# Planet Earth II iguana chase

> BBC said 400 million had watched its iguana chase, which won a public-voted BAFTA.

- Owner: BBC Natural History Unit
- Kind: Moment
- Sector: Entertainment
- Seed date: 2016-11-06
- Peak date: Week of Nov 12, 2016
- Date basis: Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 52 (Notable), v1.2
- Mechanics: Remixable template, Creator relay, Platform jump, Press loop, Controversy

## Summary

An audience clip followed the BBC broadcast. Users added music and narration on Twitter and YouTube, and shared it on Reddit. Ellen DeGeneres reused it after the US election. The chase won a public-voted BAFTA; BBC later denied claims that the escape was faked.

## Timeline

- 2016-11-06 — BBC One (TV) — BBC One aired Islands, which included hatchling iguanas fleeing racer snakes.
- 2016-11-06 — @RobPulseNews (X) — Rob S posted the chase footage at 21:14:43 UTC after the broadcast.
- 2016-11-07 — E! News (Press) — E! News covered the chase and embedded Luke Johnston's audience repost.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/planet-earth-iguana

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Planet Earth II iguana chase.” Case HIS-00404. Spread Score v1.2: 52/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00404