Netflix Orders New Helena Bonham-Carter Series

Netflix is jumping back into the natural history space. Following the success of 2021’s David Attenborough-narrated Our Planet, the streamer has tapped actress Helena Bonham-Carter to narrate its upcoming series Wild Babies, a “blue-chip natural history series” about the world of baby animals in the wild.

Set to premiere globally on Thursday, May 5, according to Deadline, which was first to confirm the news, Wild Babies will follow 17 wild animal families across 16 countries, following their young from birth through developmental milestones and coming-of-age moments. Throughout the show’s eight episodes, viewers will be introduced to lions, wild dogs, sea otters, orangutans, grizzly bears, elephants, bottlenose dolphins, and emperor penguins, with Bonham-Carter will revealing the animals’ moving stories. Wild Babies comes from UK indie Humble Bee Films, the Bristol-based producer behind BBC, Netflix and Channel Nine co-production Attenborough’s Life in Colour and Attenborough and the Giant Elephant for the BBC and CBC. Beth Brooks serves as showrunner.

“Wild Babies will resonate with a broad family audience, with heart-warming stories that will feel relatable to viewers around the world,” Crosse said. “Delivering an ambitious wildlife series during a global pandemic certainly presented new challenges for our team, but what we hadn’t anticipated were the creative opportunities and innovative approaches that also emerged.”

Wild Babies will mark Bonham-Carter’s latest Netflix project. The actress, well-known for her roles in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Harry Potter, Fight Club, and more, notably starred as Princess Margaret on the streamer’s award-winning historical drama The Crown. The actress starred as Queen Elizabeth’s younger sisters in Seasons 3 and 4, taking over the role from Vanessa Kirby, who starred as Margaret in Seasons 1 and 2. Carter’s portrayal of Margaret earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

Although the nature of The Crown means the series changes cast every two seasons – each season covers a decade of the Queen’s reign – Bonham-Carter’s exit from the series did not mark her exit from Netflix. As Season 4 of The Crown premiered, it was announced that the actress was a member of the voice cast for The House, an animated anthology series that centers on a house and the stories of three tenants who live there. The series premiered in January of this year. Fans can next find Bonham-Carter as the narrator of Wild Babies, which premieres globally on Netflix on Thursday, May 5.