Plot Synopsis

Presented by David Attenborough, PLANET EARTH: DYNASTIES is a five-part documentary series that follows five of the world's most celebrated but endangered animals, as they do whatever it takes to survive and protect their next generation. Over four years in the making, DYNASTIES focuses in never-seen-before detail on one particular family from each species per episode -- lions, chimpanzees, tigers, painted wolves and Emperor penguins -- as they play politics, make alliances, launch take-overs, battle rivals and deal with interfamily animosity.

For each one-hour episode, crews spent many hundreds of days in a single, iconic location, each home to one of the animals. The crews joined those animals and their families at a critical moment in their lives. A chimpanzee leader battling for his position and his life on the edge of the Sahara. A dynasty of thousands of emperor penguins gathering on the frozen wastes of Antarctica to face the coldest and cruelest winter on earth. A powerful lioness, abandoned by her male protectors, leading her family against the gravest dangers of the African savannah. On the floodplains of Zimbabwe, a feud between a mother and daughter painted wolf, threatening the future of one of the last great families of their kind. A tigress in the jungles of India attempting to raise her family under ever growing pressure from her rivals and humanity.

The crews collaborated closely with experts who have studied these animals for many years. These scientists, guides and trackers got the teams closer to these animals than ever before, to follow them every day, whatever the conditions, to understand who was who in each family and to interpret the significance of their every move. They were able to capture moments and behaviors never seen before -- even the scientists do not spend as long watching these animals as intensely as the DYNASTIES team had done.

DYNASTIES made its U.S. debut on Saturday, January 19, 2019 from 9-10:30pm ET/PT on BBC America, with a simulcast on AMC, IFC and SundanceTV.
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On Saturday, May 21, 2022 from 8-9:30pm ET/PT, BBC America aired the U.S. premiere of Season 2 of PLANET EARTH: DYNASTIES.The six-part season, in addition to a 'making of' episode, provides a fresh insight into the secret lives of some of the most charismatic animals on the planet -- puma, elephant, cheetah, hyena, meerkat and macaque -- featuring surprising, dramatic and heartwarming stories with the iconic favorites from the animal kingdom.