Soundtrack to ground-breaking BBC Studios Science Unit series ‘Earth’ is now available to stream

With a career spanning over 80 credits in TV and Film, Paul Sanderson is one the UK’s leading film and TV composers. This week he announces the release of the first music from the ground-breaking BBC series Earth. The ‘Earth: One Planet. Many Lives.’ EP released on Silva Screen Records, comprises 5 tracks from the landmark series made by BBC Studios Science Unit for BBC Two and iPlayer, telling the astonishing story of our 4.5-billion-year-old planet.

Presented by Chris Packham, Earth transports the viewers back in time to the most significant events in our planet’s history. Using state of the art science and technology, it brings to life an often otherworldly place and reveals parallels with climate change today. This most epic of stories requires a soundtrack of unprecedented scope. Paul Saunderson delivers a score of gravitas, drama and scale, equipped with the necessary emotion to underpin the struggles and successes of our planet’s history. The story of how we all got to be here.

“I wanted to constantly give this sense of awe and wonder, combining very modal classical harmonies and progressions using a large live orchestra.” Explains Paul, “This is combined with modern synths, vocals, guitars, a range of instrumental soloists and percussion and a plethora of manipulated found sounds and instruments.” It’s these bespoke sound beds, a trademark of Paul’s productions, that provide the other worldly textures that carry the viewer to alien landscapes and unrecognisable images of our planet.

Silva Screen Records will release the full length 20 track album on August 22^nd. The album’s centre piece and entry point is the original song Never Close Enough, written in collaboration with an emerging talent SIPHO. An extension of the score, drawing on the same melodies, harmonies and instrumentation, it distils the album while showcasing SIPHO’s astonishing vocal talent.

“I had met SIPHO at the Ivor Novello Awards 2022, then later I was introduced to him through BBC Introducing. I was looking for an exciting new voice that could feel at home with such an epic piece of music and not get overwhelmed” says Paul, “SIPHO was just the voice and talent for the song.” The pair came together in the studio to write the lyrics and vocal line for the seismic single which soundtracks the BBC’s EARTH trailer.

With a background in classical music and rock, Paul has scored Films and TV shows covering a diverse range of genres. That adaptability with genre and style, the production skills and musicality, has made him a foil for numerous artists. Alongside Earth, this summer will see his work with Grime producer Swindle soundtrack the new BBC/Netflix series Champion, a drama set in the UK hip hop scene. Paul has also written arrangements for a variety of recording artists including Coldplay, Kasabian, The Cinematic Orchestra, and Guy Garvey of ELBOW. The collaboration with Guy led to a fruitful partnership on the scores for Apple TV’s “Trying” and Mike Bartlett’s acclaimed 2020 BBC series “Life”.

The unique tone to Paul’s scores is underpinned by his innovative approach to musical sound design, complementing his skills as a multi-instrumentalist, performing and recording on the majority of his scores from his South London studio. This was highlighted in 2019 with Paul releasing his debut album “Passage” on Decca imprint 1631 Recordings, and his work on ‘The Space Orchestra’ at Abbey Road in 2020, that led directly to his commission for Earth.

As a music graduate Paul cut his teeth working as assistant to the award winning composer llan Eshkeri (Still Alice, The Young Victoria, Stardust, Layer Cake) and production assistant to Grammy award winning producer Steve McLaughlin (About A Boy, Heat, Batman, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon). He went on to hone his craft working as arranger/programmer and additional composer on over 35 feature films including KICK-ASS (Matthew Vaughn), CORIOLANUS (Ralph Fiennes), BLACK SEA (Kevin Mcdonald), JOHNNY ENGLISH: REBORN (Rowan Atkinson), 47 RONIN (Keanu Reeves), and Aardman’s latest feature animation SHAUN THE SHEEP: THE MOVIE.

Earth: One Planet. Many Lives. will be available on all digital streaming platforms from 17^th July

About BBC Studios

BBC Studios, a global content company with bold British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group, supporting the licence fee and enhancing programmes for UK audiences. Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, its activities span content financing, development, production, sales, branded services, and ancillaries across both its own productions, and programmes and formats made by high-quality UK independents. Award-winning British programmes made by the business are internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear and Doctor Who. BBC.com, BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, provides up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features to more than 139 million unique browsers each month. BBC Studios has offices in over 20 markets globally, including ten production bases in the UK and production bases or partnerships in a further seven countries around the world. The company, which ordinarily makes around 2000 hours of content a year for both the BBC and third parties including Apple, Netflix and Migu, is a champion for British creativity around the world. It is also a committed partner for the UK’s independent sector through a mix of equity partnerships, content investment and international distribution for programme titles.