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Frozen Planet is a 2011 British nature documentary series. It was produced as a co-production between the BBC Natural History Unit, Discovery Channel, Antena 3 Television S.A., ZDF, Skai tv and Open University, in association with Discovery Channel Canada. The production team, which includes executive producer Alastair Fothergill and series producer Vanessa Berlowitz, were previously responsible for the award-winning series The Blue Planet (2001) and Planet Earth (2006), and Frozen Planet is billed as a sequel of sorts. David Attenborough returns as narrator. The series is distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide.
The seven-part series focuses on life and the environment in both the Arctic and Antarctic. The production team were keen to film a comprehensive record of the natural history of the polar regions because climate change is affecting landforms such as , ice shelf, and the extent of sea ice. The series was met with critical acclaim and holds a Metacritic score of 91/100.
Whilst the series was broadcast in full in the UK, the BBC chose to make the series' seventh episode, which focuses on climate change, optional for syndication in order to aid sales of the show in countries where the issue is politically sensitive. The US Discovery Channel originally announced that they would air only the first six episodes of the show, but they later added the seventh episode to their schedule.
In 2012, the US broadcast won four , including Outstanding Nonfiction Series. A sequel titled Frozen Planet II began aring in September 2022, which covers more frozen habitats than just the polar regions, while also emphasizing more on the threat of climate change.
From late April to early May 2009, BBC crews were in Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada filming the annual breakup of the river of the same name, which flows into Great Slave Lake.
In the United States, Frozen Planet premiered on the Discovery Channel on 18 March 2012 with Alec Baldwin replacing David Attenborough as narrator of the first six episodes. The "Autumn" episode from the BBC series was replaced by "The Making of Frozen Planet", a compilation of the Freeze Frame featurettes, and the title of the sixth episode was changed from "The Last Frontier" to "Life in the Freezer". The network originally decided not to broadcast Attenborough's "On Thin Ice" episode, citing "scheduling conflicts", but later reversed their decision, and "On Thin Ice" was broadcast on Earth Day, 22 April 2012.
In Australia, the series was broadcast on the Nine Network beginning on 27 October 2011. In France, the series has been acquired by France Television, and aired in March–April 2013 under the name "Terres de Glace".http://www.france4.fr/emission/terres-de-glace
In an interview with Radio Times, Attenborough explains that "data from satellites collected over the last 40 years show a drop of 30% in the area of the Arctic sea ice at the end of each summer." Former UK Conservative politician Nigel Lawson dismissed the idea as "alarmism", provoking a polar oceanographer working with the show to describe his criticism as "patronising", wrong and the "usual tired obfuscation and generalisation". 'Patronising and wrong': Frozen Planet scientist refutes Nigel Lawson criticism . The Guardian, 8 December 2011. Page found 2011-12-08. Attenborough subsequently rebutted Lawson's allegations. David Attenborough: Frozen Planet was not alarmist about climate change , Environment, The Guardian, 3 January 2012. Page found 2012-01-03.
This episode was initially not expected to be shown in the United States. Ten networks that would have run the episode opted out, citing fear of controversy.
On 6 December 2011, the Discovery Channel announced it would air the seventh and final episode of Frozen Planet. "On Thin Ice" includes on-camera shots of Attenborough, who narrates the British version, discussing what shrinking glaciers and rising temperatures mean for people and wildlife that live in the region, as well as the rest of the planet. The music for this episode was composed by Barnaby Taylor.
The US broadcast won four prizes at the Primetime Creative Arts in September 2012, including outstanding nonfiction series, cinematography, sound editing, and picture editing. The following month, it won in three categories at the Wildscreen Festival in Bristol, UK, taking the Panda Awards for best sound, best cinematography, and best series, the latter shared with Human Planet. In January 2013, the series won the public vote for Best Documentary Series at the UK's National Television Awards, beating out Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, One Born Every Minute and Planet Earth Live.
| 2012 | Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Nonfiction Series | Alastair Fothergill, Susan Winslow, Vanessa Berlowitz | ||
| Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program | Cinematography Team (for "To the Ends of the Earth") | ||||
| Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program | Andy Netley, Sharon Gillooly (for "To the Ends of the Earth") | ||||
| Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) | Kate Hopkins, Tim Owens, Paul Fisher (for "To the Ends of the Earth") | ||||
| Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) | Graham Wild, Archie Moore (for "To the Ends of the Earth") | ||||
| British Academy Television Awards | Best Specialist Factual | David Attenborough, Vanessa Berlowitz, Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield | |||
| YouTube Audience Award | Frozen Planet | ||||
| British Academy Television Craft Awards | Vanessa Berlowitz, Chadden Hunter, Kathryn Jeffs (for "To the Ends of the Earth") | ||||
| Nigel Buck, Andy Netley, Dave Pearce (for "To the Ends of the Earth") | |||||
| Best Original Music | George Fenton | ||||
| Camera Team (for "To the Ends of the Earth") | |||||
| Kate Hopkins, Tim Owens, Graham Wild (for "To the Ends of the Earth") |
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