Blue Planet II

As BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit turned 60 this autumn, 2017 was a particularly exciting and busy year. But I was nervous about whether Blue Planet II would equal the impact of Planet Earth II almost a year previously.

In November 2016, Planet Earth II attracted record TV audiences in the UK; the series went on to win RTS, Bafta and Emmy awards. That sequence of racer snakes hurling themselves at hatchling marine iguanas won a Bafta for TV’s most memorable moment.

The trailer, titled The Prequel, features David Attenborough's narration over spectacular scenes of the Earth's oceans and the underwater inhabitants.

The five minute clip teases what is in store for the long-awaited sequel to the 2001 nature series; from slow-motion shots of blue whales soaring out of the ocean, to a glimpse of a bale of turtles occupying an entire beach as they slowly make their way to the sea, to close-ups of the extraordinary creatures on the sea floor.