Aslett (Pompeii: The Mystery of the People Frozen in Time, Naked Science, Richard Hammond’s Journey to the Centre of the Planet) and Mark Hedgecoe The Challenger, Operation Iceberg, How to Grow a Planet)

A BBC/Science Channel co-production distributed by BBC Worldwide



The Moaning Of Life (5x45’)

Travelling the world for answers to the big stuff. Karl Pilkington is embarking on more travels around the globe – and this time he’s on a journey of self-discovery too. He might be known for having a moan, but the popular An Idiot Abroad star has never really worried about the big stuff. But now he’s reached the landmark age of 40, it seems the right time to re-assess where his life is going. In this funny and entertaining travelogue with a difference, Karl sets out in his own inimitable style to check out other cultures and experience how they face up to life’s big issues like happiness, death, careers, marriage and children. Travelling from far flung tribes and cultures in Indonesia and Africa to bustling high-tech cities in America, Japan and South Korea, he encounters unusual beliefs, experiences ancient customs and traditions, and discovers new and bizarre modern practices. As he works as a wedding planner in India, lives the millionaire lifestyle in South Africa, attends a party funeral in Ghana and tries nude-modelling in Japan, will Karl gain worldly wisdom or end up more puzzled than ever?

Executive Producers: Richard Yee (An Idiot Abroad, The World’s Hairiest Man and Me) and Krishnendu Majumdar (An Idiot Abroad, The World’s Smallest Man and Me)

Me & You Productions / RoundEd Productions for Sky1 HD distributed by BBC Worldwide



Life Below Zero – The Thaw (6x45’)

An extreme way of living. Spring has sprung for our four Alaskan households living miles from the nearest road network in different corners of this merciless territory. After the harsh winter, breakup is under way in remote Alaska and Life Below Zero’s hardy characters face a whole new set of challenges. Springtime is in many ways worse than winter, marking the start of the most taxing time of year in Alaska. Those living off the grid must work their hardest to acquire as much food and vital resources as possible before the brutal winter sets in again. Where sub-zero temperatures were winter’s biggest foe, now spring bears and blood-thieving mosquitoes have everyone on high alert. Snow covered mountains become a jungle of obstacles: rushing rivers, competing predators, and swarms of summer bugs all spell new challenges for the men and women who live their lives off this isolated land.

Executive Producers: Elli Hakimi (Richard Hammond’s Crash Course) and Jane Tranter (Dancing with the Stars, Torchwood, Top Gear USA)

Produced by Adjacent Productions for National Geographic Channel US distributed by BBC Worldwide



Top Gear 2013/2014

Series 20 (6x60’), ‘Best Ofs’ (2x60’)

The world’s most popular car show returns with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on typically explosive form. In the course of six packed programmes, they set out to race a car against an America’s Cup yacht up the coast of New Zealand, launch a highly scientific process to find the world’s fastest taxi, and do their bit for European economic turmoil by blasting across Spain in three ‘affordable’ supercars. Also in this series, Top Gear tackles the growing problem of flooding by designing a car that can turn into a hovercraft, investigate the popularity of ‘soft-roader’ cars by turning the presenters into caravan enthusiasts, and tests the Jaguar F-type, the Range Rover Sport and the new double decker bus for London as part of an epic celebration of the many brilliant machines currently made in Britain. There are also track tests of the BAC Mono, Ford Fiesta ST, Peugeot 208 GTI, Renault sport Clio 200 and Mercedes SLS Black, and the show welcomes a brand new Reasonably Priced car in which celebrity guests will perform their fast laps.

Presenters: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May

Executive Producer: Andy Wilman

A BBC Production distributed by BBC Worldwide




About BBC Worldwide Ltd.

BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). BBC Worldwide exists to support the BBC public service mission and to maximise profits on its behalf. It does this through investing in, commercialising and showcasing content from the BBC around the world, in a way that is consistent with BBC standards and values. The business also builds the reach and reputation of the BBC brand overseas and champions British creativity.

In 2012/13, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £156m and headline sales of £1,116m and returned £156m to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website:

http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview

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