BBC
Frozen Planet II
APPLE TV
Prehistoric Planet
BBC ONE
The Green Planet
BBC ONE
Seven Worlds, One Planet
APPLE TV
The Year Earth Changed
BBC ONE
Planet Earth II
BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is the best-known and most loved producer of natural history content in the world, responsible for some of the most globally successful factual content of the past 10 years.
With ground-breaking technology and innovation we reveal to audiences around the world the extraordinary wonders of nature through excepti onal storytelling, jaw dropping imagery and cutting-edge science.
Founded in 1957, the NHU’s programmes have come to represent the gold standard for natural history filmmaking, winning multiple awards and honours. Our BBC output includes everything from breath-taking landmarks (Frozen Planet II; The Green Planet; Seven Worlds, One Planet; Dynasties II; Blue Planet II; Planet Earth II), to returning series and technically challenging live shows (Springwatch; Blue Planet Live) and award-winning children’s series (Andy’s Safari Adventures).
With an increasingly diverse portfolio of content, including Prehistoric Planet - the ground-breaking AppleTV+ Original series bringing ancient Earth’s habitats and inhabitants to life like never before, we now produce programmes for broadcasters and platforms all over the world. Current titles in production include Planet Earth III for BBC, The Americas for NBCU, and Ocean Xplorers (WT), a co-production with OceanX Media and James Cameron, for National Geographic Disney+.
Programmes made by the NHU denote quality, innovation, craftmanship and world-class storytelling....
KEY Titles
OUR TEAM
Jonny Keeling
HEAD OF NHU
Jonny Keeling took up the position of Head of the NHU in January 2022. Previously, Jonny had worked at the BBC for 25 years producing and directing wildlife and adventure documentaries. During this time, he produced some of the Unit’s most successful content, including BAFTA and Emmy award winning series like Seven Worlds, One Planet, Planet Earth and Planet Earth II, and headed the Children’s unit within the NHU. In his new role, Jonny oversees all content produced by the NHU, in particular the BBC’s latest landmark wildlife series, Planet Earth III and the recently announced Asia. ...
Mike Gunton
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, NHU
Central to maintaining the NHU’s position as the world’s number one natural history production company, Mike has a global reputation for story telling excellence and innovation. He has developed and produced many award-winning and critically acclaimed series: Galapagos, Yellowstone, Madagascar, Life, Africa, Shark, Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur, Life Story, Planet Earth II, Dynasties and The Green Planet. Mike is a fellow of the Royal Television Society. ...
Sreya Biswas
Director of Programmes
Sreya Biswas is the Director of Programmes at BBC Studios Natural History Unit. She oversees a slate of outstanding commissioned titles including Blue Planet III, and ambitious doc series Matriarch. Sreya also leads on development and digital for the Natural History Unit, where she is developing an ambitious portfolio of new innovative programmes, for multiple global clients across a variety of platforms. Prior to the Natural History Unit Sreya was the BBC’s Head of Commissioning for Natural History content, overseeing a number of major landmark series including Asia, Kingdom, Planet Earth III and Blue Planet III, as well as a broad range of Natural History content including Big Cats 24/7, Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles p and An Hour on Earth. And feature docs including multi award-winning Silverback and Orphan and environmental thriller On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace. Before commissioning, Sreya was an Executive Producer at Naked Television. Living and working in the US, Sreya oversaw and self-shot the Emmy Award Winning series The Day I Picked My Parents for A&E. Prior to her current role she was the Head of Natural History, BBC Commissioning, overseeing a number of series including: Asia, Kingdom, Planet Earth III, The Watches, Big Cats 24/7, Wild Scandinavia and Our Changing Planet and feature docs including multi award-winning Silverback, Orphan and Lion: The Rise and Fall of the Marsh Pride. Before commissioning, Sreya was an Executive Producer at Naked Television. Living and working in the US, Sreya oversaw and self-shot the Emmy Award Winning Series The Day I Picked My Parents for A&E. ...
Juli Porter
Director of Commercial and Operations
Juli has over 20 years’ industry experience in the UK and the US and has worked on a vast range of top-rated and award-winning programmes including Strictly Come Dancing and Top Gear as well as flagship sports coverage of Formula 1 and the NFL and groundbreaking natural history series’ for National Geographic and Disney+. For 10 years Juli was COO at The Whisper Group which she grew from a tiny start-up into an award-winning group of six companies boasting a vast slate of sports, entertainment and documentary output. More recently she was COO of Wildstar Films where she oversaw production of Underdogs with Ryan Reynolds and Sentient with Darren Aronofsky and saw the company win multiple awards for its premium wildlife and adventure programmes. Juli’s career has covered Super Bowls, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, six seasons of F1 and the number one rated show in America, but one of her proudest achievements is prioritising culture and inclusivity, helping her last two companies rank highly in Broadcast Magazine’s Best Places to Work. With a track record of successful start-ups, collaboration with some of TV’s best production teams, and work across a variety of genres, Juli enjoys new challenges and leading teams to create and deliver engaging, innovative and memorable programming. ...
Maria Norman
HEAD OF PRODUCTION, NHU
As Head of Production at BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, Maria oversees the logistical & operational execution of some of the most ambitious wildlife storytelling in the world. With a career spanning over 25 years in factual and natural history filmmaking, Maria is part of the senior team that leads large-scale productions from conception to global distribution, ensuring the highest standards of editorial integrity, innovation, and sustainability. ...
