Planet Earth

{{Infobox media franchise | title = Planet Earth | image = | image_upright = | caption = | creator = | owner = | origin = Planet Earth (2006) | books = Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before (2006)Planet Earth: The Future (2006)Planet Earth: The Making of an Epic Series (2006)Planet Earth - The Future: What the Experts Say (2006)Planet Earth: The Photographs (2007)Planet Earth II (2017) | novels = | short_stories = | comics = | graphic_novels = | strips = | magazines = | films = Earth (2007)Planet Earth Live (2010)Earth: One Amazing Day (2017) | shorts = | tv_series = Planet Earth (2006)Planet Earth: The Future (2006)Saving Planet Earth (2007)Planet Earth Live (2012)Planet Earth II (2016) Planet Earth III (2023) | web_series = | animated_series = | tv_specials = | tv_shorts = | tv_films = The Making of 'Planet Earth (2012) | direct-to-video = | plays = | musicals = | games = | rpgs = | video_games = | radio = | soundtracks = Planet Earth (2006)Planet Earth II (2016) | music = | toys = | attractions = | website = }}Planet Earth is a television and film documentary franchise produced and broadcast by the BBC. The franchise began in 2001 with the success of The Blue Planet. As of 2017, The Blue Planet has spawned 5 series and one feature film. Development In 2001 the BBC broadcast The Blue Planet, a landmark series on the natural history of the world's oceans. It received critical acclaim, high viewing figures, audience appreciation ratings, and many awards. It also became a hugely profitable global brand, eventually being sold to 150 countries worldwide. Feedback showed that audiences particularly liked the epic scale, the scenes of new and unusual species and the cinematic quality of the series. Programme commissioners were keen for a follow-up, so Alastair Fothergill decided that the Natural History Unit should repeat the formula with a series looking at the whole planet. The idea for Planet Earth was born, and the series was commissioned by Lorraine Heggessey, then Controller of BBC One, in January 2002. A feature film version of Planet Earth was commissioned alongside the television series, repeating the successful model established with The Blue Planet and its companion film, Deep Blue.