BBC Earth, the “global factual brand” of BBC Worldwide, has partnered with beIN to launch its latest and critically acclaimed natural history series ‘Blue Planet II’ across the Middle East and North African (Mena) region, including Qatar. 
Building on the success of Blue Planet I, the seven-part documentary series brings viewers to a fascinating adventure across the “greatest, yet least known, parts of our planet – our oceans.”
“Drawing on the BBC’s unparalleled 60-year heritage in factual filmmaking, it now brings the most incredible sights, characters and stories of our universe to viewers across the Mena market such as in Qatar,” BBC Worldwide’s vice president and general manager for Middle East and Mediterranean region Natasha Hussain said.
She was speaking during the screening of Blue Planet II’s latest episode titled “Coral Reefs” at Novo Cinemas at The Pearl-Qatar on Tuesday, which was attended by Blue Planet documentary producer Jonathan Smith, British ambassador Ajay Sharma, and other guests and families. 



Jonathan Smith at the screening of Blue Planet II’s latest episode titled “Coral Reefs” at Novo Cinemas at The Pearl-Qatar on Tuesday. PICTURES: Jayan Orma



Natasha Hussain

The episode was filmed in eight locations: the Bahamas, French Polynesia, the Philippines, Maldives, Indonesia, Australia, Egypt and Borneo – where various sea creatures such as bobitt worms, bottlenose dolphins, grey reef sharks, corals, and clownfish, among others, can be found.
“The mixed of intelligent and all inspiring programming across the schedule will bring viewers of all ages face to face with heart pounding action, mind blowing ideas, and the sheer wonder of being human,” Hussain said.
She noted that the schedule of BBC Earth, which will be a fully localised channel on the beIN network, has been curated specifically for local viewers and with 100% Arabic subtitling.
Blue planet II, narrated by Sir David Attenborough and under the score (music) of Hans Zimmer, has rapidly become the most talked about shows around the world, particularly with younger audiences, Hussain noted.
She added that the new documentary’s album of episodes and clips has already amassed 220 million views in China alone and dubbed as the number one show in the United Kingdom in 2017, attracting nearly 38 million people across the country.
According to Smith, Blue Planet II was filmed using breakthroughs in marine science, cutting-edge technology such as tow-cams, suction cams, and ultra high definition probe cams to explore new worlds and uncover latest discoveries underwater.
“We have drones to get into places that we never could before. We built a camera that we could perked on the back of whales for them to do the filming forward, which was also used on the back of the turtle (in the Coral Reefs episode),” he noted.
“Sixteen years ago the BBC made a series called Blue Planet, and the time since then we’ve made an incredible amount of new discoveries in our oceans, we’ve discovered new species, new behaviours, and an entirely new world underwater,” Smith said.
Over the last four years in making the documentary, he revealed that their team launched 125 expeditions to 39 different countries and spent 6,000 hours diving underwater “to bring Blue Planet II to the world and highlight these incredible new discoveries.”
BBC Earth will be a 24-hour channel available on the beIN platform (number 308). It will join CBeebies, the BBC’s pre-school brand, which has been available on the platform since April 2016.
As part of its agreement with beIN, BBC Earth will also extend its distribution to Turkey, launching on the region’s largest pay-TV operator Digiturk. 
“Our expanded partnership with beIN marks an important step in BBC Earth’s journey as a global brand as it increases its reach to a significant new audience across MENA region,” Hussain said.
“With beIN we are delighted to deliver world class production, creation and technological breakthroughs that BBC Earth has to offer.”
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