Digital TV News

Compare meerkats in 3D

Monday 10 October, 2011

By Kelvin Goodson

National Geographic Channel-produced “docu-soap” Meerkats 3D to be shown on Sky 3D this weekend.

An hour-long “docu-soap” about meerkats filmed using the latest 3D technology is to be shown on Sky 3D this weekend.

Meerkats 3D, produced by the National Geographic Channel using “unique 3D filming,” will premiere on Sunday 16 October at 8pm on the UK’s first 3D channel.

Building on Britain’s obsession with the southern African mammals, which began with a popular marketing campaign, the programme follows a family of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert.

Simon Bohrsman, general manager of National Geographic Channel, said: “This is ‘wild reality TV’ set in the stunning Kalahari desert with one of the most extraordinary families you will ever meet.

“It’s a story of courage, ingenuity, sex, and survival told with passion and humour, and in stunning 3D”.

The programme marks, perhaps unsurprisingly, the first time that a meerkat family has been filmed in 3D, with the aim of immersing viewers in the ups and downs of daily life as a meerkat.

The action unfolds through the eyes of Clinky, the female head of a gang of meerkats, following her attempts to keep her family safe from rival gangs and cobras and teach her litter how to kill and eat scorpions.

Specially designed 3D rigs were used to film the show by production companies Oxford Scientific Films and Principal Large Format, who were assisted by Cambridge University.

Caroline Hawkins, producer from Oxford Scientific Films, said: “The footage is a glorious celebration of 3D and natural history film at its finest.”

To get Sky 3D, subscribers must sign up to Sky World (all Sky channels, including movie and sports channels) and Sky’s high-definition (HD) TV package, the HD pack. Those signing up will also need a 3D-ready TV and 3D glasses.