I have been trying to research which verision I should buy. I know they both have different narrations and different total number of discs. I have read on EBAY (whatever that is worth), that the BBC David Attenbourough 5 disc version is best.

After checking out the HD DVD forum it seems that the BBC (David as narrator) is voted best:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940553&highlight=planet+earth

Please feel free to post any other thoughts or comments as people that will do a search only in the Blu Ray section may find it helpful.

I remember looking into this a while back and found the BBC version was the best. I don't remember specifics though. I think it has more footage and it's better quality as well.

+1 on BBC version. (I have it in the red case)

I got the US version for $35 before Xmas and though it was a steal. Two days later, a buddy of mine found the BBC version on Amazon.com.UK for the same price. I haven't been able to compare the difference between the two to see if there are any real differences besides the narration. Though I have no issue with the Sigourney Weaver narration, I really wish I had the Attenborough narration. The wife and I have watched so many wonderful nature shows that he has been involved in creating and narrating that his voice just is the voice of nature documentaries to me.

Still, it's just such a great-looking series that I can't see how you'd go wrong with either version.

The Discovery version (which I have) is 1080i; the BBC one is 1080p, if that makes a difference to you.

The BBC version by far. There is also a version of Blue Planet that was reedited for Discovery and I almost vomited from the terrible job they do of its presentation, even if most or all the core footage is them same.

FWIW I find most Discovery videos not worth owning. The BBC is done with a pure esthetic in mind, while Discovery manifest a marketing focus.

I, too, have the BBC version, and it's phenomenal. Never compared it to another version, but I've never had need to.

BBC version.

Does anyone know if the actual video encode is different, or just a different audio track?

+1 on BBC version. (I have it in the red case)

+2 the BBC version is more than just a new narrator, there seems (at least from what I remember when I watched it on TV) to be more content and less animals cheating fate if you know what I mean

This topic has come up before. Please use "earth" in advance search, title search only. If you aren't getting the exact answer you seek, bump as existing thread or one of the large master discussion threads (which it has been debated within ).