David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef

David Attenborough embarks on a unique, compelling and imaginative journey through the past, present and future of Australia’s mighty Great Barrier Reef.

Released : 2015

Runtime : 3 x 60 minutes

With astounding cinematography, cutting-edge scientific research and beautifully assimilated CGI, David Attenborough embarks on a unique, compelling and imaginative journey through the past, present and future of Australia’s mighty Great Barrier Reef.

In 1957, Sir David Attenborough first visited and scuba dived on one of our planet’s most extraordinary creations, the Great Barrier Reef. Shrouded in mystery and mostly inaccessible, he always wanted to go back to further explore the ecosystem he describes as “like no other in the natural world”. Sixty years on, using brand-new technology and the latest scientific research, David has the opportunity to unlock the secrets of the Reef as he embarks on a personal journey that reveals the true extent of its diversity, characters and complexity along the way.

For this series, David climbs aboard the Alucia, a 56-metre research and exploration vessel equipped with a state-of-the-art Triton submersible, laboratories and a helicopter. It will allow him to take to the seas, and the skies, to give a perspective on the Great Barrier Reef that has never been seen before, and unprecedented access to some of the most remote parts of the Reef and its magical residents and visitors.

Recent awards

Lumiere

Best Doc in 4K

2016

Nat Geo Travellers Award

Best Travel Doc

2016

Televisual Bulldog

Best in Show

2016

Televisual Bulldog

Best Specialist Factual

2016

Credits

WRITER AND PRESENTER

David Attenborough

SERIES PRODUCER

Anthony Geffen

SERIES DIRECTOR

Mike Davis

EPISODE DIRECTOR

Anne Sommerfield

COMISSIONING EDITOR

Tom McDonald

FILM EDITOR

Dominic Lester

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Paul Williams

UNDERWATER CINEMATOGRAPHER

Richard Fitzpatrick ACS
Michael Pitts

MUSIC

Ilan Eshkeri
Joel Douek
Graham Hadfield

LINE PRODUCER

Emma Parsons

PRODUCTION MANAGERS

Hannah Lewis
Sarah Hodder

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Mark Abraham

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Amabel Clarke

ASSISTANT PRODUCERS

Eloisa Noble
Philip Jones

RESEARCHERS

James Shelton
Alex Baines-Buffery
Matthew Fisketjon

FOR ATLANTIC PRODUCTIONS

Michael Sunderland
Vincent Pretorius
Mimi Gilligan
Ruth Sessions
Claudia Perkins

VISUAL EFFECTS BY ZOO

James Prosser
Matthew Baker-Jones
Aleksandra Czenczek
Bhaumik Patel
Charlie Lovett

SOUND RECORDIST

Freddie Claire

ASSEMBLY FILM EDITOR

Dudley Sargeant

UNDERWATER OPERATOR

Steve Hudson

CAMERA TEAM

Keith Bainton
Kat Brown
Sam Winzar

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Edward McGown
Kylie Stott

SOUND DEPARTMENT

John Rogerson
Richard Addis
Ryan Twyman

ONLINE EDITOR

Rob Grainger

COLOURIST

Ross Baker

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER – AUSTRALIA

Paul Currie

PRODUCTION SERVICES

Lightstream Pictures

ARCHIVE

BBC Motion Gallery
Biopixel PTY LTD
Bioquest Studios
Corbis Motion
Gin Clear Films
Howard Hall Productions
The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Dr Dead Miller
NASA
Nature Footage
Dr Julius Piercy
Plankton Productions
Dr Craig Radford
Epic Underwater
Dr Jason Gedamke
Getty Images
NHNZ
Shutterstock
Cameron Beccario earth.nullschool.net
XL Catlin Seaview Survey
The John Heyer Estate

WITH THANKS TO

The Alucia Crew
Australian Institute of Marine Science
The Australian Museum Lizard Island Research Station
Dr Robin Beaman & James Cook University
Dr Teresa Carrette
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Gudju Gudju and the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Peoples
Dr Anne Hoggett AM & Dr Lyle Vail AM
Prof Justin Marshall
The Queensland Government Departments of Environment and Heritage Protection & National Parks Recreation Sport and Racing
Dr Steve Simpson
Dr Alex Vail
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Heron Island Research Station, University of Queensland
Jason Killen
Dr Craig Steinberg
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Dr Pim Bongaerts
Prof Gillian Renshaw

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