Natural History Veteran and Emmy-Winning Producer Martha Holmes Stepping Down From Day-to-Day Role at Plimsoll

Martha Holmes, the Emmy-winning natural history veteran, is stepping down from her role as chief creative officer of natural history and adventure at Plimsoll Productions, the ITV-owned company she helped launch over a decade ago.

Although Holmes will be stepping back from day-to-day activities at the Brit company, she will transition into a non-executive board position and will continue to serve as executive producer across key projects.

Holmes began her career at the BBC Natural History Unit, where she worked on seminal series like “Blue Planet” and “Life,” both narrated by Sir David Attenborough and honored with multiple Emmy and BAFTA awards.

Joining in 2013 to help launch Plimsoll, Holmes is credited with pioneered a new genre of natural-history storytelling, shaping a slate the company says helped define its global identity. Her most recent show, “A Real Bug’s Life” (Disney+/National Geographic), swept the 2024 Emmys with four wins and is Disney+’s most watched unscripted series. Her other credits include Emmy award winning “Super/Natural” (Disney+/National Geographic), the BAFTA-nominated “Tiny World” (Apple TV+), “Yellowstone” Live (National Geographic), “Animal” (Netflix), “Night on Earth” (Netflix), “Queer Planet” (Peacock) and “Hostile Planet” (National Geographic).

“What started as a few of us chasing big ideas has grown into a world-class team telling stories that matter,” said Holmes. “To do that with integrity, vision and creative freedom – that’s incredibly rare. I’m lucky to have been part of it.”

“What Martha has achieved, both creatively and culturally is both peerless and inspiring,” said Grant Mansfield, founder and CEO of Plimsoll. “A singular talent who is also an exceptional team leader, no one has contributed more to Plimsoll’s success and culture. I’m delighted the company will continue to benefit from Martha’s expertise and insights as she remains creatively engaged as an executive producer across forthcoming projects and begins, with immediate effect, a key new role as special advisor to the Board.”

Plimsoll recently premiered the hybrid wildlife and factual entertainment format “Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters” (ITV) and is in production across multiple series including “Nightmares of Nature” with Blumhouse Television, Surviving Pompeii with Tom Hiddleston (Disney+/National Geographic), Are You My First? (Hulu) among many more.