Professor David Beerling, of the University´s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, was brought in by the makers of the landmark-show as the Series Consultant, offering comments, developing stories and suggesting ideas.
How To Grow A Planet, which arrived on our screens on BBC Two at 9pm on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, explains how plants turned the earth from a barren, hostile rock surrounded by toxic gases, into the planet we call home, featuring hair-raising experiments, extracting pre-historic oxygen from a lump of iron and plants not just breathing but actually talking to each other.
Professor Beerling said: "The BBC were keen to make a high profile botany series but unsure what common theme might unite different episodes, beyond plants, and what to nucleate the whole thing around.
"Through extensive discussions and meetings with producers and researchers, who had all read The Emerald Planet from cover to cover, it became clear that the role of plants in earth history would be a refreshing new approach to linking botany and geology. My role was really to offer comments on the script, story development, suggest ideas, and trap any obvious howlers.
"The argument we are making is a refreshing take on our understanding of how our planet evolved. We are showcasing how plants sculpted the planet and why plant life should be regarded as a geological force of nature. This is the central argument of my book The Emerald Plant and the BBC2 television series. I hope it is an eye-opener for the audience and readers."
Each of the three hour-long episodes in the three part series will investigate the story of our planet, beginning with photosynthesis; how plants first harnessed light from the sun and created our life-giving atmosphere. Subsequent episodes on the `power of flowers´ and grasses as the great challengers to the plant kingdom air on 14 February 2012 and 21 February at 9pm on BBC Two.
Professor Beerling added: "Programs like this play a very important role in allowing dissemination of new scientific ideas and research findings to a broad audience. Viewers can expect to see exciting demonstrations of the power of plants as well as CGI of the earliest land plants appearing out of rocks, cool demonstrations of extracting oxygen from iron ore, temples, fern forests in New Zealand and more."
Landmark television science series inspired by University professors' best selling book
