Blue Planet III Start Time Tonight: 8pm on BBC One, 3 p.m. ET, Episode Guide and Dates

Blue Planet III starts tonight, Sunday 1 November 2026, at 8pm Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) One and BBC iPlayer, which is 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), also called Eastern Time (ET), according to the BBC One schedule. The first episode, “Tropical Seas”, fills a 60-minute slot from 8pm to 9pm. The BBC series page says Blue Planet III “begins Sunday 1 November on BBC One and iPlayer”.

The BBC has not announced a United States date or network on the pages we checked, so the US times below are the BBC One times converted. The episode dates are on our one-page printable further down.

What time Blue Planet III starts in the United Kingdom and US

The United Kingdom (UK) has been on GMT since 25 October, and the United States moved to standard time today, 1 November. The conversions are our calculation from the BBC One time.

Where	Sunday 1 November 2026
United Kingdom	8pm GMT
US Eastern	3 p.m. EST
US Central	2 p.m. standard time
US Mountain	1 p.m. standard time
US Pacific	noon standard time

The same conversions apply on Sunday 8 November, when episode 2 is listed at 8pm. Our Strictly Come Dancing story and Great British Bake Off schedule use the same GMT-to-Eastern conversion for other BBC shows.

Blue Planet III episode guide and air dates

The BBC episode guide says Series 1 has 6 episodes. It lists these showings so far. Times are UK time (GMT); the Eastern times are our calculation.

Date	Episode	UK time (GMT)	US Eastern (EST)	Channel
Sun. 1 Nov 2026	1 of 6, “Tropical Seas”	8pm to 9pm	3 p.m. to 4 p.m.	BBC One
Sun. 8 Nov 2026	1 of 6, repeat	4.15pm to 5.15pm	11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.	BBC One
Sun. 8 Nov 2026	2 of 6, “Open Ocean”	8pm to 9pm	3 p.m. to 4 p.m.	BBC One
Sun. 15 Nov 2026	2 of 6, repeat	2.50pm to 3.50pm	9:50 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.	BBC One
Mon. 16 Nov 2026	3 of 6, “Seasonal Seas”, marked (R)	7.30am	2:30 a.m.	BBC Two (England only)

Episodes 1 and 2 air on consecutive Sundays at 8pm. The first BBC One date for episode 3 is not yet listed on the BBC schedule. Titles and dates for episodes 4 to 6 are not yet listed. We do not guess them, so check the BBC episode guide for changes.

The BBC describes episode 2 as showing “how extraordinary animals thrive against the odds in the vast open ocean”. It describes episode 3 as showing “how seasonal seas push animals to be resourceful, adaptable and adventurous to survive”.

Free printable: the Blue Planet III episode tracker lists every showing above with UK and US Eastern times. Add the dates to a November 2026 printable calendar or a printable weekly calendar.

Where to watch Blue Planet III outside the UK

The BBC pages we checked do not announce a United States, Canada or Australia broadcast date or network. We do not give one. Until the BBC or a broadcaster confirms a date, the tonight time for readers abroad depends on whether you can use BBC iPlayer, which the BBC says carries the series alongside BBC One.

What the first episode, Tropical Seas, covers

The BBC says that in the tropical seas, “year-round sunshine has created the perfect conditions for the ocean’s richest habitats to flourish, but survival takes remarkable and surprising ingenuity”. Its page mentions a tawny nurse shark at the northern tip of Australia hunting in the shallows. The BBC schedule describes the hour as “a look at how survival in the tropical seas takes surprising ingenuity”.

The BBC series page describes the show as a documentary series narrated by David Attenborough, exploring the planet’s oceans. It says Attenborough reveals ocean life “more surprising, more intelligent and more precious than we ever realised”. The page also offers a song video, “Into the Deep” performed by Jade and Hans Zimmer, and a free poster from The Open University.

Blue Planet III dates the BBC has not listed yet

As of the BBC pages checked on 1 November 2026, not yet listed: the first BBC One date for episode 3, the titles and dates of episodes 4 to 6, and any United States, Canada or Australia date. The BBC schedule is the source for every time here.