Discovery Family Chanel to Present 'Downton Abbey'- Inspired Specials This June

Nature's greatest docu-soap returns to Discovery Family Channel this summer-told this time from a fresh point of view. Narrated by famed British actor Rupert Graves (The Madness of King George; Sherlock), Discovery Family Channel will air two specials based on MEERKAT MANOR, the critically acclaimed ANIMAL Planet tale of the Whiskers Mob that became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. Featuring entirely new narration inspired by ITV (UK) and PBS' smash-hit British period drama, packaged with reversioned footage from the series' first two seasons, MEERKAT MANOR: THE MONARCHY BEGINS and MEERKAT MANOR: THE MONARCHY UNDER ATTACK will air on subsequent Tuesdays beginning June 2 at 8 ET/7 CT.

"With an innovative, fast-paced movie-style format showcasing the 'best of' MEERKAT MANOR's first two seasons, Discovery Family Channel will attract a new generation of viewers to this timeless program," said Tom Cosgrove, general manager of Discovery Family Channel. "Re-told in the skew of today's iconic drama series, Downton Abbey, these specials present the manor's anthropomorphic social dynamic in a way the entire family will love."

Told in Graves' distinguished voice, MEERKAT MANOR: THE MONARCHY BEGINS and MEERKAT MANOR: THE MONARCHY UNDER ATTACK bring viewers back inside the "upstairs/downstairs" drama and intrigue of the manor. These highly social and emotionally complex creatures stand at just one foot tall and weighing in at two pounds-but don't let their small stature fool you. Meerkats are tough enough to kill a cobra and can thrive in one of Earth's hottest and driest locales, Southern Africa's Kalahari Desert. At the center of the manor and the Whiskers is feisty matriarch Lady Flower, who rules with an iron paw. Full of rich characters and uniquely relatable themes and storylines-including deception, intrigue, love and loyalty-these specials capture every facet of meerkat life told from an imaginative perspective.

MEERKAT MANOR: THE MONARCHY BEGINS and MEERKAT MANOR: THE MONARCHY UNDER ATTACK were produced for Discovery Family Channel by Brendan Goeckel and Liam Monschein. MEERKAT MANOR was originally produced by Oxford Scientific Films (OSF), for which Caroline Hawkins is the executive producer. For Discovery Family Channel, Sarah Davies is vice president of production and development, Tom Cosgrove is general manager, and Henry Schleiff is Group President.

About Discovery Family

The leading television destination for families in the United States, Discovery Family is the #1 co-viewed cable network[i] in 2015 to date. Available in nearly 70 million U.S. homes, Discovery Family is a joint venture of Discovery Communications and Hasbro, programmed with a clever mix of original series, programming from Discovery's non-fiction library and Hasbro Studios' popular animation franchises, including MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC, LITTLEST PET SHOP and TRANSFORMERS RESCUEBOTS.

The smart entertainment choice for families, Discovery Family attracts children and their parents with the highest-quality, real-world content that appeals to the entire family in the General Entertainment, Adventure and Animals genres at night and award-winning animation programming in Daytime.

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