BBC’s nature documentary series, with their unmatched beauty and poignant examinations of Earth, are among our all-time favorite television programs. But the network’s next in-depth exploration will expand well beyond our own little blue marble. In the new series The Planets, they’ve sight their sets on the rest of our solar system and the eight worlds that call it home. And if the first trailer is any indication of what’s to come, it’s going to be an epic, sprawling, explosive story that will rival anything science fiction could imagine.
Using what it calls “the most accurate and detailed imagery ever produced” of Earth and the seven other worlds we share this corner of the universe with (sorry Pluto, you don’t count even if you’re number one in our hearts), The Planets will rely on the “latest planetary science research to piece together the gripping history of each world.” The show will explore the “beauty and creation, violence and destruction that reveal the solar system and our place within,” in a story that is “far more dramatic than we could ever have imagined.” This trailer certainly is way more dramatic than we expected, but it’s also full of beautiful recreations of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
If the solar system ever needs to get hyped for a big fight, this video should do the trick. Our solar system looks ready to go to war, which is probably not far from the truth of how it was created in the first place. But just like with BBC nature docs, it’s the struggle between the violent and the beautiful that makes any world worth exploring.
The Planets, presented by BBC staple Professor Brian Cox, with special effects from the Academy Award-winning VFX company Lola Post, will travel through the cosmos in a five-part series of one-hour installments. The BBC has not announced a release date yet.
Featured Image: BBC
