There are few things as awe-inspiring as high-definition nature documentaries – last year's Planet Earth II had us hooked – and a new BBC sequel to another astonishing nature series, Blue Planet, looks set to make us similarly thrilled to be alive (for an hour or so, at least).
The trailer for Blue Planet II has just been released and features not only dazzling shots beneath the ocean and narration by Sir David Attenborough (who else?), but also a dramatic score from Oscar-winning producer Hans Zimmer and Radiohead.
The musicians have reworked the Radiohead song "Bloom" from the band's 2011 album The King of Limbs with an orchestral re-recording and new vocals, which makes for a perfect spine-tingling accompaniment to the breathtaking visuals.
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"'Bloom' was inspired by the original Blue Planet series so it's great to be able to come full circle with the song and reimagine it for this incredible landmark's sequel," Radiohead's Thom Yorke said earlier this month.
"Hans is a prodigious composer who effortlessly straddles several musical genres so it was liberating for us all to work with such a talent and see how he wove the sound of the series and Bloom together.”
The series will also include footage of never-before-seen species, including the "Hoff crab" (named after David Hasselhoff because of their hairy chests) and "newly discovered dancing yeti crabs", which look as hilarious as they sound.
"New science and new technology allow us to voyage further and deeper than ever before," Attenborough says in the trailer, enabling us at home to see everything, "from the restless shores of our coastline where dolphins spit to trick their prey, to enchanted undersea forests where fairytale creatures dwell."
Blue Planet II, which will air in seven parts, reportedly took four years to complete and was filmed in 39 countries. It will air on BBC One later this year but doesn't yet have a confirmed premiere date. Shame, because we'd be hitting that pre-record button stat.
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