The “sequel” to the Planet Earth documentary series starts on Sunday on BBC One. This looks like it will be truly spectacular, a step up in technology even from the groundbreaking first series. Extended trailer here:
I watched the first episode of this last night via BBC iPlayer. Absolutely phenomenal. Technically, have surpassed the first Planet Earth series.
You do need to be watching from an IP address in the UK to use BBC iPlayer. I don’t think it’s coming to the US until January.
I’ve been looking forward to this for week, ever since I heard about it - need to clear some space in a busy weekend to watch the first episode with a suitable glass of wine and child-like awe all set to go.
For a preview, the most compelling scenes were of baby marine iguanas in the Galapagos emerging from their buried birthplace on the sand, and immediately having to run the nightmarish gauntlet of a pack of racer snakes chasing them down. I had no idea that there were snakes that hunt in packs. It’s a horror movie.
A lot of it looked fake. Just how it’s shot/produced i know, but you’d think a nature documentary would try to look natural, not like a CGI film.
It’s very much a “Check this out!” sort of show - which the original Planet Earth was too, to be honest - rather than anything deeper. But that’s fine when the this is as amazing as the stuff they managed to film here - baby iguanas vs. racer snakes will live long in the memory.
I think you’re probably talking about the “Soap Opera Effect” with high-def television.
You can change TV settings to remove the effect, depending what you’re watching. On my brand new Samsung, it’s via Picture Mode. “Movie” mode looks the most traditional, but I’m getting to like “Natural”. “Standard” is the one that looks like a soap opera shot on video.
Also: in this episode of Planet Earth, the albatross closeups looked really like CGI - but I think that’s just the weird way that an albatross looks. Page down here for a still from the show,
and compare this
https://a2ua.com/albatross/img-006.php?pic=/albatross/albatross-006.jpg
Has it really been ten years simce the first series???
Wonder how many of those critters are still alive to reprise their rôles? 
Why can’t I find this to DVR on my Verizon BBC America channel? I can find the 2006 Planet Earth, but not this. Is it named something different? Is there a published schedule that I can use to force a recording time? I’ve tried several times to find the show in the listings.
It doesn’t start on BBC America until 28th January 2017.