BBC orders plastic, clothing impact docs

UK pubcaster the BBC has commissioned two natural history specials about the impact of plastic and the clothing industry on the environment, as well as a series about the equator.

Stacey Dooley

Produced by Raw TV, Drowning in Plastic (1×90′) will air on BBC1 and will be fronted by science and wildlife presenter Liz Bonnin.

Bonnin will set out to reveal the full scale of the world’s plastic problem and explore ways in which the biggest environmental disaster of our time might be averted and whether science can offer a solution.

The Truth About What You Wear (1×60′), meanwhile, will be presented by Stacey Dooley and made by Hello Halo Productions and Oak Island Films.

Revealing how our passion for fast fashion is threatening endangered species such as orangutans and jaguars, Dooley will hold some of the big clothing brands to account and challenge them to change their practices and help save the planet’s wildlife.

BBC2 will air four-part series Equator From the Air, to be produced by Dragonfly and fronted by wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan.

It will see Buchanan make a 25,000-mile journey around the centre of the world, over tropical islands, snow-capped volcanoes and sweeping savannah, to conduct a planetary health check from the air.

BBC1 has also recommissioned Spy in the Wild for a four-part second season. The show, produced with John Downer Productions, sees robot animals placed among real creatures to capture amazing natural events from a new perspective.

“These new commissions signal not only our continued commitment to capturing extraordinary new animal behaviour but also our responsibility to capture the unprecedented speed at which the natural world is changing,” said Tom McDonald, head of commissioning for natural history and specialist factual.