TV & Showbiz
New narrators to take over from Sir David Attenborough for special episode of Planet Earth III
The legend is stepping aside.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd April 2024 
The BBC has announced that some new narrators will be taking over from Sir David Attenborough for a special episode of Planet Earth III.
Sir David Attenborough is one of the most beloved British public figures of all time.
The BBC stalwart has been narrating nature documentaries for over 70 years now, and is known all across the world as the voice of nature – but, as our natural world faces even greater challenges than ever before, the broadcaster has claimed that “one voice alone is not enough to speak up on behalf of planet Earth”.
This is why, especially to mark Earth Day yesterday (22 April), the massively critically-acclaimed documentary series, Planet Earth III, decided to collaborate with BBC Children in Need for a one-off episode of the show.
But what exactly is it that makes this episode so “special”? Well, that’s because it’s uniquely narrated by dozens of schoolchildren.
The children – who are each aged between nine and 13, and are all said to be “budding naturalists” – can be heard reading from Sir David Attenborough’s original scripts in a bid to both “champion the power of youth voices” and, ultimately, “speak up for the planet”.
The BBC explained that the 50 student narrators were chosen from schools selected by BBC Children in Need as some of the most engaged fundraisers for the charity across the UK in recent years.
Alongside the airing of the special episode, the BBC also gave tens of thousands of children nationwide the chance to tune into a virtual assembly hosted by wildlife biologist, explorer, and presenter Lizzie Daly, as well as take part in a Q&A with the producers of the popular documentary series.
Clips from Planet Earth III were also made available so curious kids could have a go at narrating for themselves.
Read more:
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The special episode of Planet Earth III narrated by the schoolchildren is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer here, but it will also be airing on BBC One on Monday 6 May too.
Featured Image – Mark Harrison (via BBC)
