TVF International and bilibili announces new wildlife series narrated by Sir Stephen Fry

TVF International and bilibili announces that award-winning British actor, filmmaker and environmentalist Sir Stephen Fry is to narrate "China’s Wild Secrets" (5x45 UHD), a landmark natural history series which reveals the hidden lives of some of China’s most captivating and endangered wildlife species.

The five-part series, commissioned by Chinese streamer bilibili, has been filmed over the course of three years by an award-winning Chinese crew. London-based distributor TVF International are coproducing the international version of the series for global release.

The film crew gained unparalleled access to China’s vast and little-explored National Parks, which are some of the most pristine and biodiverse animal havens on Earth. Each episode combines spectacular cinematography with groundbreaking filmmaking techniques to uncover several previously unseen animal behaviours.

Sir Stephen Fry, comments: “Narrating this wonderful series has been such a richly fulfilling and pleasurable experience. I kept having to stop my reading just to gasp in wonder at the astonish footage that the production crew managed to secure, much of it recording behaviour never before captured on film. From the perky little pikas to the imperious Siberian tiger and so much in between, China contains a simply bewildering variety of wildlife that enacts its fabulous rituals of preying, fleeing, fighting, mating and breeding in dazzingly diverse habitats. What an honour to be involved in such a series.”

TVF International have already pre-sold the series to German-French pubcaster WDR/Arte, alongside pan regional broadcaster Viasat World in Central & Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, and SRMG-owned Arabic-language platform Asharq Discovery for Middle-East and North Africa, with several other deals in negotiation. The series will be completed in July 2025, and officially launched this October at MIPCOM in Cannes.

Julian Chou-Lambert, International Executive Producer for the series and TVF’s China lead, comments: “We are absolutely delighted to have someone as iconic as Sir Stephen on board this landmark series. His charm, creativity and humour, combined with his deep passion for wildlife and the natural environment, make him the ideal narrator to reveal 'China’s Wild Secrets' to global audiences. The film-makers went to extraordinary lengths to capture both well-loved and little-known species in new ways, and we’re sure that viewers will be amazed by the series’ unique artistic, environmental and dramatic qualities.”