David Attenborough to present plant series for BBC One

The channel has announced The Green Planet for 2020.

The landmark BBC Studios National History Unit production will explore our relationship with plants, past, present and future, and reveal how all animal life, ourselves included, is totally dependent on plants.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to explore a neglected yet truly remarkable part of the natural world. Once again, the innovative approach of the BBC NHU and ground-breaking technology will reveal new and surprising wonders to the BBC One audience.” – David Attenborough

Across the five-part series, David will travel to the USA, Costa Rica, Croatia and northern Europe, from deserts to mountains, from rainforests to the frozen north, to deliver a fresh understanding of how plants live their lives.

Showcased will be trees that care for each other; and plants that breed so fast they could cover the planet in a matter of months. David will also find time-travellers – seeds that can outlive civilisations, and plants that remain unchanged for decades.

Using brand new technological advances and over two decades of new discoveries, the production will take the viewer on a journey into a ‘magical world’ that will reveal plants to be just as aggressive, competitive and dramatic as animals.

The BBC One and PBS series could see a change of title before transmission and was co-produced by ZDF and The Open University.

“This series will take viewers into a world beyond their imagination – see things no eye has ever seen. The world of plants is a mind-blowing parallel universe; one that we can now bring to life using a whole range of exciting new camera technology. This is Planet Earth for plants!” – Mike Gunton, Executive Producer