Planet Earth the British Broadcasting Research Proposal

Another main reason why Planet Earth is so successful is that the series delivers substantial quality content. The writing is accessible, lacking jargon, but still never dumbed-down or didactic. Individual episodes are so packed with information that viewers can look forward to watching again and again, and likely learn new things each time.

The producers opted for each episode to be about a familiar but broad ecosystem: such as caves, deserts, shallow seas, and deep ocean. This allows each individual episode to contain information about several different types of animals that exist in that ecosystem, and shows how the flora and fauna interact and coexist. Thus, no episode becomes bogged down by too much emphasis on one creature or one process of nature. At the same time, the producers select a few animals and processes to focus on instead of overwhelming the audience with too much data. To deliver scientific information to a general audience, producers need to strike a fine balance between too much and too little information, and between too academic and too pedestrian. Planet Earth also includes sidebar-like tidbits of information about how the videos were filmed: especially the shots that were the most grueling or the most difficult to film. Cinematographers can appreciate Planet Earth on a whole different level because of it.

Planet Earth makes learning about science fun. The series is entertaining but not in the kind of way Disney might make nature seem entertaining. Instead, the BBC opted for an intelligent approach to a nature program that combines the best of technology with the best of writing. In short, Planet Earth boasts both style and substance, which is why the documentary series succeeds.

Works Cited

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Planet Earth.…