Big Cats
Tiger, lion, snow leopard, margay, güiña, serval: the familiar and the rare, just some of the stars in the world’s best loved animal family - the cats.
Published: 9 January 2018
This new series on wild cats has pushed the boundaries on what has been lacking for such a long time in wildlife films.
With startling cinematography BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit brings emotional and immersive storytelling to this innovative series, the definitive celebration of the world’s top predators.
It’s not just the enthralling behaviour of the big cats which make this series groundbreaking, but also the insights it give us into the secret lives of the rarely-seen small cats. Only now has the latest filming technology and a surge in scientific research enabled us to bring these superstars out of the shadows.
For more than two years the Big Cats team has travelled to 14 different countries and filmed 31 out of the 40 species - more than any other crew has done before: from the ghostly Canada lynx in the frozen North to the bizarre Pallas’s cat in remote Mongolia, the mysterious and elusive swamp tiger of the Sundarbans and the adorable and daring rusty spotted cat of Sri Lanka.
If you think you know cats you’re in for a surprise - there’s far more to this charismatic and misunderstood family than being the world’s top predator. Cats have their tender side - they are emotional and intelligent. In this landmark three-part series we also uncover their social side, their complex communication, devoted parental care, courtship, and reveal how cats survive and thrive in all four corners of the globe, from the frozen north to the oldest and driest deserts, from the most remote, unexplored landscapes to the very heart of our modern world.
Big Cats is the ultimate celebration of the entire cat family - the planet’s top predators as you’ve never seen them before.
Narrator: Bertie Carvel
- Bertie was born in 1977 in London. He is an Olivier Award-winning actor, known for Les Misérables (West End - 2012), Doctor Foster (BBC One - 2015/17) and Ink (West End - 2017)
- Bertie is a big fan of the series, and described Big Cats as “special” with moments of action and emotion akin to a Hollywood blockbuster
Executive Producer: Mike Gunton
- Planet Earth II, Shark, Life Story, Africa, Life
Series producer: Gavin Boyland
- World’s Sneakiest Animals, Monkey Planet, Animal Babies
Producers:
- Nick Easton (Africa, Life Story, Wild New Zealand)
- Paul Williams (How Earth Made Us, Wonders of the Monsoon, Earth’s Greatest Spectacles)
Scientific Consultants
- Dr Luke Hunter, president and chief conservation officer of Panthera and author of Wild Cats of the World.
- Dr Alex Sliwa, world leading small cat scientist and curator at Kölner Zoo, Germany.
Dr Alex Sliwa says: "This new series on wild cats has pushed the boundaries on what has been lacking for such a long time in wildlife films. I was pleased to see some of the small cats, which have been underrepresented in films of the past - I have hoped for years that this would happen."
EM
