Launching officially on 2 November at the Sealife Centre, London, the new product hit the newsstands the following day. 

A flagship new documentary series hosted by David Attenborough, Planet Earth II, is currently being broadcast on BBC One.

Retailing at £3.99, the magazine was published by London-based River Group and printed by Midlands-based Precision Colour Printing (PCP), which prints a number of River Group’s titles, including for Princess Cruises and the Co-operative.

River Group publisher Sharon Kirby said the magazine would be "packed full of unmissable photography and inspiring features across nature, science, people and space".

PCP printed the 73,000 initial run the weekend before the launch. Its sales director Richard Kibble said there were a couple of issues with web breaks on the text pages but “nothing too much out of the ordinary”. PCP has been granted a long-term contract to print BBC Earth.

The text pages were printed on PCP’s 10-colour Manroland Rotoman twin-web on 70gsm UPM Star Gloss and the cover was printed on its 10-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 102, on 170gsm Condat Gloss supplied by River Group. It was also UV varnished.

Kibble said: “We have been working with River for many years and doing various titles for it. Obviously it now has this partnership with BBC Worldwide and we are delighted to have that in the portfolio.

"The content and photography in this title are just fantastic and both have reproduced beautifully." 

He also said he was hopeful that strong sales would see an increase in the print run going forward. 

Repro was carried out by long-time River collaborator Zebra, a London-based prepress specialist.

Last year, PCP invested in a new Kolbus binding line, which more than doubled its perfect binding capacity.