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. ...
Maria Norman
HEAD OF PRODUCTION, NHU
Maria connects the editorial and complex business divisions that define the NHU. She ensures the continuous alignment of development and delivery with genre plans. Maria is central to the NHU’s mission to provide a fully-inclusive place to develop a career. Her NHU portfolio embraces the whole range of content: Live; Landmarks, Digital, Children’s and Feature-Documentary. ...
John Bryans
HEAD OF PRODUCTION, NHU
John has more than 20 years of experience leading teams in Natural History, Factual formats, Documentaries and original Short Form. Working with Maria, John leads and supports the strongest team of Production talent in the industry. ...
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. ...
Ben Clarke
HEAD OF COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, NHU
Based in Bristol, Ben leads the commercial team managing the NHU’s end-to-end deal pipeline. Ben draws on 20 years' experience in the media industry in strategic and commercial roles with Deloitte, Ofcom, BT TV and now BBC Studios. ...
