Hidden Kingdoms
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Peter Dinklage (US version)
| Hidden Kingdoms | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Mini Monsters (Discovery Channel Version) |
| Genre | Factual |
| Narrated by | Stephen Fry Peter Dinklage (US version) |
| Composer | Ben Foster |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 3 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Mike Gunton (Original Version) Robert Zakin (Discovery Channel Version) |
| Producers |
|
| Editor | Stuart Napier (episode 1) |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | BBC Natural History Unit Discovery Channel RTL Group France Télévisions CCTV-9 R.T.I S.p.A |
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 16 January – 30 January 2014 |
Hidden Kingdoms is a British documentary television series that was first broadcast on BBC One on 16 January 2014. The three-part series is narrated by Stephen Fry and shows how animals experience the world from their perspective.[1][2] Animals shown include a Rufous elephant shrew, grasshopper mouse, chipmunk, treeshrew, marmoset and Japanese rhinoceros beetle.[3]
In United States, the series was shown under the alternative title Mini Monsters, which aired at Discovery Channel on 31 May 2014.[4]
Kim Shillinglaw, the BBC's head of commissioning for natural history and science, announced the series on 21 November 2013.[3] The following landscapes were used for the series: savanna, desert, jungle, forest and the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.[3] The executive producer is Mike Gunton, senior executive of the BBC Natural History Unit, and produced by Mark Brownlow.[3] Hidden Kingdoms is a BBC, Discovery, RTL Group, France Télévisions and CCTV-9 co-production, in association with R.T.I S.p.A.[3][5][6]
BBC Worldwide announced pre-sales for Hidden Kingdoms before the 2013 MIPCOM.[7] The series has been licensed to Network Ten (Australia), BBC Knowledge (South Africa), Sveriges Television (Sweden) and RÚV (Iceland).[7] BBC Worldwide also signed a deal with the Korean Broadcasting System.[8]
On-screen warnings of re-enacted elements were shown in Hidden Kingdoms. One of the scenes, featuring a mouse leaping to escape the jaws of a rattlesnake, was created by filming rattlesnakes making strikes at a hot towel placed above a camera, which was then merged with footage of the mouse.[9]
Episode list
| No. | Title | Original release date | UK viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Under Open Skies" | 16 January 2014 | 3.41 |
| 2 | "Secret Forests" | 23 January 2014 | 3.52 |
| 3 | "Urban Jungles" | 30 January 2014 | 2.74 |
Reception
Overnight figures showed that the first episode on 16 January 2014 was watched by 14.4% of the viewing audience for that time, with 3.41 million watching it.[10] The second and third episodes attracted 3.52m (15.5%) and 2.74m (12.4%) respectively.[11][12]
Some reviewers criticised the show's use of staged scenes and digital editing, stating that the depicted events and locations are "astonishing if true, but frustrating and worthless if merely a digital effect".[13]
Home media
In United Kingdom, a single DVD disc was released on 27 January 2014 by BBC Worldwide.[14]
In United States and Canada, DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released on 8 July 2014.[15][16] It was distributed by BBC Warner.
In Germany, DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released on 19 December 2014.[17][18]
In Japan, both DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released on 3 November 2015.[19][20]
