"A new world revealed."
Planet Earth II - Episode Highlights
Episode Highlights
Islands
This episode set the tone for the entire series with its cinematic intensity and stunning visuals. It features a swimming pygmy sloth searching for a mate and penguins navigating treacherous shores. However, its most significant moment is the unforgettable sequence of newly hatched marine iguanas being chased by dozens of racer snakes. This scene, edited like a thriller, became a viral sensation and is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in natural history filmmaking.
"Islands" immediately established Planet Earth II as a more dramatic, immersive, and technically advanced successor to the original. The iguana chase showcased the new filmmaking philosophy of getting closer to the animals and creating powerful, emotional narratives. It generated immense buzz and hooked a massive global audience, including a significant number of younger viewers.
Mountains
This episode explores the harsh and beautiful world of Earth's great mountain ranges. It includes breathtaking footage of snow leopards, a notoriously elusive species, with one sequence capturing a tense standoff between two rival males and another showing a mother and cub. Other highlights include golden eagles dueling in mid-air and grizzly bears appearing to dance as they scratch their backs on trees.
The snow leopard footage was a significant technical and logistical achievement, requiring immense patience and the use of advanced camera trap technology. The episode powerfully conveyed the isolation and extreme challenges of life at high altitudes, reinforcing the series' theme of survival in unforgiving environments.
Jungles
"Jungles" dives into the richest and most competitive habitats on Earth. The episode is notable for its use of new camera technology to move through the dense canopy with the animals. It features flying draco lizards, tiny glass frogs protecting their eggs, and river dolphins navigating the flooded forests of the Amazon. A particularly dramatic sequence shows a jaguar hunting a caiman in a Brazilian river, a powerful display of predatory might.
This episode showcased the crew's ability to film in incredibly complex and challenging environments. The immersive camera work, which simulated the perspective of animals moving through trees, was a key visual innovation for the series, fulfilling the producers' goal of seeing the world from the animals' point of view.
Cities
A groundbreaking conclusion to the series, this episode explores the newest habitat on Earth: the urban environment. It reveals how wildlife has adapted to city life in surprising ways, featuring peregrine falcons nesting on skyscrapers, leopards stalking prey in Mumbai, and mischievous macaques in Jaipur. It also shows the dangers, such as turtle hatchlings being confused by city lights. The episode culminates in David Attenborough's powerful closing statement from The Shard in London.
"Cities" was the most novel and arguably most important episode of the series. It directly addressed the relationship between humanity and nature, shifting the focus from pristine wilderness to the world we have built. It served as a poignant and urgent call to action, cementing the series' underlying conservationist message and leaving a lasting impression on viewers about their own role in the planet's future.