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Amongst the 6 awards that The Blue Planet series has received is BAFTA 'must see moment' voted by the British public in 2018.

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Virgin TV's Must-See Moment (Voted for by the public) - BLUE PLANET II

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WINNER: BLUE PLANET II Mother Pilot Whale Grieves - BBC Studios' Natural History Unit / BBC Worldwide / Open University / WDR / BBC America / Tencent / France Televisions / CCTV9 / BBC One DOCTOR WHO The 13th Doctor Revealed - BBC Studios Drama / BBC One GAME OF THRONES Viserion is Killed by the Night King - HBO Programming / Bighead, Littlehead / Television 360 / Startling Television / Sky Atlantic LINE OF DUTY Huntley's Narrow Escape - World Productions / BBC One

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10 ways to help our beautiful blueplanet; TV V star Chris on how we can all play our part EXCLUSIVE. Involving the public in BP. Displays PSB qualities. How to better ourselves.

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BP II is tops the charts being the most watched show in 2017.

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David Attenborough's underwater documentary series Blue Planet II was the most-watched TV show of 2017.

The 29 October episode - the first of the series - attracted more than 14 million viewers to BBC One.

Blue Planet II occupied the top four slots in the end-of-year top 10.

Strictly Come Dancing was the second most popular show, followed by I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, the One Love Manchester concert, Broadchurch and Britain's Got Talent.

The One Love concert was held to raise money for victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack.

The Great British Bake Off was the most watched programme in 2016 with 15.9 million viewers, but was absent from this year's top 10 following its move to Channel 4.

The top 10 most-watched TV shows of 2017

This table has the highest-rated episodes of each programme, with any other episodes of the same show omitted.
Source: Barb/PA You may also like: Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk .

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David Attenborough's underwater documentary series Blue Planet II was the most-watched TV show of 2017. The 29 October episode - the first of the series - attracted more than 14 million viewers to BBC One. Blue Planet II occupied the top four slots in the end-of-year top 10.

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David Attenborough turns 92! Radio Times article shows the fans messages to David Attenborough on social media.

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He's a national treasure who for decades has brought the remotest corners of the earth to our screens.

Now Sir David Attenborough, whose dulcet tones have captivated viewers ever since his famed Zoo Quest series in 1954, has turned 92, and well-wishers are taking to social media to wish the star of Blue Planet II and Planet Earth a happy birthday.

Ian Owens, director of science at the Natural History Museum in London, wrote, "Happy Birthday to the Greatest Living Englishman - David Attenborough - who has arguably done more than any other person to inspire a wonder of the natural world - and is champion for all those seeking a better balance between nature and human activities."

Happy Birthday Sir David Attenborough, 92 today! Here he is on Ross Island with Adelie penguins, Mt Erebus behind (better photo!) Research vessel & icebreaker RRS Sir David Attenborough, currently under construction, will be sailing in Antarctic waters by 2019 @NERCscience pic.twitter.com/PlCXTAIEiU

- The Antarctic Report (@AntarcticReport) May 8, 2018

Over the years Attenborough has been knighted, had species named after him, and campaigned passionately for environmental causes long before they made headlines, and he shows no sign of slowing down. He recently appeared alongside the Queen in the ITV documentary, The Queen's Green Planet.

Following the broadcast of Blue Planet, the campaign to reduce the amount of single us plastics we produce has gathered incredible momentum, as the BBC series showed the damage that humans are doing to the world's oceans.

"Never before have we been so aware of what we are doing to our planet - and never before have we had such power to do something about it," Attenborough wrote in Radio Times at the time. "Surely we have a responsibility to care for the planet on which we live?

"The future of humanity, and indeed of all life on Earth, now depends on us doing so."

Some Twitter users also expressed their "relief" that nonagenarian was trending on social media because of his birthday. "It's always a bit scary when you see him trending," one user wrote.

But others were quick to share their favourite moments from past series, from the weird to the wonderful.

This man is my hero. A beautiful compassionate soul who has made me further love nature and take steps to be eco-friendly. He will never see this but Happy Birthday, David Attenborough. Thank you for everything. #DavidAttenborough https://t.co/ffCCptbNce

- Hollie Adams (@Foxtrevert) May 8, 2018

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Happy birthday David Attenborough: viewers celebrate national treasure as he turns 92

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He's a national treasure who for decades has brought the remotest corners of the earth to our screens. Now Sir David Attenborough, whose dulcet tones have captivated viewers ever since his famed Zoo Quest series in 1954, has turned 92, and well-wishers are taking to social media to wish the star of Blue Planet II and Planet Earth a happy birthday.

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Interactive fan page for all things surrounding The Blue Planet

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Documentary series, presented by David Attenborough, exploring the planet's oceans.

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Revolutionary Moment in TV. For something that takes years to film before it can be aired, Blue Planet goes LIVE in 3 locations around the world!

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Broadcasting live from three different locations across the planet: East Coast, USA; the Bahamas; and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Charlotte Moore, BBC Director of Content, says: "Blue Planet Live will thrill the millions of viewers who discovered so much from last year's ground breaking series that shocked the nation. BBC One continues to lead that conversation as we travel live around the globe to witness first hand the magnificent marine life within our oceans and wake up to one of the biggest environmental crisis of our times."

Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual, says: "Blue Planet Live promises to bring spectacular encounters with some of the most extraordinary marine life on the planet whilst also giving the BBC One audience a new appreciation of the wonders of and the challenges facing our oceans"

In 2017, the multi-award winning Blue Planet II wowed over over 62% of the UK population (37.6m people) with never seen before footage of life in our oceans, revealing its complexity and the extraordinary variety of creatures that inhabit them.

Across four live shows, we'll be on location with many of the exciting marine animals that breed and feed at this time of year, bringing the audience closer than ever before to different species of turtles, sharks, whales and much more.

We'll also be exploring the last oceanic frontier that is 'The Deep' live for the first time on television - the beating heart of our planet.

On the East Coast of America, Chris Packham will be at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, meeting with scientists, experts and conservationists on the front line of new research. Here he will be uniquely positioned to delve into the ocean's little explored 'Twilight Zone', to find out what secrets the deep holds for the future of our blue planet.

He will also be assessing the health of the world's whales at a time of year when many are breeding, and finding out why these gentle giants are such important bell weathers of ocean health. Deploying a helicopter will give him an eye in the sky over this wildlife spectacle, as whale mothers and babies come together.

Over 1,000 miles south, one small island in the Bahamas is known for its extraordinary shark gatherings. Here Steve Backshall will undertake a series of live missions to bring us closer to the ocean's top predators which gather here in their masses to breed and feed.

On the other side of the world in the Pacific, dawn breaks over the Great Barrier Reef where Liz Bonnin is helping to monitor how new life is faring in this fragile place. Turtles and birds are nesting, and on the coral reef an underwater metropolis is alive with colourful and charming characters. This busy nursery provides plenty of drama that unfolds live before our presenter at this bustling location. Following her recent investigation into the damage plastic is having on the oceans, Liz will also be reporting on the challenges facing all marine life and the efforts being made to save our oceans.

Across the series we will be revisiting some of the key locations and animal characters from Blue Planet II as well as encountering new ones. At all three locations, we'll uncover in real-time the health of our marine life, while wildlife films from across the world will give us a truly global picture.

Blue Planet Live, a 4x60' series for BBC One, will be made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co produced with the Open University and BBC Learning. The Executive Producer is Roger Webb. It was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director, TV Content, Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual & Craig Hunter, Lead commissioner, Natural History & Specialist Factual. It will TX in 2019.
TD

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blue planet; nature; ocean; sea; environment; documentary; natural history

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Broadcasting live from three different locations across the planet: East Coast, USA; the Bahamas; and Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Charlotte Moore, BBC Director of Content, says: "Blue Planet Live will thrill the millions of viewers who discovered so much from last year's ground breaking series that shocked the nation.

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Article shows how long Blue Planet II took to film.

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A year after the epic Planet Earth II, Sir David Attenborough is returning to our screens with a follow-up to 2001's Blue Planet.

No spoilers, but we've seen the first episode and as sequels go we can confirm it's better than Sex And The City 2.

We've also been to the press conference and spoken to some of the team behind the new series.

Here are 22 things you need to know about Blue Planet II - complete with behind-the-boat info and what you can expect from the first episode.
1. Five babies were born to crew members in the time it took to film.
Blue Planet II involved "125 shoots, 6,000 hours filming underwater and 1,000 hours filming in submersibles", explains production manager Katie Hall.

But away from the shoots, she adds, it was also a busy time for the crew: "We had three weddings. Four houses were bought. Five babies. Two babies on the way.

"That's what happens when you're filming for four years."
2. "Oceans cover 70% of the surface of our planet, and yet they are still the least explored," says Sir David Attenborough in the opening sequence.
"Hidden beneath the waves, there are creatures beyond our imagination," he continues.

Roughly translated, we think he's saying: "Look, I know you might have seen Finding Dory multiple times but this is the real deal."
3. Hans Zimmer is doing the music again.
It's bad news for Fifth Harmony fans as the soundtrack has already been sorted by composer and general legend Hans Zimmer.

"We actually put the music out to tender, we weren't sure who we wanted to do it," explains executive producer James Honeyborne.

"And although we loved Planet Earth II [which Zimmer also did the soundtrack for] we wanted to keep this feeling fresh.

"But Hans came to us with such an impassioned pitch as to why he wanted to do it, which was incredible."
4. There will be seven episodes in the series.
And they're split into different habitats - like deep ocean, the coral reefs, the open ocean and the coastlines.

"Once you start dividing those up, you start to see where some of the stories would naturally fit," says James.
5. We wouldn't fancy filling out the risk assessment form for this show.
"When we green light each shoot, we're constantly mitigating risk," says Katie.

"But bar a couple of earaches, a little bit of water at the bottom of a submersible, and one cameraman stubbed his finger, we were extraordinarily lucky.

"But the planning that goes into every single shoot, and managing the risk - whether that's financial risk or health and safety - you don't see any of that."

Shame.
6. There's some serious drama in the opening episode.
Spoiler alert etc, etc.

In the opening episode, we meet some birds. Who sometimes like to fly down to the ocean and chill out a bit on the surface.

Unfortunately for them, there's some rather hungry giant trevallies (ie big scary fish) lurking under the water. And they have a particular taste for birds.

We won't give much more away, but it's safe to say you're about to see some snakes and iguanas-level drama go down.
7. Fish are Facebook-friendly.
The trailer for the new series has already built up 43 million views on social media.

Which is all part of a new digital strategy this year, according to Tom McDonald, who is (deep breath) head of commissioning at the BBC's Natural History and Specialist Factual unit.

"One of the interesting things about Planet Earth II was that more people watched it than the X Factor results show when they were up against each other last year," he says.

"So if there is a younger audience out there that is going to consume natural history content, we should focus our digital strategy on them, which is what we've done this year."
8. New technology was built to film the series.
"We built a huge piece of housing which we called the megadome which allowed us to slice the sea in half so you can see above and below at the same time," James says.

"We also built a tow-cam which can be pulled behind a boat which allowed us to travel with really fast-moving animals like dolphins and tuna."
9. They've brought back those 'making of' segments at the end of the episodes.
Remember on Planet Earth II, you'd get 50 minutes worth of TV show, and then 10 minutes of how the episode you've just seen was shot?

Half the time, the "making of" bit was even more interesting and eventful than the show itself.

Well, they've brought that bit back - and this series will have a segment called Into The Blue at the end of each instalment.
10. There's some stuff in the series that even Sir David Actual Attenborough didn't know about.
"When we first showed him some clips, he was like, 'Oh I didn't know this' and 'I didn't know that'," James says.

"Genuinely he was surprised. It's always good if you can surprise David, it doesn't happen often."
11. One Walrus has clearly been watching Titanic.
At one point in the first episode, a walrus tries to seek refuge from a preying polar bear on a floating iceberg.

Problem is, there are already some walruses (walri?) on said berg.

Clearly, this walrus watched Titanic, and, like the rest of us, thought there was plenty of room for Kate Winslet to shift over and make room for Leonardo DiCaprio on that piece of wood.
12. Bottle-nosed dolphins are super-cute
Unfortunately, the extra weight of this particular walrus on this particular iceberg causes it to collapse, ruining the party for everybody (there's always one).
13. Dolphins surf, Sir David explains, "to strengthen friendships, develop social skills, and for the sheer exhilaration of it".
They just look so friendly don't they, you'd definitely go for a drink with one.
14. The show doesn't shy away from the impact of pollution.
Coincidentally, this is also why humans do karaoke.

"You can't go out there and make a series like this without seeing some really big issues unfolding in front of you," says James.

"You can go to the middle of the ocean and find plastics from many different continents coming together.

"The impact that has on the wildlife can be devastating."
15. Warning: The first episode includes "mating".
In the show, we hear Sir David comment: "There are worrying signs that conditions in the oceans that have remained relatively stable for millennia, are changing radically."

In case you're planning to watch with your parents.
16. Some shots weren't filmed on location.
Fortunately, the mating involves this handsome chap.

Earlier this week, The Guardian said some footage had been captured in "controlled laboratory conditions".

After the report was published, James explained the series was overwhelmingly shot on location, but in a few select instances, such as rock pools in the Coasts episode, labs were used.

"Filming in the wild would have been too disruptive for the wildlife," he said.
17. It wasn't originally going to be called Blue Planet II.
"It would have been impossible to film close-ups of this magical world, so we worked with scientists to accurately recreate a rock pool in the controlled conditions of the lab."

"The series was commissioned as Oceans," explains Tom.

"It was a very easy commission, instinctively the channel understood it was a brilliant thing to do and it felt like it was the right time to go back to this habitat.
18. Tusk fish are determined little creatures.
"It was never designed so that we'd have Planet Earth II last year and Blue Planet II this year, so now it looks like it was a brilliant strategy, but it wasn't exactly conceived that way."

There is one tusk fish who travels to the edge of the coral reef every morning, Sir David explains, looking for some breakfast.

While most of us would grab some Special K from the cupboard, this guy travels quite some distance in search of a small clam.

Using his mouth, he takes it back to his "kitchen" - which is essentially a massive rock, against which he starts bashing the clam repeatedly in order to crack it open.
19. Not all of the plans for the series came off.
"It's not easy when you have no hands," Sir David observes.

"There were lots of shoots that failed, to put it bluntly," says Tom.

"The team set out to capture particular species, and when you watch this, I think James and his team make it look really easy.
20. In true W1A style, the show has led to more collaborative BBC working.
"And when I think about the number of variables when it comes to filming in the ocean, I think it's remarkable what they were able to capture."

"Some of the new technologies that were invented specifically for this series are already being deployed by the Natural History Unit on future projects," says Tom.
21. There's going to be a podcast to accompany the series.
James adds: "There was a sequence on The One Show last week about sturgeon [not Nicola], and they borrowed our probe lens, which is great - we built it, they were able to use it."
22. So... Planet Earth II. Blue Planet II. What's next?
So make sure you're all caught-up on Serial.

"We have a big landmark series for next year which is very different to Blue Planet II," says Tom.

"It's been announced already, it's called Dynasty, not to be confused with Carringtons and Colbys, so who knows if it will stay that title.

"But the premise of each film is we take one animal family and follow them for a number of years to see the ups and downs of their family lines.

"I'm already viewing episodes of it, and it's incredibly visceral. It feels so different to this."

There's more.

"One other thing I'm really excited about is a series the NHU have made which is on in January called Animals With Cameras, a really simple proposition.

"We've built bespoke cameras for different species, that the animals wear, so we can see the world from an animal's point of view.
Blue Planet II begins on BBC One at 20:00 GMT on Sunday. The series has been sold to more than 30 countries around the world.
"There's meerkats in it," he adds. "That's my innovation for 2018, more meerkats."

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

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22 things you need to know about Blue Planet II

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A year after the epic Planet Earth II, Sir David Attenborough is returning to our screens with a follow-up to 2001's Blue Planet. No spoilers, but we've seen the first episode and as sequels go we can confirm it's better than Sex And The City 2.

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PDF file outlines the requirements for a show to fulfil PSB in a report of 2017. This is the year Blue Planet II was released. It ticks these boxes as no complaints have been reported in the archives.

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public service broadcasting annual report 2016

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Public Service Broadcasting Annual Report 2017

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This report provides information about how the television public service broadcasters are performing in terms of delivering public service programmes.

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Material shows the date and the time of the first episode of The Blue Planet, and what the programme featured.

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We have produced a Style Guide to help editors follow a standard format when editing a listing. If you are unsure how best to edit this programme please take a moment to read it.

The first in a new eight-part series looking at the natural history of the oceans. Narrated by David Attenborough. Although 70 per cent of the planet is covered by the sea, oceans remain the last unexplored frontier. A voyage to the very depths reveals a spectacular variety of life.
Plus in Making Waves, an insight into how parts of each episode were filmed.
Producer/Series producer Alastair Fothergill (S) (W) BBC VIDEO: Blue Planet is released on 24 September price £29.99 The underwater wortd: page 32

Contributors

Unknown: David Attenborough. Producer: Alastair Fothergill

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We have produced a Style Guide to help editors follow a standard format when editing a listing. If you are unsure how best to edit this programme please take a moment to read it. The first in a new eight-part series looking at the natural history of the oceans.