Planet Earth 2: David Attenborough to make new wildlife series for the BBC

The six-episode series will air in the UK later this year

The 89-year-old wildlife presenter made the first series of Planet Earth in 2006 (BBC)

It’s been a ten-year wait but finally, Sir David Attenborough will be bringing another dose of Planet Earth to our living rooms.

The legendary 89-year-old presenter has been tempted into making a new six-episode series of the popular wildlife documentary by the BBC’s Natural History Unit.

Planet Earth II is scheduled to air in the UK on BBC One later this year, with an exact broadcast date yet to be confirmed.

“I am very excited to once again be working with the Natural History Unit on its latest landmark series and am especially looking forward to getting out on location in the next month or so,” Attenborough said.

The BBC has told viewers to expect “the most immersive wildlife documentary experience to date”. Scenes will be shot in ultra high-definition using the latest camera stabilisation, remote recording and aerial drone technology to take the audience closer to nature than ever before and “allow viewers to experience the wilderness as if you were there”.

The original Planet Earth aired in 2006 and was, at the time, the most expensive nature documentary ever commissioned by the BBC. Each 50-minute episode offered viewers a global overview of a different habitat on earth, followed by a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette. It remains unknown at this stage whether the new series will follow a similar format.

Whether Snoop Dogg will be enlisted to help Attenborough out is also in doubt. More than 60,000 signed a petition to get the rapper to narrate a whole season of the show, following an entertaining skit on Jimmy Kimmel Live.