World of WONDERS

Stephen Fry presents a landmark wildlife series spanning the four seasons

- JUDY EWENS, ALISON SLADE

NEW NATURE

A Year on Planet Earth

Sunday, 8pm, ITV1 (box set, ITVX)

Stunning landscapes, incredible animals and extreme weather are the ingredients of ITV1’s natural- history series A Year on Planet Earth, presented by Stephen Fry, which explores how the Earth’s journey around the sun affects all life on it.

‘The series concentrates on something about our planet that we often forget – it’s on a tilt. And that creates the seasons, and the seasons create, well, everything,’ says Fry.

Filmed across 60 locations, the six-part series (the first four episodes will air on ITV1, with the remaining two available on ITVX) shows how animals adapt to the changes and challenges each season brings.

Here, Fry, 65, guides us through the series…

EPISODE ONE

WINTER 

In Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, a mother polar bear is teaching her two-year-old cub the skills he’ll need to survive on his own in what will be their last winter together. She must also hunt for food to see them through the 100 days of extreme cold and darkness about to descend upon them. ‘Every week without food, the mother and cub lose a tenth of their body weight,’ says Fry. ‘And tough times lie ahead…’