A whole world in one continent is the message behind the BBC’s latest landmark series, Asia, coming to BBC Nordic on Wednesday 13th November at 22:30 and available on BBC Nordic+. 

Presented by Sir David Attenborough, this seven-part series takes us on a journey through Asia, exploring the diverse landscapes and abundant wildlife this remarkable continent has to offer.

What to expect

The result of nearly four years of filming, this new series offers a deep dive into the world’s largest continent, as Asia becomes the focus of a BBC wildlife series for the first time ever. 

With pioneering filmmaking technology, Asia captures never-before-seen footage of wildlife in their natural habitats, including a shoal of Moorish idols, determined to escape their prey, caught on camera using special ‘pole-cam’ technology.

And with the world’s highest mountain range, deepest oceans and tallest jungles, Asia has an unparalleled natural topography to discover.

Seven episodes to behold

The new series is divided into seven episodes, each with a different corner of Asia as the focus. 

Beginning with Asia’s 21 different oceans which span the Arabian, Indian and Pacific to name a few, episode one takes us subsea.  

Home to 60 percent of the earth’s marine life, this ground-breaking episode showcases Asia’s extraordinary sea creatures, including a tiny fish with a prowess for climbing trees, a glow-in-the-dark squid and sharks that hunt for prey in their hundreds. 

Back on land, episode four takes us on a jungle-journey to behold, as the animals that call these trees home navigate new challenges and hidden dangers at every turn. 

Here, tigers prowl the undergrowth in search of prey, female orangutans look high and low to find their perfect mate and a new leopard population grows.

Future facing

Later in the series, the focus shifts to us as the final episode looks to people from across Asia working to preserve wildlife throughout the continent. 

From new breeding programmes in Java to salvage an extinction-facing bird, to the lab-rearing of shark embryos in Japan, witness the ingenious solutions at play as extraordinary individuals and organisations take Asia’s conservation into their own hands. 

Animal encounters

From the shy but adorable red pandas of the Himalaya to snack-pillaging elephants in Sri Lanka, this series is packed with animal stories from all corners of the continent.

And it wouldn’t be a BBC wildlife series without the sighting of a rare animal. Known to roam the planes of the Gobi Desert from which it gets its name and with fewer than 40 left in existence, keep your eyes peeled for a glimpse of the Gobi bear. 

 

The new series will be available to watch from Wednesday 13th November at 22:30 on BBC Nordic, with a new episode to look forward to each week. You won’t want to miss it!

You can also find Asia on BBC Nordic+, meaning you can catch up on this remarkable series whenever you need.  

Words by Tom Vaughan