BBC Frozen Planet

Just watched the last in the series, "On thin Ice" I suppose this particular episode does take an unexpected tone towards the typical natural history series, by dedicating an entire episode on human interaction.

I usually don't like to buy DVD/BR discs but I think I'll put it in my x'mas request box.

From the BBC's Frozen Planet this is some of the most amazing time lapse footage I have seen. Creatures frozen in mid track...http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15835017

Steve

I believe they should simply have a secure log-in to the iPlayer for licence fee holders abroad. The system could also be expanded to allow overseas people to pay the BBC licence fee and watch the BBC for a year. The cash strapped Beeb could then earn more than the Licence Fee x Number of British house-holds. They have been talking about an overseas iPlayer for ages.

 

Like you, I have a solution, but I think they are missing a trick and a potential income stream. Plus I would imagine the take-up would be quite low (mainly expat Brits) and so would not impact on overseas broadcast sales (which in most countries see programs re-dubbed anyway).

 

Alex

You are right on the money with that remark Alex. Many of of us in America would pay a BBC license fee to get programming when it's originally released and not have to wait 6 months to a year for our local satellite / cable vendor to get it. Masterpiece Mystery, Frozen Planet, Top Gear, Fifth Gear ... it would be great to get shows straight from the Beeb.

I don't have a slingbox and between Public Television, Netflix, Hulu, Xfinity and all the premium channels I buy, I *still* won't see Frozen Planet for probably 6 months or more on Discovery channel!

While we're at it, I would also like to get Australian TV series real-time

The shots on the BBC's Frozen Planet are just breathtaking - it's worth the licence fee in itself.

The only problem I see with an international BBC channel is the distribution rights that are negotiated when the programs like Frozen Planet are being financed. I doubt the BBC could've afford the series on its own. So they sell the rights to the US etc. It's been like that for DVD/BR regions, iTunes, Kindle etc. I think they are being forced to consider the world as a whole market with the advent of the internet, but I think the numbers guys still project less money... which is why rights holders are fighting for more laws.

That said, episode 7 is coming up and I can't wait for the Freeze Frame segment.

March the 18th for all you American viewers... Discovery channel 8pm ET/PT

Enjoy

Dean

All 7 episodes as well ...

Alec Baldwin narrates... Not quite Sir David's standard of delivery, but I do like his voice

Dean

The BluRay is available on Amazon UK now:

Frozen Planet BluRay

Alec Baldwin does have a good voice for narration, but jeez, it's *David Attenborough*! He is such an icon. I guess Discovery Channel doesn't think Americans can understand "English"

JP

Don't you notice even in newsreels in the US, we get subtitles for some english accents?

Well to be fair to Discovery, having Alec on board gives the series more buzz and the script writers more work! I'd be interested if they are going to green screen Alec for the Antarctic shots or just edit out Sir David's intro pieces in the 1st episode.

My Bluray has shipped!

Now there's a row developing because they intercut some zoo pics (close-ups) of a mother and newborn cub with the wild Polar Bears! Doesn't anyone understand the constraints of budgets? I remember DA's producer telling me how, when they made 'Land of the Russian Bear', they wanted shots of a rare endemic snake but to be sure to get the shots he located one for sale in a petshop in Didscot, Berks, and took it with them to Russia.

Well it's sort of not a row since it was in the BBC website. And it's got nothing to do with budget either. Disturbing a feeding mother and her cubs by booring a camera into the burrow is just not an option in the wild. The implications of things going wrong for the bears and the camera peeps are just too great. Kathryn Jeffs explained it all in the BTS video on the website.

I guess people do demand that animals be endangered just to get the shot! Well too damn bad.

My god!!! It was not a real 'wild' female polar bear ... I'm disgusted! Whatever next? I suppose Jurrasic Parks Dinosaurs were mostly CGI ... I canny believe the deception

Dean

Well it's sort of not a row since it was in the BBC website. And it's got nothing to do with budget either. Disturbing a feeding mother and her cubs by booring a camera into the burrow are just not an option in the wild. The implications of things going wrong for the bears and the camera peeps is just too great. Kathryn Jeffs explained it all in the BTS video on the website.

I guess people do demand that animals be endangered just to get the shot! Well too damn bad.

Drew

It's a very big money making machine. Don't kid yourself otherwise. Some cynics suggest that the BBC has dragged up the row to get more publicity.

If there were principles involved they would have insisted that the USA bought the whole package with the global warming message included. (Yes, I KNOW. Global warming is a LIE put about by the enemies of AMERICA.)

Drew

 

It's a very big money making machine. Don't kid yourself otherwise. Some cynics suggest that the BBC has dragged up the row to get more publicity.

 

If there were principles involved they would have insisted that the USA bought the whole package with the global warming message included. (Yes, I KNOW. Global warming is a LIE put about by the enemies of AMERICA.)

Yeah and I suppose the Xfactor judges don't actually fall out and row!!?

Dean

Love this ...

The BBC has announced plans for a new digital channel specifically designed to apologise for all of the corporation’s output. The channel, BBC Sorry, will be launched in the New Year to coincide with a new series of Top Gear.

Director-General of the BBC Mark Thompson today hailed the new channel, then apologised immediately for raising his voice. ‘BBC Sorry won’t compliment our other channels, but it will grovel for them,’ confirmed Thompson. ‘While the rest of the media tells our viewers what they should be offended by, as a public service broadcaster we feel it is our duty to cater for popular demand and provide a dedicated service that nods sagely and agrees with their righteous indignation.’

The launch of the channel comes as some of the BBC’s most recent apologies have proven more popular than the programmes that caused offence in the first place. Comments made by Jeremy Clarkson have caused such outrage that they have actually driven some viewers to consider watching The One Show. ‘But the beauty of BBC Sorry,’ continued Thompson, ‘is that instead of sitting through the whole show to watch the bits that have been edited to cause offence, we’ll just show you the highlights.’

Viewers have welcomed the new service. ‘After seeing the reaction to Clarkson’s outburst, I was really aggrieved that I didn’t take offence when I watched it live with my wife,’ said teacher Derek Compton. ‘It wasn’t until I read about it later in The Guardian that I realised just how offended I should have been. When you take his comments completely out of context they are absolutely unforgiveable, so I definitely think he should be sacked. BBC Sorry will stop me missing future opportunities to be morally outraged.’

Thompson admitted that BBC Sorry had met some resistance in the planning stages. ‘Some of our presenters think it’s our job to defend them when something they say is used as the basis for a lazy personal attack by journalists with an agenda,’ he said. ‘But that’s a very confrontational attitude. It’s much easier to look sad, stare down at your shoes and assure everyone that it won’t happen again.’

Since last week’s incident the BBC has fitted Clarkson and other presenters with their own ‘red button’ service. Viewers are urged to seek out programmes that might offend them and then press the red button to watch Mark Thompson wringing his hands and crying like a baby. ‘Some people seem to get off on being offended, so we have high hopes for BBC Sorry,’ said Thompson. ‘It’s amazing how open-minded people are these days to full-affrontal crudity.’

Dean

I don't mind they used zoo footage for the Polar bear cub scene, it seems appropriate to avoid any danger for the cameramen and animals, but they probably could have mentioned it in the "Freeze Frame" section at the end of the episode and avoided any controversy.

I don't mind they used zoo footage for the Polar bear cub scene, it seems appropriate to avoid any danger for the cameramen and animals, but they probably could have mentioned it in the "Freeze Frame" section at the end of the episode and avoided any controversy.

Should they shoot Great White sequences in pools behind glass windows, according to this logic?

Drew

 

It's a very big money making machine. Don't kid yourself otherwise. Some cynics suggest that the BBC has dragged up the row to get more publicity.

 

If there were principles involved they would have insisted that the USA bought the whole package with the global warming message included. (Yes, I KNOW. Global warming is a LIE put about by the enemies of AMERICA.)

Seeing how Discovery paid part of the bill of Frozen Planet, I doubt the Beeb could've done anything. The Amuhrickanhs are presently in denial, and it's spread to the Canadians! I think it's time for Princess Di to emerge from the grave with a warning!!!

Should they shoot Great White sequences in pools behind glass windows, according to this logic?

I don't think there is a valid comparison between showing a full grown Apex predator in it's natural environment vs. showing the birth of another predator in it's most vulnerable state. In the first, it's a controlled risk to the videographer only, in the second it endangers the predator's offspring and the videographer both to a much higher degree. Perhaps you think it's okay to get the cubs killed as long as they "get the shot"?

Now, if you are saying we should respect a Great White giving birth and maybe not get between the mother and her pup, I would say yes, the videographer should be much more careful and respectful in that situation and maybe it is filmed in captivity.