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| BBC Wildlife Specials | |
|---|---|
 David Attenborough in the opening sequence ofLions: Spy in the Den | |
| Genre | Nature documentary |
| Presented by | David Attenborough |
| Narrated by | David Attenborough David Tennant |
| Composer | Various |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 29 (22 specials) |
| Production | |
| Producers | Neil Nightingale Keith Scholey John Downer |
| Running time | 50 or 60 minutes |
| Production companies | BBC Natural History Unit John Downer Prods. |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 14 April 1995 (1995-04-14) – present |
TheBBC Wildlife Specials are a series of nature documentary programmes commissioned byBBC Television. The series premiered in 1995, and 22 specials have been produced to date, with most of the more recent ones consisting of multiple episodes. The earlier programmes were produced in-house by the BBC'sNatural History Unit, but the more recentSpy in the ... titles were made by the independentJohn Downer Productions. The first 18 specials, through 2008, were narrated byDavid Attenborough.Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice (2010),Penguins: Spy in the Huddle (2013) andDolphins: Spy in the Pod (2014) were narrated byDavid Tennant.
The world's leading natural history filmmakers meet the world's most charismatic animals.
TheWildlife Specials have always been broadcast onBBC One. Following the pilotGreat White Shark: The True Story of Jaws, transmitted in 1995, a sequence of six further programmes were broadcast in 1997, as part of the Natural History Unit's 40th anniversary celebrations. Later specials were screened on an intermittent basis, typically at holiday times to attract a family audience. Viewing figures for the 1997 programmes peaked at 9.5 million, forPolar Bear: The Arctic Warrior.
Although the animals featured in the specials are frequent documentary subjects, theWildlife Specials incorporate the latest filming techniques and scientific research to present the creatures in a new light, as described in the examples below:
A list of programme titles with original broadcast date:
To accompany the transmission of the 1997 specials, the hardcover bookThe BBC Natural History Unit's Wildlife Specials (ISBN 1-900-72416-2) was published by Trident Press on 10 November 1997. It includes a foreword by David Attenborough, an introduction by series producer Keith Scholey, and six chapters about the animals featured in those specials, each written by the producer of the programme about that particular animal.
On 23 May 2004, four of the early specials,Leopard,Eagle,Tiger: The Elusive Princess, andSerpent, were released on DVD, both individually and as a box set.[2] The first eight specials were released previously onVHS.
Other specials were released on DVD later.Lions,Elephants, andBears were collectively released asThe Spy in the ... Collection on 2 October 2006.Trek andTiger: Spy in the Jungle were each released separately on 9 June 2008.