Mountains of Fire and Ice • 2020 • episode "S1E3" • Mysterious Planet

58:17

In the final programme in the series, Brian explores the enigma of time - a phenomenon we take for granted but which is one of the biggest mysteries in the universe. He recalls highlights from his TV series that touch upon this conundrum.

S1E4 • Brian Cox's Adventures in Space and Time • 2021 • Nature

28:59

Almost all life in the region breeds in summer. A growing colony of fur seals on a beach in South Georgia resembles that of elephant seals shown in the previous episode. The pups grow fast on the rich, fatty milk provided by their mothers and double their weight in just sixty days. As the females become sexually available, the mating season begins and males try to claim territory and mate with females. Like elephant seals, fur seals fiercely attack all competitors.

S1E3 • Life in the Freezer • 2003 • Nature

58:16

This special (9th) episode brings together highlights from the series, from hidden forests and turbulent coasts to vast, unexplored deserts.

S1E9 • Planet Earth III • 2023 • Nature

44:00

In the Kalahari Desert, lions grow to be the size of grizzly bears--and they have appetites to match. These big cats need big prey to survive, but hunting giants isn't easy, even for the king of beasts. Follow the unique pride that rules over this desert empire during the worst drought in decades and see how they strategize and use their might to dominate their prey. Dry season is usually a windfall for lions, but this year, it will push these apex predators to the brink.

2017 • Nature

58:05

David Attenborough journeys to both Polar Regions to investigate what rising temperatures will mean for the people and wildlife that live there and for the rest of the planet. David starts out at the North Pole, standing on sea ice several metres thick, but which scientists predict could be Open Ocean within the next few decades. The Arctic has been warming at twice the global average, so David heads out with a Norwegian team to see what this means for polar bears. He comes face-to-face with a tranquilised female, and discovers that mothers and cubs are going hungry as the sea ice on which they hunt disappears. In Canada, Inuit hunters have seen with their own eyes what scientists have seen from space; the Arctic Ocean has lost 30% of its summer ice cover over the last 30 years. For some, the melting sea ice will allow access to trillions of dollars worth of oil, gas and minerals. For the rest of us, it means the planet will get warmer, as sea ice is important to reflect back the sun's energy. Next David travels to see what's happening to the ice on land: in Greenland, we follow intrepid ice scientists as they study giant waterfalls of meltwater, which are accelerating iceberg calving events, and ultimately leading to a rise in global sea level. Temperatures have also risen in the Antarctic - David returns to glaciers photographed by the Shackleton expedition and reveals a dramatic retreat over the past century. It's not just the ice that is changing - ice-loving adelie penguins are disappearing, and more temperate gentoo penguins are moving in. Finally, we see the first ever images of the largest recent natural event on our planet - the break up of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, an ice sheet the size of Jamaica, which shattered into hundreds of icebergs in 2009.

S1E7 • Frozen Planet • 2011 • Nature

54:21

This programme surveys mammal herbivores and their predators. The herbivores began to populate the forests when the dinosaurs disappeared, and many took to gathering food at night. To prepare for winter, some store it in vast quantities, some hibernate and others make do as best they can. However, the carnivores joined them, and when a drying climate triggered the spread of grass, they followed their prey out on to the plains. Grass is not easily digestible and most animals that eat it have to regurgitate it and chew the cud. Out in the open, the leaf-eaters had to develop means of protection.

11/13 • Life on Earth • 1979 • Nature