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David Harewood narrates a documentary exploring three of the most exotic and remote islands on the planet, beginning with the unique and extraordinary wildlife of Madagascar. As the oldest island on Earth, life has had time to evolve and there are now more unique plants and animals on Madagascar than any other, with footage of ring-tailed lemurs, labord's chameleons and Decken's sifakas.
S1E1 • Earth's Tropical Islands • 2019 • Nature
In the frozen wilderness of Antarctica, where oceans ice over and just staying alive is an achievement, one creature has perfected the art of survival - the emperor penguin. Eons of evolution have built an animal superbly adapted to the howling gales and sub-zero temperatures, but the emperor may have finally met its match. Parts of Antarctica are warming, giving birth to huge icebergs, and the consequences could be catastrophic for this majestic animal. In a place where all life is touched by the ice, it is a dramatic shift. Explore this region from its inhabitant's perspective, using state-of-the-art technology. By better understanding these amazing animals, researchers can help prepare for their future, as the balance of life in the Antarctic continues to change.
2006 • Nature
David Attenborough introduces the colourful underwater world of Britain and Ireland's oceans, including thousands of grey seals congregating on the Norfolk shoreline to give birth. Rich beds of sea grass act as important carbon storage areas, as well as providing home for seahorses, while on the shallow seabed, the spider crab undergoes a mass migration of epic scale.
S1E5 • Wild Isles • 2023 • Nature
How much do you know about animal superpowers? Follow the everyday lives of prairie dogs, howler monkeys, and rattlesnakes, as they harness the power of sound to protect themselves.
2019 • Nature
Investigates remote islands and their inhabitants. Some islands are tips of volcanoes; others are coral atolls. Those that colonise them transform into new species with comparative speed.
10/12 • The Living Planet • 1984 • Nature
For the animals in the polar regions, autumn means dramatic battles and epic journeys. Time is running out - the Arctic Ocean is freezing over and the sea ice is advancing at 2.5 miles per day around Antarctica. Polar bears gather in large numbers on the Arctic coast as they wait for the return of the ice. Soon, tempers fray and violent sparring contests break out. Meanwhile 2,000 beluga whales head for one special estuary, a gigantic 'whale spa' where they will thrash their snow-white bodies against the gravel and exfoliate. Inland, the tundra undergoes a dramatic transformation from green to fiery red. Here, musk ox males slam head-first into each other with the force of a 30mph car crash as they struggle to defend their harems. Frisky young caribou males play a game of 'grandma's footsteps' as they try to steal the boss's female. Down in Antarctica, Adelie penguin chicks huddle together in creches. When a parent returns from fishing, it leads its twins on a comical steeplechase - sadly there's only enough for one, so the winner gets the meal. Two months later and the chicks are fully feathered apart from downy Mohican hairdos - they're ready to take their first swim - reluctantly though, as it seems penguins are not born with a love of water! And with good reason - a leopard seal explodes from the sea and pulls one from an ice floe, a hunting manoeuvre that has never been filmed before. As winter approaches and everyone has left, the giant emperor penguin arrives and makes an epic trek inland to breed. The mothers soon return to the sea leaving the fathers to hold the eggs and endure the coldest winter on earth.
S1E4 • Frozen Planet • 2011 • Nature