Entertainment · TV & Streaming · 5 hrs ago
Blue Planet III uses less polished footage to stress it is real
The BBC is bringing back Blue Planet with David Attenborough narrating the new series.
Its producers say they have included cloudier, less polished footage to show that the remarkable animals on screen were filmed, not generated by AI.
BBC commissioning head Jack Bootle said no generative AI was used in any frame.
The crew filmed across five oceans over four years and developed new cameras, including an underwater CCTV camera that captured dolphins using sea sponges to trap fish.
The series shows unusual animal behaviour, alongside threats such as warmer seas harming sea anemones and pollutants including forever chemicals.
Its approach puts authenticity at the centre as AI-generated images become more common, while the programme also aims to show wildlife viewers may not have seen before.
Blue Planet III deliberately includes cloudier, less polished footage to show viewers that its animal scenes are real, its producers said.
The BBC’s specialist factual commissioning head, Jack Bootle, said no generative AI was used in the series.
The series features new animal behaviour, including dolphins using sea sponges to trap fish in coral.
BBC Studios filmed across five oceans over four years and used new equipment, including an underwater CCTV camera called “stonefish” cam.
The programme also covers ocean threats, including warming seas and pollutants.
- Who
- BBC Studios’ Blue Planet III team, with David Attenborough narrating. Producers Elizabeth White and Lara Bickerton and BBC commissioning head Jack Bootle discussed the series.
- What
- The series uses less polished footage to underline its authenticity and features new animal behaviour and filming technology.
- When
- The series was discussed in articles published on 23 and 24 October 2026. Filming took place over four years.
- Where
- Filming took place across five oceans.
- Why
- Producers said the less polished footage helps show that the animals were not generated by AI, amid the rise of AI fakery.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The first Blue Planet aired.
Blue Planet II highlighted plastic pollution.
BBC Studios filmed Blue Planet III across five oceans.
Radio Times published its review of Blue Planet III.
The Guardian reported that the series includes cloudier footage to stress its authenticity.
- Filming period
- Four years
- Filming locations
- Five oceans
- Underwater camera
- Stonefish” cam, described as the world’s first underwater CCTV camera
- Commissioning head
- Jack Bootle
- Newly filmed behaviour
- Dolphins use sea sponges to block holes in coral and trap fish
- Crabs in formation
- 200,000 crabs lining up to feed
3 sources
What people are saying
No gen AI was used in this series. Not a single frame. It’s all real photography.
AI, “makes us want to be even more authentic
we’re really leaning into that authenticity … As AI booms we will probably lean more into the more organic