Asia premieres Sunday, March 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BBC Earth in Canada During the Channel’s Nationwide Free Preview Event, running from February 24 until April 27, 2025
“Another David Attenborough masterclass in beautiful TV.” – The Guardian
Trailer: https://youtu.be/JeohTPcGpRU
(Toronto, ON – February 19, 2025) – The highly-anticipated landmark natural history series Asia (7×60’ HD), gives Canadians a front row seat to the amazing wildlife and natural wonders of our planet’s largest continent, Asia. Premiering Sunday, March 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BBC Earth and presented by renowned naturalist and three-time Emmy® Award-winner Sir David Attenborough (Mammals, Planet Earth III), the cinematic series explores each corner of this remarkable part of our planet. Across seven episodes, audiences will journey through Asia’s most stunning landscapes, uncovering stories of extraordinary unseen animal behaviour. Filmed over the course of nearly four years, this is the first time that Asia – home to the highest mountain range, the deepest ocean, the tallest jungles and the biggest cave – has been the focus of a landmark BBC wildlife series. Asia premieres Sunday, March 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT exclusively on BBC Earth in Canada during the channel’s nationwide free preview event running from February 24 until April 27. BBC Earth is also available via Prime Video Channels with Asia available to stream from March 3, 2025, with new episodes uploaded weekly.
In Nepal, cameras will follow rhinos playing ‘kiss chase’ in a bizarre courtship ritual. In the foothills of the Himalaya, amidst forests of bamboo, we’ll meet Asia’s shyest and possibly cutest mammal: the red panda. Five thousand metres up on the Tibetan Plateau, audiences will witness a lone wolf relentlessly hunting a herd of antelope for hours on end. In Sri Lanka, the series joins elephants that have learnt to become highway thieves – holding up buses to get food from the passengers. And in the rich waters of the Western Pacific, audiences will swim with sea snakes that have learnt to team up with fish to hunt.
Asia will also explore the conservation challenges facing the continent, and shine a light on the potential solutions being championed by the region’s conservation heroes. From the vast Gobi Desert, to the jungles of Borneo, and from the polar wilderness of Siberia to the coral seas of the Indian Ocean, this series will showcase the breathtaking diversity of Asia’s wildest places.
Asia is made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced with BBC America, France Télévisions and ZDF. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Executive Producer is Roger Webb, the Series Producer is Matthew Wright and the Commissioning Editor is Sreya Biswas, Head of Commissioning, Natural History. BBC Studios is handling global distribution and facilitated the co-production deals with BBC AMERICA, ZDF and France Télévisions.
Episode Descriptions:
Episode 1 – Beneath The Waves (March 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
Asia has the longest coastline of any continent, and the most abundant coral reefs on Earth. Its seas are connected by some of the world’s most powerful currents, and are home to over sixty percent of all marine species. This ground-breaking film features the charismatic creatures of Asia’s oceans, never-seen-before spectacles and brand-new animal behaviour. From giants in the deep ocean, to tiny fish that climb trees, to squid that glow in the dark and grey reef sharks that hunt in their hundreds; Asia’s waters are as spectacular as they are diverse.
Episode 2 – Above The Clouds (March 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
Asia is the most mountainous continent on earth. From the forested slopes of the tropics to the hostile heights of the Himalaya, Asia’s mountains are home to an astonishing abundance of specialized plants and wildlife. In India, elephants live in high-altitude tea plantations; and in Thailand, mountainous caves hide the planet’s greatest gathering of swifts. In Pakistan, markhor lives life truly on the edge, fighting for mates atop towering cliffs; and in Nepal, the forested foothills of the Himalaya provide hiding places for one of Asia’s shyest but most adorable mammals, the red panda.
Episode 3 – The Frozen North (March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
In northern Asia, life defies hostile extremes. In Russia’s Lake Baikal, a seal pup must take evasive action when its ice den starts to melt. Hokkaido’s thermal springs are a haven for dancing red-crowned cranes. On the Tibetan Plateau, a lone Himalayan wolf hunts antelope. Fish owls thrive in the forests where Russia and China meet. On the Kamchatka Peninsula, brown bears hunt salmon in preparation for winter. Elsewhere in Japan, bats hibernate beneath snow, while red foxes and sea eagles compete for food. In Arctic Russia, polar bears wait on isolated islands for the return of sea ice.
Episode 4 -Tangled Worlds (March 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
Asia’s jungles are exceptionally diverse, but whilst they provide shelter, food and opportunity, they are also full of dangers and hidden threats. In monsoon forests, tigers tenaciously hunt their prey and prehistoric-looking rhinos play courtship games akin to kiss-chase. In tropical rainforests, female orangutans must search far and wide to find their perfect mates. And in the little-known forests of Iraqi Kurdistan, a new Persian leopard population is growing amidst minefields.
Episode 5 – Crowded Continent (March 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
In Asia, the most densely populated continent, animal shave developed extraordinary ways to seize the opportunities of the human world. From tigers entering a city to hunt easy prey, to elephants stopping traffic to demand food from motorists. A small park in central Bangkok supports three hundred giant lizards whilst a flying squirrel in Taipei has made a cozy home in a school. Yet, the changing human world creates unprecedented challenges: proboscis monkeys are forced to venture uncomfortably closer to humans and swifts in Jerusalem face tough competition for nest sites.
Episode 6 – The Arid Heart (April 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
In the heart of Asia lie vast arid lands. These deserts and dry grasslands are so hostile, they push life to the limit. Here, one of the rarest animals on earth, the Gobi Bear, searches desperately for water, and bizarre looking long-eared jerboas use their striking features to catch insects. Asiatic lions must do whatever it takes to find food and juvenile cormorants resort to cannibalism to survive. On the arid grasslands, Pallas cats need ingenious ways to get close to their prey, Mongolian Gazelles must battle harsh winters and human barriers, and takhi horses are terrorized each night by Mongolian wolves. Life in the Arid Heart demands extraordinary resilience – those that live here are Asia’s great survivors.
Episode 7 – Saving Asia (April 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
Remarkable people are dedicating their lives to saving Asia’s extraordinary wildlife, using ingenious solutions. In Borneo, we follow a sun bear being released back into the wild; and in Java, we see how a breeding programme is saving the Javan green magpie. In Japan, orphaned shark embryos are being kept safe in an artificial uterus. And off Bali, fishermen are trialling new technology that could stop rare species being caught in their nets. We witness a Nepali police raid disrupting the illegal wildlife trade, and also join a 24-hour wildlife rescue team saving Sunda pangolins in urban Singapore.
For more information on Asia, visit bbcearth.ca and @BBCEarthCanada on X.
BBC First is a Blue Ant Media specialty channel giving Canadians access to a huge lineup of BBC’s original, award-winning, and uniquely British programming from drama to comedy, action and adventure, to mysterious thrillers. In Canada, BBC First is owned and operated by Blue Ant Media in partnership with BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Visit BBCFirst.ca. Follow us on Facebook: BBCFirstCanada.
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