Latest Documentaries
See how designers and innovators around the world are tackling issues of urban poverty with determination and ingenuity.
1/4 • Design with the Other 90 Percent • 2011 • Design
In 1969, 500,000 people descended on a small field in a little-known town in upstate New York called Woodstock. The documentary that captured the iconic event, chronicled in unflinching detail this moment in history. But how was this groundbreaking film actually made?
2019 • Music
For all of human history, the Sun, our home star, has measured our days and our seasons while fueling all life on Earth. Yet it remains an enigma. NASA's Parker Probe Plus is on a mission to change that -- flying through dangerous radiation to become the closest spaceship to orbit our Sun.
Breakthrough • 2019 • Astronomy
Embark on an epic journey of Hope. The legend is as massive and multifaceted as the gem itself, spanning one billion years, three continents and leaving a trail of intrigue, envy and death. We uncover the science and secrets of history's most famous jewel by visiting different countries and getting expert opinions from forensic scientists and history scholars.
2010 • People
Time makes sense in small pieces, but when you look at huge stretches of time, it's almost impossible to wrap your head around things.
In a Nutshell • 2018 • History
Recommended Documentaries
Astronaut Mike Massimino leads a journey to Jupiter where he investigates the planet's deepest mysteries and tries to discover if its origins make it the sun's secret twin.
S1E1 • The Planets (US) • 2017 • Astronomy
In 2014, the International Space Station had to move three times to avoid lethal chunks of space debris and there is an increasing problem of satellites mysteriously breaking down. With first-hand accounts from astronauts and experts, Horizon reveals the scale of the problem of space junk. Our planet is surrounded by hundreds of millions of pieces of junk moving at 17,000 miles per hour. Now the US government is investing a billion dollars to track them, and companies around the world are developing ways to clear up their mess - from robot arms to nets and harpoons. Horizon investigates the science behind the hit film Gravity and discovers the reality is far more worrying than the Hollywood fiction.
Examine the fragile interdependence that exists between forests' wide variety of residents, including bald eagles, hunting dogs and Siberian tigers.
8/8 • Our Planet • 2019 • Nature
Nature Documentaries
After the Permian period, the epic saga of evolution and extinction on Earth produced the world's first dinosaurs, plesiosaurs and pterosaurs. They dominated land, sea and air until another period of extreme volcanism generated vast waves of lava and toxic gas and killed roughly 75% of all species.
2/3 • Ancient Earth • 2017 • Nature
A look at what would dare take on the ocean's deadliest predator, why a spider lights up like a Christmas tree, and why a wild animal begins to deliver unwanted newspapers like a paperboy.
S1E1 • Nature's Strangest Mysteries: Solved • 2019 • Nature
This documentary focuses specifically on insects. Giving you an unbelieveably up close and intimate view of the many unique secrets of the bug world. Answering scientific questions on how and why they have evolved certain bizarre adaptations, whilst using stunning imagery never seen before.
2018 • Nature
For the animals of the Okavango Delta, life itself depends on a fortuitous natural anomaly: a river that cuts through the mighty Kalahari Desert. Embark on a tour of this accidental paradise, where a colorful ecosystem of plants, animals, and birds flourish in the unexpected abundance.
2/8 • Waterworld Africa • 2017 • Nature
Armed with the latest global scientific research, Chris Packham and Liz Bonnin battle it out to find the definitive answer to the burning question - which are best, cats or dogs? Part 1: The animals go head to head in a series of rounds testing different aspects, beginning in this edition with intelligence, sensory powers and physical prowess. On the search for answers, dog-lover Chris comes face to face with a pack of wolves, while feline fan Liz confronts an Arabian wild cat to discover how the relationship humans and their pets have evolved.
Part 1/2 • Cats v Dogs: Which is Best? • 2016 • Nature
The world's deserts force animals to come up with ingenious ways of coping with hostile conditions, giving rise to the most incredible survival stories on earth.
4/6 • Planet Earth II • 2016 • Nature
Math Documentaries
Documentary which takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power thay have to change our understanding of the world, presented by superstar boffin Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend. Rosling is a man who revels in the glorious nerdiness of statistics, and here he entertainingly explores their history, how they work mathematically and how they can be used in today's computer age to see the world as it really is, not just as we imagine it to be.
2010 • Math
One hundred green-eyed logicians have been imprisoned on an island by a mad dictator. Their only hope for freedom lies in the answer to one famously difficult logic puzzle. Can you solve it? Alex Gendler walks us through this green-eyed riddle.
Professor Jim Al-Khalili shows how chaos theory can answer a question that mankind has asked for millennia - how does a universe that starts off as dust end up with intelligent life? It's a mindbending, counterintuitive and for many people a troubling idea.
The new "Brady Sequence" demonstrates why Fibonacci Numbers are not so special.
We are bad at making decisions. According to science, our decisions are based on oversimplification, laziness and prejudice. And that's assuming that we haven't already been hijacked by our surroundings or led astray by our subconscious! Featuring exclusive footage of experiments that show how our choices can be confounded by temperature, warped by post-rationalisation and even manipulated by the future, Horizon presents a guide to better decision making, and introduces you to Mathematician Garth Sundem, who is convinced that conclusions can best be reached using simple maths and a pencil!
Stuff happens. The weather forecast says it’s sunny, but you just got drenched. You got a flu shot—but you’re sick in bed with the flu. Your best friend from Boston met your other best friend from San Francisco. Coincidentally. What are the odds? Risk, probability, chance, coincidence—they play a significant role in the way we make decisions about health, education, relationships, and money. But where does this data come from and what does it really mean?
World Science Festival • 2015 • Math
Randoms! Documentaries
A fresh perspective on autism research with the developing "Bacterial Theory" of autism. The fastest-growing developmental disorder in the industrialized world, autism has increased an astounding 600 per cent over the last 20 years. Science cannot say why. Some say it's triggered by environmental factors and point to another intriguing statistic: 70 per cent of kids with autism also have severe gastrointestinal symptoms. Could autism actually begin in the gut? The Autism Enigma looks at the progress of an international group of scientists who are studying the gut's amazingly diverse and powerful microbial ecosystem for clues to the baffling disorder.
S51E08 • The Nature of Things • 2011 • Health
Chris Packham looks at the annual miracle of the temperate forest.
3/4 • Secrets of Our Living Planet • 2012 • Nature
In 814 BC, the exiled Phoenician queen Dido founds the city of Carthage on the African Coast. The city develops and takes the lead of a maritime empire based on trade. Carthage dominates the Western Mediterranean. But in the third century BC, she finds herself opposed to the Roman Republic.
S3E10 • Butterfly Effect • 2018 • History
Elvis Presley paid $4 to record two songs for his mother and the rest, as they say, is history. But without Elvis, would rock and roll have gone the same route? And how have the many iterations of rock and roll developed and changed our taste and culture since the 1950's?
S1E12 • Butterfly Effect • 2016 • History
Mankind has always looked at nature to solve problems, taking a cue from the solutions that biological systems have refined through natural selection. In this episode we look at a robotic plant that mimics the mechanics of plant roots, and dive underwater to see robots inspired by fish.
2/6 • The Age of Robots • 2016 • Technology
The robot revolution is here. It may seem like robots aren’t all that prevalent, but many people already have robot floor cleaners in their homes. Think Roomba. Most factories now leverage countless bots that never get tired or make mistakes. Soon, cars will be completely auto controlled. CGP Grey discusses the future of robots, and how jobs and the economy will change in this new video. What happens to the economy when most traditional jobs have been replaced by robots?