The Human Planet: BBC And Bob Geldof Will Map Mankind!

The BBC and Bob Geldof have today announced an intention to collaborate on the Dictionary of Man, a unique and ambitious anthropology project that will record every human society on the planet.

The Dictionary of Man website will be a limitless repository of content, an immense digital catalogue of all current human existence and an enormous resource for the exchange of ideas and information.

The BBC will, in tandem, produce for television a classic BBC landmark series, The Human Planet. The eight-part series will be produced in a unique collaboration between the BBC’s world-renowned Natural History Unit, BBC Bristol Features and Documentaries and BBC Wales.

Filmed in high definition, the TV series The Human Planet will be an epic record of how different peoples adapt to different surroundings.

As they’ve done before with the multi-award-winning series The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, the BBC now turns its attention to Man - the Miracle Animal. “Only the BBC with its scope, scale, ambition, professionalism and reputation could possibly achieve this massive project and I’m proud to be associated with the Natural History Unit, one of the most renowned and respected parts of the BBC,” said Geldof.

This project goes to the heart of the modern BBC - only two months ago Director of BBC Vision, Jana Bennett, called for a response to the challenge of what she called 360 degree media, referring to the digital age and the dissemination of content. The Dictionary of Man and The Human Planet places the BBC at the very edge of modern media and its capability.

Jana Bennett said, “Coming from joint production teams with this pedigree, The Human Planet promises to be spectacular television. It will give us the chance to meet and understand the people who share our planet in a way we’ve never seen them before. In joining forces with Bob Geldof, we have one of the world’s foremost humanitarians as an ally as we create a legacy for both current and future generations. More importantly, this is not just about television, it’s about 360 degree media on a scale we’ve never seen before. Public service – why the BBC exists.”

Says BBC Worldwide’s Director of Content & Production, Wayne Garvie, “BBC Worldwide has a vast amount of experience in working with global partners and we are looking forward to using our international relationships to pursue all the opportunities this huge and exciting project can bring.”

Tom Archer, Studio Head, BBC Bristol Features and Documentaries, says, “This is the ideal project for us; it is almost a definition of why we exist. It will create both a unique television landmark and a lasting legacy for future generations. It’s the realisation of a long-held ambition to bring a celebration of human diversity to a mass audience across the world.

“The television series is so ambitious it demanded the bringing together of the different forms of expertise and approach represented by the three BBC Vision studios involved: Wales for their achievements with Tribe, Bristol Features and Documentaries for their story-telling and the NHU for their world-beating, blue-chip film-making.”