PLANET EARTH LIVE

Its visually breath-taking insights and now EMMY® award winning BBC series in 4K play the remarkable music by Oscar winner its visually breath-taking insights and now EMMY® award winning BBC series in 4K play the remarkable music by Oscar winner The scale of its creative ambitions made major headlines, using innovative camerawork to capture everything from tracking lions hunting in Namibia, primates

navigating the jungles of Madagascar, through to the dramatic trials of a baby marine iguana racing for its life.

Set a decade on from the initial series, the award-winning programme casts a memorable spotlight on just how fragile our remarkable global ecosystems are.

Its core narrative of valuing and sensing the urgency for protecting our environment served as a key companion to the equally compelling Blue Planet II, which laid bare the plight of our world’s oceans.

Such was the impact on consumers’ level of awareness, it led directly to major shifts in global corporate and government environmental policies.

As the event’s host Liz Bonnin, who has presented primetime BBC series including Horizon, as well as the Blue Planet Live, explains, it’s a hugely emotive venture.

“It hasn’t really quite sunk in that I’ll be involved with this, so to be stepping out as part of the tour for this and getting to see it all on a gigantic screen with a full orchestra playing as well - I think I’ll be quite emotional,” she remarks of the project. “I believe it’s going to have quite an impact, and it will be a great medium for both entertaining and educating people about the issues that it addresses.

“People are much more aware of what is happening to our planet now – which we’ve seen through young people fighting for their future,” adds the presenter. She has not been afraid to tackle difficult issues, such as with her recent Drowning In Plastic screen series.

As Liz reveals, there has been an incredible amount of work placed into bringing audiences closer to the natural world than has ever before with Planet Earth II.

Its finely realised storytelling has been particularly highly praised, leading to the programme winning several BAFTA awards, as well as gaining Emmy honours.

“It was just a game-changing series with some iconic moments that stay with you, like when you see creatures like the marine iguana which was incredible, so getting to see them on the on the big screen is going to be an amazing experience,” adds Liz of the upcoming tour, which showcases the key highlights from the series. We have two pairs of tickets to give away. For your chance to win visit www.dluxe- magazine.co.uk Good Luck!

The 43-year old presenter, who has a master’s degree in animal biology, admits she has enjoyed a very fortunate career with opportunities to travel the world and test her skills and knowledge to their fullest extent.

As far as Planet Earth II is concerned, she says one of its magic ingredients is the narration by Sir David Attenborough, whom she praises for continuing to lead the way for nature documentaries into his 90s.

“I’ve met Sir David on a few occasions now, and I will never forget the first time I saw him about 12 years ago when he was talking at an event – I was a bit star struck, but it was great to go on to discuss some of those programmes like Blue Planet with him.

“He was my hero when I was growing up. He went from production work into inventing natural history programming with the BBC. There really is nobody else like him and I doubt there ever will be again. He’s not just a national treasure, but one for the whole world.”

As for her own early experiences, she says that she was fortunate to grow up with her sister in rural French surroundings near Nice, which proved influential in forging her love of the natural world. Having the chance to communicate her clear passion for nature through her work is something that she finds especially rewarding.

However, Liz is under no illusion of the major challenges facing our environment, which she believes series such as Planet Earth, and Sir David’s latest BBC series, Seven Worlds, One Planet can have a dramatic influence on how we treat our environment.

Liz adds: “We are facing an existential crisis in terms of the effects that human behaviour is having on the planet. We have reached a tipping point in terms our impact, and one of the things that I am most astounded in relation to this is by the fact that petrochemical companies are just seemingly carrying on as if it is business as usual.

“I believe we can make a difference, but we need to be aware of the facts of what is happening to our planet, and how we can change. I think series like Planet Earth can both move and inspire people.”

Delivering an extraordinarily vivid window on the natural world, the BBC’s Planet Earth II series held audiences captivated with it’s about to arrive in Birmingham giving audience members the chance to Experience sensational footage from the BAFTA and ultra high-definition on a gigantic LED screen, as the City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Freeman, Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea & Jasha Klebe. Neil Barston talked to host Liz Bonin to find out more.