Nature Beauty

The episode predictably ignited controversy in the press, where it elicited criticism from British
climate change sceptics, most notably Nigel Lawson (Porritt and Lawson 2011). However, it was
the accusation that the BBC had given international channels the option to drop the last episode
of the series, dubbed “the climate change episode”, to help the show sell better in international
markets, which highlighted another growing source of concern. Frozen Planet had been offered as
a six part series, with the option to include the climate change episode and a behind-the-scenes
episode as “optional extras”. Over thirty networks bought the series, but a third of them rejected
the additional two episodes. It was rumoured that Discovery, the largest co-producer of the series,
were planning not to air the climate change episode due to a “scheduling issue”. Instead,
producers at Discovery planned to incorporate elements from this programme into their final
show (Bloxham 2011). In effect, Discovery’s proposal meant that Attenborough’s nuanced take
on climate change would not be broadcast in the US, where the largest population of climate
change deniers resides. Discovery later backtracked on their decision, and opted instead to
broadcast all seven episodes including the one on climate change (Hough 2011).