Planet Earth II has been nothing short of breathtaking, drawing huge audiences and pleasingly luring a lot of younger viewers away from The X Factor.

Sadly, the series will come to an end on Sunday, with an unprecedented city-based episode, but what are the chances of a Planet Earth III?

Show producer Mike Gunston told the Guardian it would be “crazy to count out" making new instalments in future, but don’t expect them anytime soon - there was a gap of 10 years between I and II.

He didn’t want to make assumptions about the future though, and cautioned: “We would also be crazy to say it will be here in three years’ time or even five years’ time.”

Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Show all 18 1 /18 Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills BBC Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills Planet Earth II: 18 beautiful stills

Gunston explained that 10 years felt like “the right length of time to revisit the original conceit”, so perhaps we’ll have to wait another decade - it would at the very least be 5 years, given how long the show takes to shoot.

He also attributed some of the new series’ success to it counterbalancing the bleakness of 2016.

“The stars have obviously aligned in a very unusual way,” he said.

“Obviously I would like to hope it’s the quality of the programmes, but I also think this is a kind of moment.