'Frozen Planet II' Arriving This Winter on BBC America

At 96 years old, U.K. national treasure David Attenborough has been making documentary specials about the natural world for 70+ years. Though one of his few British contemporaries still remaining, Queen Elizabeth finally passed in 2022 (she was all of a few weeks older), he's still going. The first of his two new projects in the Planet Earth series announced in 2019 has come to fruition, Frozen Planet II, which debuted on the BBC back in the fall. Now, BBC America has announced the icy series will arrive in the dead of winter here in the U.S., with a debut on both the network and streamer AMC+ at the end of January 2023.

Attenborough, who became famous in the U.S. after the wild success of his Life on Earth series, first started the Planet Earth franchise with The Blue Planet in 2001, with explored the world's oceans. Planet Earth followed five years later, in 2006, using groundbreaking filming technology, followed by Frozen Planet five years onward in 2011. Like Blue Planet, Frozen Planet was a more focused series covering stuff Planet Earth skimmed, taking a long hard look at the planet's polar regions over seven one-hour episodes. 

Even back then, Frozen Planet served as a call to action on Attenborough's part, begging viewers to care about climate change and discussing the melting of these regions and the collapse of ecosystems. In the intervening time, Attenborough has made both Planet Earth II (2016) and Blue Planet II (2017), which, in addition to breaking new ground, used their sequel status to highlight how fast the planet is changing. Frozen Planet II will also cover new ground and revisit areas from the first series and will almost certainly be a much louder klaxon a decade on.

Here's the new series' synopsis:

Over a decade ago, Frozen Planet gave viewers unprecedented insight into life in the Poles. Now, the highly-anticipated sequel, Frozen Planet II, returns to the Arctic and Antarctic to observe the amazing species that thrive there. But, going further than the first season, it also explores life beyond the Poles – witnessing the wildlife dramas that play out in all the world’s coldest regions: our high mountains, frozen deserts, snowbound forests, and ice-cold oceans. These are the last true wildernesses on earth; places so challenging for survival that only a heroic cast of animals can live here. From polar bears to penguins, Siberian tigers to snow monkeys, each species must overcome unique challenges to survive their extreme environments.

As has been the case with all his famous docuseries, Attenborough will narrate all six episodes of the series, as well as making brief appearances as host. (Only the original Planet Earth series made the extraordinary miscalculation of replacing him with an American narrator for the 2006 U.S. release. No shade to Sigourney Weaver, but we accept no substitutions here at Telly Visions.)  Frozen Planet II was supposed to be followed by Planet Earth III, initially planned to debut in time for the BBC centenary. Sadly, the series did not make the deadline, but the BBC continues to have it on the schedule as upcoming in 2023. 

Like Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II, the BBC Studios’ world-renowned Natural History Unit filmed the seven-episode sequel in ultra-high definition using the latest technology. It boasts the series will feature "featuring dramatic new behaviors, intimate stories, and sensational natural spectacles filmed for the very first time." Like its predecessors, the series is six parts, plus a "Making Of" special, the latter of which will feature Attenborough's official plea to force world leaders to do something about climate change.

Frozen Planet II premieres Saturday, January 28, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET on BBC America, with episodes simultaneously on AMC+, and will follow a weekly release schedule through March.