I did not think it possible for the BBC to improve on their natural history film making. They have raised the bar yet again with this fantastic series.

Planet Earth consists of 12 episodes of ground breaking footage exploring the worlds continents and oceans. The programme looks at the effect that mankind has had on our amazing planet, with issues such as global warming, pollution and loss of habitat.

Some of the techniques used to film this series were pioneering, and they have to be seen to be believed. It took the BBC almost 3 years to make this series. The result for their efforts is simply stunning. Towards the end of each episode the quite brilliant Sir David Attenborough explains how some of the remarkable footage was attained, usually with painstaking effort and endurance. Some of the animals featured in this series are amongst the rarest on the planet, and had never before been caught on camera. This series will bring you as close as you will ever get some of the animals featured in it.

Sir David Attenborough is about to enter into his 80th year, and his passion and enthusiasm for the animals he is filming is as great as it ever has been. He is quite simply the best there is when it comes to natural history programmes. He is in a league of his own, and has been there for almost 50 years.

The first 6 episodes of Planet Earth were aired on consecutive Sunday evenings at 9pm in the spring. With the remaining 6 episodes due to be aired in the autumn of 2006. They make a compelling Sunday nights viewing, and even the uninterested in natural history programmes amongst us could fail to be impressed with this superbly made documentary.