Planet Earth II controversy snowballs after BBC recycles avalanche footage from 2006

BBC bosses have been accused of fakery after it emerged producers of

recycled scenes of an avalanche used in the series 10 years ago.

The new episodes of the acclaimed nature programme returned to television screens at the start of November, with Sir David Attenborough narrating once again.

But one of the most impressive shots of a deluge of snow plummeting down a mountainside in Sunday night’s episode was later discovered to be footage used in the first series in 2006.

A BBC spokesperson said the decision to re-use footage was a cost-cutting exercise and ensured “value for money” for viewers.

“In Natural History programming, we sometimes augment our sequences with footage which was originally shot for other productions,” the spokesman said. “We are always conscious of the need to manage budgets on our projects carefully.

“Sharing or re-using footage is one of the ways we ensure the licence fee payer gets the best value for money, and enables us to use our budgets to maximise the amount of truly extraordinary, new animal behaviour and natural phenomena in our series.”

The scene following the avalanche sequence showed a family of grizzly ‘Sharing or re-using footage is one of the ways we ensure the licence fee payer gets the best value for money’ bears appearing to emerge from the snow before walking down the slope.

Mike Gunton, the BBC One show’s executive producer, said directors of the series had been careful not to link the story about the animals to the avalanche.

Mr Gunton told the “We don’t ever say that those bears are on the same slope as the avalanche that you just saw.

“We are saying – generically – that avalanches are a problem.”

However, the narration, by veteran broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, describes the bear’s situation by saying: “The debris from an avalanche is clear evidence this slope is still dangerously unstable.”

The same episode came under fire a few days ago after it emerged footage of a golden eagle flying over mountains was partly filmed using a captive bird.

The BBC said the scenes were filmed by a parachuting cameraman in the Alps, however some footage from the eagle’s perspective was filmed using a bird from a wildlife sanctuary.