The early Series Editors benefited from a generous budget, courtesy of a co-production partnership with the US broadcaster WNET. The American channel was keen to commission material for its recently launched "Nature" strand on PBS. The first programme to benefit from the partnership was the 1982 mini-series "The Flight of the Condor". At the same time, researchers and field biologists were publishing many new discoveries about wildlife in scientific journals, providing the BBC with plentiful material for new programme ideas. As a result, the strand quickly expanded from 10 to 20 slots by 1985 and a number of special programmes were commissioned, helped by additional funding from BBC Enterprises (now BBC Worldwide). Among them were the award-winning mini-series "Kingdom of the Ice Bear" (1985) and "Vanishing Earth" (1986).