The award-winning, world-famous nature documentary series Planet Earth is heading back to Manchester with a live concert experience.
The hit BBC series, narrated by the legendary David Attenborough, will be at the AO Arena in October with a full live orchestra.
Audiences will be whisked away to forests, oceans and deserts with breath-taking footage from the latest series shown on an enormous 4K LED screen.
We’ll see animal dramas that are funny and thrilling (and yes, sometimes a little sad – who could ever recover from the cliff-jumping baby goslings?).
The latest Planet Earth series and the concert will document how the natural world is adapting to an ever-changing planet, where humans play a critical role.
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And the Planet Earth III Live in Concert experience will be further heightened with a music score by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, plus Jacob Shea and Sara Barone for Bleeding Fingers Music, performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic orchestra.
Hans Zimmer also worked in collaboration with Brit-winning and Grammy-nominated Bastille, and Mercury Prize Award nominated singer-songwriter RAYE.
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There’ll be just three special performances across the UK this year, including the spectacle arriving at Manchester’s AO Arena.
The announcement of the new show comes off the back of successful runs for Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II Live in Concert arena tours.
As always, the stunning footage will come from the multi-award-winning team at BBC Studios Natural History Unit.
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Hans Zimmer commented: “Creating scores for any of the BBC’s Natural History series is always an honour for me as there are no more epic stories than those occurring naturally every day in our own planet’s ecosystem.
“For Planet Earth III it’s been a further privilege to work with the incredible world class talents of Bastille who created wonderful vocals on the soundscape for the series, and RAYE with her a beautiful, poignant prequal track.”
The series itself was filmed over 1,904 days, in 43 countries and across six continents.
Mike Gunton, the Executive Producer of the Planet Earth III television series says: “Planet Earth III is about the resilience and adaptability of nature, and the remarkable animals that are changing their lives to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world dominated more than ever by a powerful force: us. It’s full of surprise and wonder but seen from a new perspective”.
Dominic Walker, Global Business Director at BBC Studios said: “After the successful Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II Live In Concert tours, we are delighted to continue our partnership with FKP Scorpio and bring the amazing Planet Earth III to London and Manchester, showcasing the BBC’s ground breaking natural history content on the stage for fans to enjoy once again.”
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Planet Earth III will be at Manchester AO Arena on Sunday 6 October, 2024.
Pre-sale tickets are available from Wednesday 20 February 2024 and general on sale tickets available from Friday 23 February 2024. For further ticket information go to www.Planetearth3concert.com
Manchester favourites hosting a heartwarming festive social for those alone this Christmas
Danny Jones
Beloved Manchester bar and cafe, Haunt, have announced that they will be hosting a special social to spread some much-needed seasonal cheer to those who are spending Christmas apart from their families and/or friends this year.
Wholesome stuff from a wholesome bunch.
That’s right, friendly neighbourhood ghosts Haunt will be putting on a little free shindig for the 2025 festive period in an effort not only to share the typical kindness with locals based in and around the city centre but to help create “a sense of community, no matter what your situation”.
Announcing the completely open-to-the-public Christmas Eve party over the weekend, the team are looking to provide those who might otherwise be lonely or struggle during the holidays with a warm, arms-wide welcome, plus plenty more.
Writing on their social media account this past Sunday, bar manager JJ said: “People, it’s time to connect this Christmas! We will be providing free coffee and sweet treats from 12-5pm on Christmas Eve, as well as some games and workshops.
“We’ve put a lot of work into this, so it would be amazing to see as many of you there as possible! Also need this to reach the people that need an event like this most, so please share and repost.
“As always, look out for your people, I wouldn’t be anywhere without mine – JJ xoxo”
Come on, who doesn’t love seeing heartwarming stuff like this on their feed, especially when it comes to a time of year where so many suffer quietly amid the majority having a good time?
This isn’t the first time they’ve held a pop-up that’s caught our attention in 2025, either; it was only last month that we were surprised to stumble on a mini padel court in the middle of the room.
Once again, there’ll be brews and fresh bakes, as well as plenty of other activities to keep people entertained on the night.
As described in their post, Christmas can be tough for a lot of people, and if they can make even just one person looking for some kindness and companionship feel better for a few hours this year, then they’ll have done above and beyond their job.
It goes without saying that we love seeing local businesses taking the social and community side of their work like this to heart and putting in serious effort to make a difference.
Well done to JJ, the Chosen Family support group, and everyone at Haunt for setting this up; if you know anyone who might be interested in coming along, please do pass on the information.
You can grab your free tickets via Eventbrite right HERE, and maybe we’ll see some of you there.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Haunt (via Instagram)
What's On
The full lineup for the Strictly Live tour has been revealed
Danny Jones
Yes, ballroom lovers, it’s here: the full lineup of dancers for the ‘Strictly Come Dancing Live’ tour has finally and officially been revealed.
It feels like fans have been waiting ages to find out the entire roster for the Strictly Live tour next year, with only limited waves having been released thus far.
However, the patience has paid off, and we now know who’ll be starring both on the stage and on down on the floors of some of Britain’s most beloved venues, including our very own AO Arena.
You can see the latest raft of additions down below.
As you can see, the final four couples who complete the next Strictly Live tour lineup for 2026 are social media personality George Clarke, Emmerdale face Lewis Cope, former footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and another actor in Layton Williams.
This quality quartet will be paired up with Alexis Warr, Katya Jones, Lauren Oakley and Nikita Kuzmin, respectively; it has already been confirmed that much-loved trio Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood will be returning as judges, with Janette Manrara remaining as host.
Strictly‘s still ongoing season – the 23rd in the show’s history – is due to conclude this weekend, following the final on Saturday night (20 December), and it remains to be seen which of the current cast will be crowned champion, with several of those above and below now signed up for the live tour.
The rest of the Strictly Live dancers for 2026 here:
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey aka ‘Nitro’
Alex Kingston
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Balvinder Sopal
George Clarke
La Voix
Chris Robshaw
Ellie Goldstein
Thomas Skinner
Vicky Pattison
Stefan Dennis
Ross King
Karen Carney
Lewis Cope
Amber Davies
It isn’t guaranteed that each of these contestants will be taking part in EVERY single one of the tour dates, but either way, you’ve still got ‘The Professionals’ to come next spring, too.
The annual Strictly Come Dancing UK tour has become a firm fan favourite, not only among die-hard viewers of the BBC show but lovers of live entertainment in general.
Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and others confirmed the dates for their live shows earlier this year, with the AO set to host the two days’ worth of moves across Saturday, 31 January and Sunday, 1 February.
Hosting both normal evening shows as well as matinee slots, it’s simply up to you at what time of day you fancy panto-booing Craig…
If you’re interested in securing tickets for the typically fabulous festivals, you can grab yours HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
13th February 2024 
