National Geographic is freshening up its programming slate.
The network has ordered four new series including The Real Finding Nemo and Surviving Pompeii with Tom Hiddleston.
It is the first slate of programming since it emerged that a large number of Nat Geo titles including Life Below Zero and Wicked Tuna were coming to an end.
Surviving Pompeii with Tom Hiddleston is a historical exploration about the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and the preserved Roman city it left behind. Hiddleston, who studied Classics at Cambridge University, exec produces alongside his Loki executive producer Kevin R. Wright.
It comes from Plimsoll Productions, which is behind Nat Geo series including A Real Bug’s Life and The Devil’s Climb. Grant Mansfield, Alan Eyres, Helen Flint and Tom Barbor-Might exec produce for Plimsoll and Carolyn Payne exec produces for Nat Geo.
Hiddleston is the latest celebrity to front a Nat Geo series after Chris Hemsworth, who hosted Limitless and Will Smith with Welcome To Earth.
The Real Finding Nemo (w/t) comes on the back of A Real Bug’s Life. It will explore dynamics of life on the reef and beyond via a clown fish.
The series comes from Our Great National Parks producer Freeborne Media, whose James Honeyborne exec produces alongside Tracy Rudolph Jackson for Nat Geo.
Elsewhere, Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort and BBC Studios Science Unit have teamed on Meet The Planets (w/t), an astronomy series that brings the galaxy’s most famous family to life, with the sun as the matriarch, surrounded by her unruly planetary children. It will feature comedy and animation.
Andrew Cohen exec produces for BBC Studios Science Unit alongside Betsy Forhan for Nat Geo.
Finally, the network is expanding its One Day In strand with Diana: One Day In Paris. The three-part series will explore the tragic death of Princess Diana on the 30th anniversary of that paparazzi car chase through a Parisian motorway tunnel.
It follows 9/11: One Day in America and JFK: One Day in America and comes from 72 Films.
It will feature rare archives and interviews with witnesses who have never spoken publicly as it looks at the 24 hours before and after Diana’s death and follow the story through to her funeral one week later.
David Glover and Mark Raphael exec produce for 72 Films alongside Carolyn Payne for Nat Geo and TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay.
All of this comes after Nat Geo axed Wicked Tuna earlier this summer. The Pilgrim Media Group-produced series, which follows a group of fisherman from Gloucester, Masschusetts as they rod and reel fish bluefin tuna, had been airing on the network since 2012 and 13 seasons.
Nat Geo’s Emmy-winning series Life Below Zero is also ending after its 23rd season, per star Chip Hailstone. Spinoffs including Next Generation, First Alaskans and Northern Territories are also ending.
Other titles not returning to Nat Geo include The Incredible Dr Pol, after 24 seasons, and Dr. Oakley Yukon Vet, after 12 seasons.
“These new unscripted series epitomize everything National Geographic stands for — bold, captivating storytelling rooted in world-class research and expertise,” said Tom McDonald, EVP of Global Unscripted and Factual Content. “National Geographic is building on its reputation as the home of the most distinctive factual series from the very best storytellers in the world.”