As a rule, nature documentaries tend to be somewhat long-winded and boring. But “Planet Earth,” a new series being aired on the Discovery Channel this month, aims to captivate even the most apathetic viewers.

An 11-part series originally broadcast on the British Broadcasting Channel one year ago, “Planet Earth” is the first nature documentary to be completely filmed in high- definition format. The show is also celebrated for its innovative cinematography. It was nominated at the 2007 BAFTA TV awards for the Pioneer Audience Award for Best Programme.

Biology major Tony Uliano has been watching the show from the beginning. “I’ve always been into this kind of thing. I think every aspect of the show is well done,” he said.

Like many of us, not owning a high-def television means Uliano can’t fully appreciate all of the glowing, gritty details the show sports, but that doesn’t bother him. “The show is still more noticeably clear than just about anything else on TV,” he said.

Shot in 62 countries and 204 locations, the central theme in the “Planet Earth” series is to highlight the world’s grand biodiversity. Episodes take place from the Arctic poles to the jungles of South America to vast ocean habitats. In one episode, we are given time-lapse shots of a fungus growing on the floor of the rainforest that takes over the bodies of dead insects. In a later episode, in what’s probably the series’ most famous and disturbing sequence, a polar bear on the brink of starvation desperately takes on a heard of walrus and is fatally wounded.

“It’s pretty rare for something like this to spark interest in people,” film major Eric Edwards said.

Edwards will be the first to tell you that he never really was much of a nature enthusiast or a fan of this kind of filmmaking. “I never cared much about nature shows, but everything about this show is so well crafted and slick,” he said.

Edwards owns the DVD of the original BBC version of the documentary narrated by famous naturalist David Attenborough, while the Discovery Channel’s narration is voiced by Sigourney Weaver. The U.S. high-def and blu-ray versions of the series will be released April 24, directly after the last episode airs.

Another key theme in “Planet Earth,” albeit understated, is the threat humans pose to animals and their habitats, namely through global warming and poaching.

In the UK, three 60-minute films were released called “Planet Earth: The Future” to supplement the series itself. These films expound at length just what is in store for many animal species in the coming decades and the global effort it will take to preserve the natural world.