Legendary documentary Filmmaker David Attenborough is bringing his trademark love of nature to Ireland in a new series for the BBC.
The five-part natural history series, titled Wild Isles, aims to emulate what the Planet series did for the wildlife of the world – inspiring people to “safeguard and restore nature for future generations.”
The 96-year-old Attenborough said, “In my long lifetime, I have travelled to almost every corner of our planet,”.
“I can assure you that in Ireland and Britain, as well as astonishing scenery there are extraordinary animal dramas and wildlife spectacles to match anything I have seen on my global travels.”
The first episode will explore the importance of Ireland and Britain for nature internationally, and the next four will focus on major habitats, including woodlands, grasslands, freshwater, and marine.
The series will see new behaviour filmed around the islands, including red deer stags rutting in one of Ireland’s wildest corners and blue fin tuna gathering in the Celtic Sea.
It will also show wild horses battling for access to females in England; black grouse and hen harriers courting in Scotland; mayfly hatching on a river; foxes hunting rabbits at night; and a bee that rides a broomstick.
The programme is set to showcase the Irish and British countryside like never before, using aerial photography, and motion-controlled time-lapse photography.
Low light cameras will reveal the nocturnal lives of animal favourites and macro photography will uncover the miniature worlds of rock pools, ponds and grasslands.
“I have always wanted to make a landmark series that really does justice to our own extraordinary wildlife,” said Alastair Fothergill, Executive Producer for Wild Isles.
“I am sure people will be amazed at what is happening right on their own doorstep”.
“The multi-award-winning team at Silverback are creating an eye-opening celebration of British and Irish wildlife that has to be seen to be believed,” said Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning for Science and Natural History at BBC.
“You’ll think a meadow in Somerset is as beautiful as the Serengeti, and the North Atlantic as wild and dramatic as the Antarctic Ocean.’’
The series is being made by Silverback Films, who previously had worked on such documentaries as Dancing With The Birds, David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, and the Disneynature series.