Eden (TV channel)


Eden is a British pay television channel broadcasting factual content in the United Kingdom and Ireland as part of the UKTV network of channels. The channel originally launched on 8 March 2004 and relaunched in its current format on 27 January 2009.

History

The channel launched on 8 March 2004 as UKTV Documentary, showing factual documentaries, mainly from the BBC archives, on a variety of subjects if not covered by another channel in the UKTV network, such as Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man. Much of this programming had come from the former UKTV channel UK Horizons, which had closed down the day before and which the channel, along with UKTV People, replaced. UKTV Documentary occupied the same broadcasting slot as UK Horizons.
On 9 October 2008, UKTV announced plans to rebrand UKTV Documentary and UKTV People in early 2009. The news came just two days after UKTV's entertainment channels were rebranded to Watch, Gold and Alibi. They announced that UKTV Documentary would be rebranded as Eden and this rebrand took place on 26 January 2009. As part of the rebrand, the channels programming output changed from all documentaries to primarily documentaries focusing on the natural environment. All other documentaries were transferred to UKTV History or UKTV People, depending on their subject matter.

Subsidiary channels

Eden +1

From launch, the channel has had a timeshift service, called Eden +1 and UKTV Documentary +1 before it. The service ran on Sky and Virgin Media and broadcast the channels schedule one hour later than usual. The timeshift was removed from Virgin Media in October 2008 to allow bandwidth for new channel Watch, however the time shift service was restored on 7 October 2011.

Eden HD

Eden HD launched on 4 October 2010 on Sky channel 559, running a high-definition simulcast of the main channel. As part of Virgin Media's deal to sell its share of UKTV, all five of UKTV's HD channels were added to Virgin's cable television service by 2012. Eden HD was added to Virgin Media on 7 October 2011. On 3 October 2016, Eden HD was added to BT. On 2 October 2017, Eden HD was removed from the Sky lineup and replaced with Gold HD.

On-air identity

The UKTV Documentary identity focused around scenes from the landscape of Britain. The ident would first feature a close up shot, for example of a person or a stone, before pulling back to reveal the bigger picture: such as a busy rail station or a stone circle. This was then overlaid with the UKTV Documentary logo, consisting of the UKTV logo on top, and an upper case 'DOCUMENTARY' tag below, aligned to the left of the screen. Alongside the idents, the channel had a Digital on-screen graphic of the same design and also featured a generic UKTV design for all promotions for the channel. The channels house colour was a blue, similar in shade to Azure, and would feature in numerous changing shades on the end boards of promotions.
The current Eden identity features explorers in an unknown environment, such as the deep jungle or the Antarctic, before coming across a landscape, which the logo then forms onto.

Programming

The programming used on the channel is mostly from the BBC archives, and are therefore edited to fit the time slot: an original broadcast for an hour-long programme on the BBC might be as much as 58 minutes long, while the same programme here might be 42 minutes long without the commercials. Eden is renowned for showing blue-chip natural history but has more recently moved into more scientific programmes while keeping the blue-chip, cinematic identity. Eden has also produced its own exclusive programming, with the most recent series David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities, produced by Humble Bee Films, broadcasting from January 2013.
Name of showOriginal channelOriginal run
10 Things You Didn't Know About...BBC Four2007-2008
AfricaBBC One2013
An African Journey with Jonathan DimblebyBBC Two2010
Animal ArmageddonAnimal Planet 2009
Amazing PlanetNational Geographic Channel 2007
AmazonBBC Two2008
Arctic with Bruce ParryBBC Two2011
Are We Changing Planet Earth?BBC One2006
Ask AttenboroughEden2011
Attenborough and the Giant EggBBC Two2011
Attenborough's Paradise BirdsBBC Two2015
Australia: The Time Travellers GuideABC1 2012
The Ballad of Big AlBBC One2000
BBC Wildlife SpecialsBBC One1995–present
The Bear Family & MeBBC Two2011
Bahama BlueAnimal Planet2015
Bang Goes the TheoryBBC One2009–2014
Biggest and Baddest with Niall McCannAnimal Planet2012-2014
Blood and Guts: A History of SurgeryBBC Four2008
The Blue PlanetBBC One2001
The Brain: A Secret HistoryBBC Four2011
Charles Darwin and the Tree of LifeBBC One2009
Chased by DinosaursBBC One2002
The CodeBBC Two2011
David Attenborough's Natural CuriositiesEden
W
2013–present
Deadly 60CBBC2009-2012
Death of a Sea MonsterNational Geographic Channel 2011
Deserts and LifeEden2012
Dino StampedeBBC Two2011
Do We Really Need the Moon?BBC Two2011
EarthflightBBC One2011-2012
'BBC Two2007
Eden Shorts: From Lens to ScreenEden2015
EquatorBBC Two2006
Expedition BorneoBBC One2007
Favourite Attenborough MomentsUKTV Documentary2006
First LifeBBC Two2010
Forecasting the EndThe Weather Channel2013
Frozen PlanetBBC One2011
GalápagosBBC Two2006
GangesBBC Two2007
Great Barrier ReefBBC Two2012
'BBC Two2010
Hainan Adventure with Nigel MarvenEden2012
Himalaya with Michael PalinBBC One2004
HorizonBBC Two1964–present
How to Grow a PlanetBBC Two2012
Human PlanetBBC One2011
'ABC1 2008
The Incredible Human JourneyBBC Two2009
Inside Nature's GiantsChannel 42009–present
Inside the Human BodyBBC One2011
James May's Things You Need To KnowBBC Two2011–present
Killer Whale Islands with Nigel MarvenChannel 52007
Killer Whales: Beneath the SurfaceBBC Two2013
Last Chance to SeeBBC Two2009
Life in Cold BloodBBC One2008
Life in the FreezerBBC One1993
Life in the UndergrowthBBC One2005
The Life of BirdsBBC One1998
The Life of MammalsBBC One2002–2003
Life on EarthBBC Two1979
Life on FireArte 2009-2010
LifeBBC One2009
Lion CountryITV2010–2011
The Living PlanetBBC One1984
Lost Land of the JaguarBBC One2008
Lost Land of the TigerBBC One2010
Lost Land of the VolcanoBBC One2009
MadagascarBBC Two2011
Monsters We MetBBC Two2004
Monster Bug WarsScience 2011–2012
Mountain GorillaBBC Two2010
Museum of LifeBBC Two2010
Natural WorldBBC Two1967–present
Nature's Great EventsBBC One2009
NaturePBS 1982–present
Nigel Marven's Rhino AdventureChannel 52006
NovaPBS 1974–present
OceansBBC Two2008
Ocean GiantsBBC Two2011
On Thin IceBBC Two2009
Orbit: Earth's Extraordinary JourneyBBC Two2012
Origins of UsBBC Two2011
Planet DinosaurBBC One2011
Planet EarthBBC One2006
The Polar Bear Family & MeBBC Two2013
The Private Life of PlantsBBC One1995
Ray Mears' BushcraftBBC Two2004-2005
Ray Mears Goes WalkaboutBBC Two2008
Ray Mears' Northern WildernessBBC Two2009
Reconstructing T-RexNational Geographic Channel 2010
Richard Hammond's Invisible WorldsBBC One2010
Sea MonstersBBC One2003
The Secrets of EverythingBBC Three2012
South PacificBBC Two2009
'BBC Two2010
Super Giant AnimalsBBC One2013
Swarm: Nature's Incredible InvasionsBBC One2009
Ten Deadliest Snakes: ChinaAnimal Planet
Eden
2013
Ten Deadliest Snakes with Nigel MarvenAnimal Planet
Eden
2014-2015
Termites - The Inner SanctumORF 2011
Through Hell and High WaterBBC One
BBC Two
2006
The Trials of LifeBBC One1990
Tribal WivesBBC Two2008-2010
TribeBBC Two2005-2007
Tropic of CancerBBC Two2010
'BBC One2009
Voyage of the ContinentsArte 2012
Walking with BeastsBBC One2001
Walking with DinosaursBBC One1999
Walking with MonstersBBC One2005
Whale Adventure with Nigel MarvenChannel 5
Eden
2013
Wild ArabiaBBC Two2013
Wild BrazilBBC Two2014
Wild Britain with Ray MearsITV
Eden
2010–present
Wild CanadaCBC 2014
Wild CaribbeanBBC Two2007
Wild ChinaBBC Two2008
Wild Colombia with Nigel MarvenEden2012
Wild Down UnderBBC Two2003
Wonders of the Solar SystemBBC Two2010
Wonders of the UniverseBBC Two2011
YellowstoneBBC Two2009
Yunnan Adventure with Nigel MarvenEden'''2012