This urgent series – three years in the making – will underscore the high-stakes battle for wildlife survival in an era of extreme weather, wildfires and environmental upheaval. Extreme Planet Earth, for ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player next year, will showcase how the planet's most extraordinary creatures endure and evolve in the face of relentless instability.

With each episode immersing viewers in the raw, visceral drama of Earth's climate, Extreme Planet Earth will reveal unparalleled footage of wildlife pushed beyond the brink: elephants in Borneo navigating treacherous floodwaters; wombats in Australia with fires raging around them; a leopard in Zambia's Lower Zambezi struggling with a brutal drought; Caribbean flamingos in Mexico facing up to the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record; and clownfish on the Great Barrier Reef fighting to withstand a marine heatwave. The animals show remarkable grit in the face of these events, but grit can only take you so far.  Conservationists and scientists are already working among the planet's harshest conditions, intervening to protect species with groundbreaking initiatives. Their efforts, unfolding in some of the most unpredictable environments on Earth, will be a critical part of the story. 

Combining cutting-edge cinematography with powerful storytelling, the series will plunge viewers into a reality where survival hangs by a thread and resilience is the only way forward.