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The next programme deals with flying insects. It begins in Central Europe, where the Körös River plays host to millions of giant mayflies as they rise from their larval skins to mate. — the climax of their lives. Mayflies and dragonflies were among the first to take to the air about 320 million years ago, and fossils reveal that some were similar in size to a seagull. Damselflies are also looked at in detail.
Part 2 • Life in the Undergrowth • 2005 • Nature
In Snowball, Chris Packham tells the story of the astonishing moment in Earth’s distant past, when almost the entire planet froze – a glistening ‘Snowball Earth’ in the dark void of space. With ice wrapped around the planet to the equator, the chances of life surviving hang in the balance. Earth’s terrifying journey into the deep freeze started with fire, not ice. 800 million years ago, long before the age of the dinosaurs, before there was even animal life, the giant supercontinent Rodinia broke up. Earth’s vast powerful tectonic forces ripped the land apart, kicking off a series of events that resulted in huge amounts of carbon dioxide being sucked from the atmosphere and sending global temperatures plummeting. This plunge into the deep freeze couldn’t have come at a worse time. The very first forms of complex life - the ancestors to the amazing life we see around us today - were evolving but, as the planet froze to the equator, it looked like their days were numbered. Happily, Chris discovers that after 50 million years locked in ice, volcanic eruptions drove a great thaw. Life broke free from the ice and soon made a giant leap, from the microscopic, to the first animals big enough to see and touch.
S1E2 • Earth: One Planet, Many Lives • 2023 • Nature
The frozen poles are home to the planet's ultimate survivalists, including polar bears, penguins and Arctic wolves; their world is changing fast -- breaking apart under their feet -- and their resilience will be tested beyond the extreme.
S1E6 • Hostile Planet • 2019 • Nature
Asia - the most varied and extreme continent - stretching from the Arctic Circle to the equator. Walrus gather in huge numbers in the frozen north and brown bears roam remote Russian volcanoes. This is a world of the rarely seen, from yeti-like monkeys in the mountain forests of China to the most bizarre predator in the baking deserts of Iran. Asia is the largest of all continents but it seems there’s not enough space for wildlife. The deep jungles provide sanctuary for the last few Sumatran rhino.
S1E2 • Seven Worlds, One Planet • 2019 • Nature
In Madagascar, the travellers encounter the biggest and the smallest lemurs on earth. But they are searching for the aye-aye, a peculiar lemur which, according to local legend, brings death to those who encounter it.
S1E3 • Last Chance to See • 2009 • Nature
As summer spreads across our solar-powered planet, honey bees toil, snow geese breed, tadpoles awaken and lions stalk wildebeest in search of lush grass.
S2E2 • Our Planet • 2023 • Nature