BBC Studios Natural History Unit is to make new landmark series, Kingdom, a 6×60’ series for BBC One filmed in one location over four years.

The show will chronicle the real-life sagas of four African animal families, all vying for dominance in a remote and fertile river valley in Zambia.

The series will spend more time in the field than any previous NHU production and will focus on the lives and fates of our four groups – leopards, hyenas, wild dogs and lions – as they battle for supremacy over the valley, and wrestle for power within their own family units.

Working in partnership with scientists whose research stretches back over 20 years, the series will reveal the characters’ true-life stories and ancient rivalries, internal battles for hierarchy and status, while “epic shifts in seasons will allow our filming to uncover secrets of these animals’ lives that have never been seen before.”

The NHU will also be working closely with locally-based talent – both employing already established local crew and helping to develop the next generation of Zambian wildlife filmmakers.

Mike Gunton, Executive Producer and BBC Studios Natural History Unit Creative Director said: “Being given access to film in this part of Zambia for such a concentrated period of time is a dream come true for the Natural History Unit. Working alongside our partners in Zambia we are all looking forward to seeing how the next four years unfolds, all we can predict is that it will be unpredictable…but exciting too.”

Kingdom, a 6×60’ series for BBC One and iPlayer, is made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced by BBC America. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Science and Natural History. The Executive Producer is Mike Gunton, the Series Editor is Simon Blakeney and the Series Producer is Felicity Lanchester. It will TX in 2025

 

Picture: BBC Studios NHU’s Seven Worlds, One Planet

Jon Creamer

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