First look at Sir David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet II

Start date for Frozen Planet II 

Frozen Planet II will start on Sunday 11th September at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. 

Sir David Attenborough’s latest nature documentary will have six new episodes that he will narrate. Journeying through some of the earth’s most remote, harsh, and beautiful lands covered in ice and snow, including the rarely visited north and south poles.  

The series is the highly anticipated sequel to 2011’s Frozen Planet, which won multiple awards including an Emmy and BAFTA. In the 11 years since the original, these fragile environments still face many threats due to climate change, the trailer showing these icy environments melting and crumbling around the many animals that call them home. 

Take a look at the trailer for Frozen Planet II: 

As you can see, the trailer shows many remarkable sights – from a rarely seen Siberian tiger emerging from its den to monkeys bathing in hot springs. Not only will it focus on many amazing animals and how they’ve adapted to these magical but challenging environments, but also the many threats they face.  

Filmed over four years, Frozen Planet II will show staggering sights from the Boreal Forest and High Mountains, to the Arctic, Antarctic and Tundra – all areas rarely explored by humans. We’ll see the weather, habitats, and animals as we’ve never seen them before, even witnessing some animals create unlikely alliances in order to survive in such harsh conditions. 

Over the trailer, Sir David Attenborough’s instantly recognisable voice gives a glimpse of the documentary’s focus:  

“Explore all of Earth’s frozen habitats, where life finds a way not just to survive, but to thrive.”

Special song for Frozen Planet II 

The trailer also features a haunting song written especially for Frozen Planet II by Camila Cabello and Hans Zimmer.  

On the track, the BBC shared: 

"The new track, ‘Take Me Back Home’, marks the first time a new song has been written to support a BBC One natural history landmark release and features the haunting vocals of Cabello supported by the epic orchestration of Zimmer and his long-term collaborators - arranger Anže Rozman and producer Russell Emanuel for Bleeding Fingers Music. 

"Cabello’s lyrics paired with Zimmer’s music echo both the fragility and jeopardy of the series’ subject matter – the world’s coldest regions, Tundras and mountain tops where the planet’s most enigmatic beasts reign supreme – despite the animals and lands finding themselves on the cusp of huge change and ever-increasing threat." 

Camila Cabello is the first singer to sing an original song for an Attenborough documentary, with the poignant lyrics of “I can’t just watch it all fall down” seeming all too relevant as ice caps melt away on screen.  

However, this isn’t the first time Zimmer has contributed to nature documentaries like this. In 2020 he wrote music alongside Dave the rapper for Planet Earth: A Celebration which set the remarkable footage of the BAFTA-winning Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II to music, with stunning results.