A YEAR ON PLANET EARTH: STEPHEN FRY NARRATES NEW ITV NATURAL HISTORY SERIES

A Year on Planet Earth (6x60) draws on the most spellbinding and dramatic stories from all corners of the globe.

Featuring a story arc across the seasons, it is set to draw viewers in over a number of episodes, unfolding like a drama. The series is from a highly specialised blue-chip natural history team, comprising Tom Hugh-Jones, Dr Martha Holmes and Grant Mansfield.

A Year on Planet Earth is a new narrative approach, showcasing the many wonders of the world, revealing the incredible ways in which all life is connected and how massive natural events affect the lives of individual animals.

Combining extreme weather, breathtaking landscapes, epic wildlife spectacles and lovable animal characters, this series reveals our planet in a completely new light, uncovering how animals react and adapt to shifting habitats and unexpected events.

The series will be narrated by Stephen Fry, who said (via Mail On Sunday): "ITV has not inhabited the natural history space for many decades. They just don’t do it, and why would they when the BBC has mastered it?..

"It’s extraordinary what the [BBC’s] natural history unit in Bristol has done, as we know, through the incredible genius of David Attenborough and his knowledge, his authority and everything else...

"It starts in Iceland, and when standing on all that ice it’s easy to forget we’re travelling at 450,000 miles an hour round the sun, and everything we are and every living thing on the planet is as a result of the orbit we have, that we’re tilted which allows for the seasons and water cycles and everything that activates life."

Ruth Berry, Managing Director, Global Distribution, ITV Studios, said: “A Year on Planet Earth is the latest addition to our carefully curated collection of natural history programming and is promising to be an absolute treat...

"It is already capturing the imagination of the global market and we are delighted that Tencent Video have joined us in this unique look at the natural world.”

Lex Zhu, Director of Documentary Studio, Tencent Video, said: "We hope the co-production partnership with ITV Studios and Plimsoll extends to a long and fruitful adventure to bring blue-chip documentaries to our China and International audiences. We will continue to work with ITV Studios to bring stories about China to the world.”

A Year On Planet Earth is due to land later this year on ITV and ITVX.