‘Drain the Oceans.’
Electric Pictures is coproducing a 10-part series that will use underwater scanning systems to reveal what lies on the floor of lakes, seas and oceans around the world.
Commissioned by National Geographic, Drain the Oceans will combine scientific data with state-of-the-art reconstructions in the quest to explain natural wonders and man-made catastrophes including shipwrecks and sunken cities.
The documentary will investigate mysteries including what happened to the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370; how the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected global data in “the cloud”; and why one of the biggest treasure hauls off Florida was spread across the seabed for many kilometres.
Electric Pictures is coproducing with the UK’s Mallinson Sadler Productions. The two parties first collaborated on Submarine Mission Impossible, which chronicled the exploits of Australian submarine AE2 during the Gallipoli campaign, for National Geographic.
Drain the Oceans will premiere later this year on Nat Geo in 172 countries and in 43 languages.
The executive producers are Phil Craig, Andrew Ogilvie and Andrea Quesnelle for Electric Pictures and Crispin Sadler and Mark Fielder for Mallinson Sadler.
Ogilvie said: “I am thrilled to be joining Crispin, the team at MSP and National Geographic to produce this landmark series. By combining resources we are able to harness the skills and experience of some of the most talented television professionals in both the UK and Australia to produce a very high-quality series that will delight audiences wherever it is shown.
“It is a truly global project that takes the ‘draining’ technique of using CGI to peel back the ocean and other large bodies of water to reveal what lies below and applies it on a much larger scale than has been seen before.”