<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Studios Natural History Unit</span>

BBC Studios Natural History Unit

<p>The <b>BBC Studios Natural History Unit</b> (NHU) is a department of <a href="/en/BBC_Studios" title="BBC Studios" class="wl">BBC Studios</a> that produces television, radio and online content with a <a href="/en/Natural_history" title="Natural history" class="wl">natural history</a> or <a href="/en/Wildlife" title="Wildlife" class="wl">wildlife</a> theme. It is best known for its highly regarded <a href="/en/Nature_documentary" title="Nature documentary" class="wl">nature documentaries</a>, including <i><a href="/en/The_Blue_Planet" title="The Blue Planet" class="wl">The Blue Planet</a></i> and <i><a href="/en/Planet_Earth_(2006_TV_series)" title="Planet Earth (2006 TV series)" class="wl">Planet Earth</a></i>, and has a long association with <a href="/en/David_Attenborough" title="David Attenborough" class="wl">David Attenborough</a>'s authored documentaries, starting with 1979's <i><a href="/en/Life_on_Earth_(TV_series)" title="Life on Earth (TV series)" class="wl">Life on Earth</a></i>.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Department of BBC Studios</div>
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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Type, Industry, Founded, Headquarters, Produc...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vcard mobile-collapse-element"><caption class="infobox-title fn org">BBC Studios Natural History Unit</caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image logo"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg/220px-BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="726" data-file-height="132" data-file-type="drawing" height="40" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg/330px-BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg/440px-BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg.png 2x" alt="BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_2021.svg"></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">Type</th><td class="infobox-data category" style="line-height: 1.35em;"><a href="/en/Division_(business)" title="Division (business)" class="wl">Division</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">Industry</th><td class="infobox-data category" style="line-height: 1.35em;"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><a href="/en/Mass_media" title="Mass media" class="wl">Mass media</a></li><li><a href="/en/Production_company" title="Production company" class="wl">Production company</a></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">Founded</th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height: 1.35em;">1957<span class="noprint"><span>;</span><span> </span>66<span>&nbsp;</span>years ago</span><span style="display:none"><span>&nbsp;</span>(<span class="bday dtstart published updated">1957</span>)</span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">Headquarters</th><td class="infobox-data label" style="line-height: 1.35em;"><a href="/en/Broadcasting_House,_Bristol" title="Broadcasting House, Bristol" class="wl">Broadcasting House</a>, <div style="display: inline;" class="locality"><a href="/en/Bristol" title="Bristol" class="wl">Bristol</a></div>, <div style="display: inline;" class="country-name">United Kingdom</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">Products</th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height: 1.35em;"><a href="/en/BBC_Studios_Natural_History_Unit_filmography" title="BBC Studios Natural History Unit filmography" class="wl">BBC Studios Natural History Unit filmography</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">Owner</th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height: 1.35em;"><a href="/en/BBC" title="BBC" class="wl">BBC</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"><a href="/en/Parent_company" title="Parent company" class="mw-redirect wl">Parent</a></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height: 1.35em;"><a href="/en/BBC_Studios" title="BBC Studios" class="wl">BBC Studios</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>
<p>The Natural History Unit is a specialist department within <a href="/en/BBC_Studios" title="BBC Studios" class="wl">BBC Studios</a> Productions. Each year it produces around 100 hours of television and 50 hours of radio programmes, making it the largest wildlife documentary production house in the world.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span> The BBC commissions programmes from the Unit for broadcast on five terrestrial television channels (<a href="/en/BBC_One" title="BBC One" class="wl">BBC One</a>, <a href="/en/BBC_Two" title="BBC Two" class="wl">BBC Two</a>, <a href="/en/BBC_Four" title="BBC Four" class="wl">BBC Four</a>, <a href="/en/CBBC_(TV_channel)" title="CBBC (TV channel)" class="mw-redirect wl">CBBC</a> and <a href="/en/CBeebies" title="CBeebies" class="wl">CBeebies</a>) and <a href="/en/BBC_Radio_4" title="BBC Radio 4" class="wl">BBC Radio 4</a>. It also makes programmes for other broadcasters and services including <a href="/en/Apple_TV+" title="Apple TV+" class="wl">Apple TV+</a>, <a href="/en/Warner_Bros._Discovery" title="Warner Bros. Discovery" class="wl">Warner Bros. Discovery</a>, <a href="/en/National_Geographic_Global_Networks" title="National Geographic Global Networks" class="wl">National Geographic Global Networks</a> and <a href="/en/NBC_Universal" title="NBC Universal" class="mw-redirect wl">NBC Universal</a>. Content is marketed internationally under the <a href="/en/BBC_Earth" title="BBC Earth" class="wl">BBC Earth</a> brand. Original content is also broadcast on the <i>Earth Unplugged</i> <a href="/en/YouTube" title="YouTube" class="wl">YouTube</a> channel.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span></p>

<p>The Unit has been based in <a href="/en/Broadcasting_House,_Bristol" title="Broadcasting House, Bristol" class="wl">Broadcasting House, Bristol</a> since its formation in 1957, and has been headed by <a href="/en/Julian_Hector" title="Julian Hector" class="wl">Julian Hector</a> since 2016.</p>



The BBC Studios Natural History Unit is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, and has a long association with David Attenborough's authored documentaries, starting with 1979's Life on Earth. The Natural History Unit is a specialist department within BBC Studios Productions. Each year it produces around 100 hours of television and 50 hours of radio programmes, making it the largest wildlife documentary production house in the world. 