Presented by Sir David Attenborough, co-produced by The Open University, the RSPB and WWF, and filmed over three years, the series uses the very latest technology to capture dramatic new behaviour, from battling butterflies to hunting sea eagles and killer whales – revealing a previously unseen wild side of the British Isles. Hopefully the series will encourage the audience to interact with their local wildlife – what are your tips for people so they can do this responsibly? We’re also focussed on protecting the natural world around us. Currently, we’re aligning to a framework set out by the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) which guides organisations in reporting on the risks from biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. As part of the project, the BBC is investigating its own operational impact on the environment and we have conducted an initial bio-diversity footprint study, in conjunction with a specialist team from the University of Oxford.

BBC Radio 2 with BBC Children’s and Education, supported by The One Show and others, are launching Let it Grow – an initiative to turn grey spaces into wild and colourful places, with a focus on tempting even the least green fingered to join in. Blue Peter viewers can earn their Blue Peter Green badges by getting involved and there will also be an OZT Goes Wild in Britain special on domestic wildlife. BBC Sport will be highlighting grassroots clubs up and down the country doing great work in preserving and promoting nature – as well as reflecting what is happening at the elite level – challenging more to get involved. For Producer Nicholas Gates, a lifelong naturalist, the opportunity to work on a blue-chip series about the wildlife of Britain and Ireland was a huge career goal. Nicholas has worked in natural history television for a decade, on shows ranging from The One Show to Springwatch, to international series for National Geographic and Animal Planet, but he has a particular soft spot for nature “at home” here. Nicholas hopes that this series will surprise the public with the extraordinary wildlife spectacles here in Britain and Ireland, highlight how threatened much of our nature is and encourage people to help restore it for future generations. Outside of his television work, Nicholas is also a published author and keen wildlife gardener. Camerawoman Katie Mayhew said: “Surprisingly the ripe flowers only stayed hot for a few hours during their life cycle and at their hottest they really did smell - you could even feel the heat by touch. Capturing the colour to thermal transitional shots was a complicated task, like filming a puzzle. First, we captured a series of images on a low light colour camera which we then could stitch together to create a very large image. Then we had to capture exactly to the sequence of images with the thermal camera so that the overall stitched images from the colour and thermal would match. These master images could then be transitioned from colour to thermal to take the viewer from what we humans see and what really is going on with the flower.” Filming Feat/Remarkable Behaviour To accompany Wild Isles, through the Spring and Summer across the BBC there is a major focus on nature, designed to deepen audiences’ understanding and inspire them to get involved. Diverse geology: Cumbria ; Lake District ; Dorset ; Scottish Highlands ; Skye ; Yorkshire Dales ; North Pennines ; Giant’s Causeway, Northern IrelandOur aim is to meet the Science Based Targets (SBTs), set in October 2021, to cut our GHG emissions to Net Zero and which are in line with staying below the threshold of 1.5 degrees of global warming. a b "Attenborough's Wild Isles shows us our own 'spectacular' nature". BBC News. 2023-03-06 . Retrieved 2023-03-13. We have more ancient oak trees than the whole of Europe put together [Source: Hebrian Plants, Oxford University] You also filmed Lords and Ladies plants that release a foul-smelling scent to attracts flies, what technology did you use for this scene?

We are custodians to more than 50% of the world’s common bluebells and we have 85% of the worlds chalk streams [Bluebells source: The Wildlife Trusts] [Chalk stream source: WWF] The RSPB is protecting habitats, saving species and helping to end the nature and climate emergency. Nature is in crisis. Together we can save it. www.rspb.org.uk

Drones have played a critical role capturing the spectacular landscape of the British Isles. Thermal cameras have revealed foxes hunting rabbits at night and captured the extraordinary spectacle of thousands of starlings coming in to roost. Stabilised cameras have allowed us to film orca hunting seals at sea and wild horses battling for their females. Underwater, specially developed technology has brought the sea bed to life with time lapse and captured in intimate detail the lives of plankton. Britain and Ireland have some of the most diverse and beautiful landscapes on Earth. We have more ancient oak trees than the rest of Europe put together; sixty percent of the world’s chalk streams flow in southern England; our remaining flower meadows are a vital refuge for breeding birds and butterflies; and our coasts are home to internationally important numbers of seabirds. Yet our wildlife is increasingly fragmented and fragile – this series explains the challenges nature faces today, and what can be done to make our wild isles even wilder in the future. There are various technologies being used to film this series, can you tell us about some of these? Orca - Britain’s largest marine predator, can reach lengths of almost 10 metres and weigh up to 10 tonnes.Shetland is the only place in the British Isles where orca breed.We filmed a remarkable feeding strategy in which the orca appear to go silent as they approach the seals, in an apparent attempt not to scare them off. Nicholson, Rebecca (12 March 2023). "Wild Isles review – David Attenborough's last hurrah makes for unmissable TV". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 September 2023.

I hope the audience will be genuinely surprised by the richness of our natural history. At the same time, I hope they will recognise how fragile and precious it is. We are working on solutions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within our own industry, protect the biodiversity of the world we interact with, while also enhancing our audiences’ understanding of climate change and what’s needed to transition to Net Zero. Sir David said: “In my long lifetime, I have travelled to almost every corner of our planet. I can assure you that in the British Isles, as well as astonishing scenery there are extraordinary animal dramas and wildlife spectacles to match anything I have seen on my global travels.” I hope that after watching this series our audience will be wowed by the wildlife and spectacular places in Britain and Ireland but also that they get a strong sense of how fragmented and fragile they are. I want the audience to come away with a sense of pride and hope for the future too.The team had to make tiny windows in the sides of the flowers to film the structures within. Thermal cameras captured glowing images of plants heating up to lure in the flies and the team could also feel the heat by placing their face next to the plant. It required carefully timed observation, as each plant heats up for just four hours before it starts to wilt the following day. Ever since I worked on the original Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet series, I have always wanted to cover the British Isles and our natural history with a similarly ambitious and epic approach. I knew that nobody had ever had the opportunity before to really do justice to the spectacular scenery and rich and varied wildlife found at home. I also have a personal passion for our natural history. The five part series will have an introductory episode, explaining why Britain and Ireland are globally important for nature, while the remaining four episodes will celebrate our isles’ four key habitats - woodlands, grasslands, freshwater and marine.