Netflix, BBC, Nine team with Attenborough

Life in Colour will air in early 2021

Global streaming giant Netflix, BBC2 in the UK and Nine Network in Australia are teaming up for a three-part natural history series fronted by Sir David Attenborough.

Life in Colour is being produced by Bristol-based Humble Bee Films and Sydney-based SeaLight Pictures and will explore the many ways animals use colour throughout their lives.

Using new cameras built specifically for this series, the show will reveal a world of colour normally invisible to human eyes. Filming will take place across the globe, with particular emphasis on Australia.

Humble Bee Films has previously worked with Attenborough on four series of Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities for UKTV and BBC and more recently on his BBC1 special Attenborough & the Giant Elephant, which explored the tragic life of Jumbo the elephant.

Life in Colour will debut on BBC2 in the UK and Nine Network in Australia in early 2021 and be available to Netflix subscribers around the world except in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Screen Australia and Create NSW provided funding for the series.

Patrick Holland, BBC2 controller, said: “Any series authored by Sir David is very special and this promises to be exceptional. I am looking forward to seeing the combination of innovative photography and rich analysis to explore the role colour plays in animals’ lives.”

Natural history supremo Attenborough has been a staple of the BBC since it launched but has also recently fronted series such as Galapagos and Life of Plants for satcaster Sky, and Netflix’s blue chip natural history debut Our Planet, something the editor of BBC’s Storyville docs strand Mandy Chang described as “heartbreaking” earlier this year.