Exclusive: Attenborough, Atlantic teaming up for second “First Life”

December 23, 2011 by Monisha Rajesh

Sir David Attenborough. Photo courtesy of Sky

Atlantic Productions is teaming up with iconic wildlife presenter Sir David Attenborough (pictured) for a second season of blue chip BBC series First Life.

The two-part first series of the program, which tackles the subject of the origin of life on Earth, originally aired in November 2010 on BBC2 in the UK, following on Discovery Channel in the U.S. The second series is slated to air on the Beeb in 2013.

“The first series concentrated on crustaceans and trilobites, and how they emerged on land 300 million years ago,” Attenborough told realscreen, in an exclusive interview.

“What we are now looking at is how fish developed in the sea, then moved onto land and became reptiles and amphibians, and then mammals. It will be based on the fossils of animals that don’t exist anymore, so will involve a lot of computer imaging.”

The project, in the early stages at present, will be the latest in a string of collaborations between Attenborough and Atlantic. Earlier this month, the team announced a fourth 3D collaboration for Galapagos, a three-part series looking at life on the Galapagos Islands.

Atlantic won a BAFTA Award for their first collaboration, Flying Monsters 3D, and the team’s latest effort, The Bachelor King 3D, will air in the UK on Sky 3D on New Year’s Eve.

For the full interview with Attenborough, check out the forthcoming January/February issue of Realscreen magazine. Not a subscriber? Click here to find out more.

Tags: Atlantic Productions, BBC, First Life, Flying Monsters 3D, natural history, Sir David Attenborough, Sky 3D, The Bachelor King 3D