Blue Planet III

Blue Planet III is a forthcoming British nature documentary series co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, ZDF, France Télévisions, and Skai TV in partnership with The Open University. It is due for transmission on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, and BBC America in 2026. Blue Planet III is the third series to carry the Blue Planet name. The first, 2001's The Blue Planet, won multiple Emmy and BAFTA TV awards for its music and cinematography, while the second, 2017's Blue Planet II, was the most watched programme that year. Both explored the world's oceans, showing marine ecosystems and wildlife, with Blue Planet III scheduled to show the same. The series was commissioned and first announced by the BBC in 2022. By February 2026, the series had been preordered by broadcasters in Australia (Nine), Brazil (Globo), Canada (Blue Ant Media, Radio-Canada), China (Shanghai Media Group's Dragon TV), Denmark (DR), New Zealand (TVNZ), and Spain (MovistarPlus+). That March, it was announced that BBC Studios would team up with Dorling Kindersley to release a tie-in book, the firms' third following 2025's Walking With Dinosaurs and the then-forthcoming Lego Duplo Bluey Flat Pack. In May 2026, it was confirmed that David Attenborough would return as narrator and a short video was released of him recording his voiceover. The announcement coincided with Attenborough's 100th birthday. Blue Planet III will have six hour-long episodes, with filming taking four years. The first five episodes will each focus on a different underwater habitat, and are titled "Tropical Seas", "Open Ocean", "Seasonal Seas", "Polar Waters" and "The Deep". The final episode, "Future Seas", will explore themes of marine conservation.