The Boreal forest is the largest forest on Earth containing some 750 million trees. It circles the globe from North America and Canada, across Europe and into Russia. Then we do our first story about killer whales ‘wave-washing’. There’s a second story about this behaviour later in the series. This is an incredible piece of behaviour where the killer whales come together as a family. Because the seals are hauled up on pieces of ice, they worked out a hunting strategy where they create a wave and wash the seal off the ice. It’s one of the most sophisticated hunting techniques there is. They calculate the number of seals there are, the size of the wave depending on how far away they are, the number of whales needed to create it, etc. Not dissimilar to elephants, the knowledge of how to hunt and the best places to hunt is stored in the matriarch who runs the family and can get to over 100 years old. She’s utterly crucial to the whole pod’s survival. We follow her and see how the others must learn from her.

These are the last true wildernesses on earth; places so challenging for survival that only a heroic cast of animals can live here. From polar bears to penguins, Siberian tigers to snow monkeys, each species must overcome unique challenges to survive their extreme environments. Rapid ice loss is also happening across the high mountains of the planet’s continents. Glaciologist Hamish Pritchard uses a sophisticated helicopter-strung radar system to try to quantify how much ice is left in the previously uncharted glaciers of the Himalayas. It’s important as, downstream, some 1.2 billion people rely on glacial meltwater as their primary source of fresh water. With a whole roster of writers involved (which is never a good sign), the team work twice as hard to conjure up some magic this time around, and mostly succeed, delivering some genius ideas (the floating bejewelled explosions, the standout setpiece on the ocean which earns Elsa a new ride and doubles down on merchandising) and tying up a surprisingly complex plot that involves not only their parents but grandparents, as well as a mysterious native tribe that lives in the enchanted forest.Japanese Macaques groom each other as they relax in thermal baths high in the mountains during winter (Image: Tim Flach) Midgley, Carol (11 September 2022). "Frozen Planet II review — life, death and love in a freezing climate". The Times . Retrieved 4 January 2023. With this time study I really hope we can land the scale of the change that's taking place, how rapidly this change is taking place, and what the implications are for the localised, highly cold-adapted animals. And, as we learn in episode six, how these changing worlds are also impacting all of us. In essence, it will show why we are more closely connected to these highly remote regions than perhaps we first appreciated.

Frozen South takes us to the most hostile ice world of all – Antarctica, an entire continent covered in snow and ice full of surprises. Here hardy animals cling around its coastal fringes. They sometimes do so in surprising numbers as on the island of South Georgia where, even in winter, colonies of king penguins number in their thousands. We meet lonely albatross forming unexpected male-male pairs as there are no longer enough females to bond with, before journeying across the Southern Ocean to meet the largest animal on earth - giant Antarctic blue whales. These are seldom seen, let alone filmed. Under the sea ice we meet a mother Weddell seal who must defend her pup from the attractions of an amorous male.Hogan, Michael (6 September 2022). "Frozen Planet II, episode 1 review: thrilling mini-dramas and a minimum of finger-wagging". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235 . Retrieved 25 September 2022.

a b "Who has written the music for Frozen Planet II?". www.classical-music.com . Retrieved 16 September 2022. The first Frozen Planet series aired in 2011, and focused on the natural history of the polar regions and the effects of climate change on these locations. Frozen Planet II episode guide Episode One: Frozen Worlds

Episode 3 - Frozen Peaks

There are around 500 individuals in the wild. They are three meters long from nose to tail tip. Their tail measure 1m alone and they have claws 10cm long. In the Russian Far East they share some of their range with the smaller Amur leopard. It will air on multiple broadcast channels globally and be simultaneously published across BBC and BBC Studios platforms, plus Hans Zimmer and Camilla Cabello’s social channels.