Discovery+ Orders Animal-Centric ‘The Mating Game’ With David Attenborough Narrating (Exclusive)

Discovery+ is taking an inside look at how animals overcome challenges to reproduce and leave a lasting legacy in the world.

The streaming service has greenlit a new series titled The Mating Game, narrated by David Attenborough, that hails from the producers behind A Perfect Planet.

The series, which was filmed in 22 counties spanning six continents, will put the spotlight on 80 unique species as it focuses on how they pursue a mate, from the beginning of the courtship to how they overcome enormous obstacles in the race to win a partner.

The show will visit such locales as the grasslands, the ocean and the jungles. Discovery+ says that among the firsts captured on camera are the courtship rituals of the great argus pheasant, a bird renowned among naturalists but whose courtship has never been filmed in the wild due to its extremely reclusive nature.

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Other firsts include an extremely rare tree frog breeding event captured in a remote patch of virgin rainforest in French Guiana on Christmas Day, as well as the courtship behavior between digger bees in the Sonoran Desert that includes everything from a “bee brawl” to a delicate tasting of each other’s scent.

In the Serengeti, a violent game is played when a zebra stallion must defend his mares in a herd 30,000 strong, and rains in South Africa trigger intense clashes between an army of African giant bullfrogs.

The five-part series is set to debut on Sunday, Nov. 21.

Watch the trailer below.

The Mating Game is produced for BBC, Discovery and Discovery+ by Silverback Films in co-production with NHK, Bilibili and France Télévisions. For Silverback, Jeff Wilson is series producer and Keith Scholey is executive producer. For Discovery and Discovery+, Howard Swartz is executive producer. BBC Studios is distributing internationally.