Coasts • 2022 • episode "S1E1" • Prehistoric Planet

29:14

This episode of the documentary series focuses on the new giants, the heavyweights of the dinosaur world. It is only in recent years that experts have unearthed the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived. One monster eclipsed all others; more than seven times as heavy as diplodocus was the immense argentinosaurus - a single backbone was bigger than a human. For years, these giants were considered immune to attack from any predator - until the discovery of mapusaurus, a new giant killer whose fate appeared to be inextricably linked to argentinosaurus.

S1E5 • Planet Dinosaur • 2011 • Nature

54:01

Discover how hotter weather impacts the animals, as the waterhole becomes busier in the evening cool. Nocturnal activity brings a new predator out of the shadows: hyena, creatures so elusive it’s hard to know the size of the clan.

S1E2 • Life at the Waterhole • 2021 • Nature

53:32

Watch as birds solve puzzles and challenge our basic notions of intelligence. Call somebody a “bird brain,” and you’re not delivering them a compliment. But as NOVA shows, birds turn out to have advanced problem-solving skills that we usually assume are unique to humans. Watch astonishing tests of avian aptitude: parrots that can plan for the future, jackdaws that can “read” human faces, and crows that can solve multi-step puzzles with tools like pebbles, sticks, and hooks. Could these just be clever tricks based on instinct or triggered by subtle cues from their human handlers? To rule out any doubts, NOVA puts feathered Einsteins through their paces and reveals skills that even three- or four-year-old children have a hard time mastering—such as putting off one reward now to get a bigger one later. From this revolution in thinking about our feathered friends, the conclusion seems irresistible that bird brains see the world in ways that aren’t so different from our own.

NOVA PBS • 2021 • Nature

48:01

Join us as we fly the skies of Zambia. Explore natural wonders, sacred places, and one of Africa's most pristine wildlife sanctuaries. We also delve into the nation's complex past and its transformation into a proudly independent African nation.

S1E6 • Aerial Africa • 2017 • Nature

57:59

The undercover cameras reveal how animals rely upon each other for a range of activities. Arctic wolves group together to survive in one of the harshest landscapes on earth, a band of hungry mongoose groom warthogs for tasty morsels - before turning their attention to Spy Warthog - and fish help clean hippos' bodies, as well as providing a unique dental service. Meanwhile, crocodiles and dikkop birds take part in a mutual neighbourhood watch against hungry prowling monitor lizards, and Spy Rattlesnake captures how prairie dogs and burrowing owls use their language skills to tell the rest of their community of approaching danger.

S1E3 • Spy in the Wild • 2017 • Nature

58:32

In this episode, Chris Packham tells the almost implausible story of how our world went from a barren rock with a sky of endless black, to the planet we know today, cloaked in the thin blue line of our life-sustaining atmosphere. When Earth first formed from clouds of dust and gas 4.6 billion years ago, it was - like so many other lifeless worlds in the universe - devoid of an atmosphere, an inhospitable rock floating in the black void of space. But as the young planet was pummelled by asteroids a period of extraordinary upheaval began. Over a two-billion-year period, the planet faced violent eruptions and a toxic orange haze, vast oceans of water in the sky and seas turning rusty red. Eventually, with the emergence of life and photosynthesis recalibrating the gases in our atmosphere, the stage was set for Earth to become the vibrant azure-skied planet we call home today.

S1E4 • Earth: One Planet, Many Lives • 2023 • Nature