Bob Geldof's ambitious TV and online project to record every human society will be made in hi-def for 2010.

The Dictionary of Man project will include a landmark eight-part TV series, called The Human Planet, which will be made in high definition, with camera crews travelling the world to record 900 ethnic groups.

The project will also feature a website that will have a that will use "every available medium" to create a  digital catalogue of all current human existence, including social networks to help people track and trace their roots.

Geldof said: "This will be an A-to-Z of mankind which will catalogue
the world we live in now, the people who share this planet, the way we
live and the way we adapt to face common and different challenges."

The TV series and website will launch together in 2010, and and the BBC said it would serve as a "definitive record of us - mankind - at the beginning of the 21st century".

The online project will not be funded by the BBC, although Geldof was typically dismissive of the fund-raising challenge: "Getting the money is a piece of piss. It is building the thing that is exciting."

Jana Bennett, the director of BBC Vision, said: "The Human Planet promises to be spectacular television.

"It will give us the chance to meet and understand the people who share our planet in a way we've never seen them before.

"In joining forces with Bob Geldof, we have one of the world's foremost humanitarians as an ally as we create a legacy for both current and future generations."

Of course, it remains to be seen whether Freeview homes will be able to watch it in high definition...