Elephant • 2022 • episode "S2E2" • Dynasties

57:07

The first programme of Darwin's Dangerous Idea explores the impact of Darwin’s ideas on religion and morality. Andrew Marr discovers that an important part of the Beagle’s mission was to return three natives to their homeland, Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost tip of Argentina. Years before he reached the Galapagos, they raised questions in his mind about the fragility of civilisation and what it really means to be human. Marr explores how Darwin developed his ideas when he returned to Britain and finally unleashed his theory of evolution by natural selection on the world. Darwin’s ideas are taken up by many of the major thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. We discover that his ideas helped motivate the Kaiser’s army in the First World War and would also help convince the United States government to drop its isolationist policy and enter the conflict. In the 20th century, we discover a growing backlash against Darwin’s ideas among fundamentalists from the world’s major religions. At the same time science has been showing that Darwin’s theory of natural selection holds sway over our behaviour - including our morality - as much as it does over the evolution of our bodies. There is significant scientific evidence that suggests that Darwin has returned humanity to nature, in all its wonder, its glory and its danger.

S1E1 • Darwin's Dangerous Idea • 2009 • Nature

85:56

Tells the story of human/wildlife conflict in the Western Corridor of the Serengeti, Africa. Human-wildlife conflict is a global issue that has reached crisis levels, threatening the survival of both humans and wild animals. There are communities living alongside wildlife in some of the last remaining wilderness areas on earth. But these wilderness areas have started to disappear due to expanding human development, deforestation and depletion of natural resources, which has left humans and wildlife living in closer proximity than ever before. The situation is dire and if it isn't addressed urgently, it will have a catastrophic effect on the environment and on the communities that live alongside these wild animals. Seen through the eyes of the people who live in the Serengeti, and the daily challenges they face as they struggle to co-exist with Africa's Wildlife.

2020 • Nature

58:55

Chris reveals some of the cleverest animal communicators on the planet. For decades, people have longed to emulate Dr Doolittle and be able to understand what animals are communicating to one another. But their methods often go far beyond the capabilities of our human senses. Now, thanks to dedicated researchers, new science and cutting-edge technology, we're being given a glimpse into the ingenious ways that animals get their message across - that dolphins have individual names for each other, that cuttlefish use covert signals, and that humans can understand apes without even realising it.

S1E2 • Chris Packham's Animal Einsteins • 2021 • Nature

48:03

A six-week-old lion cub gets separated from his pride and has to face the nighttime terrors of the African bush. Cub-hungry predators, dehydration, and rival lions instinctively primed to kill are just some of the threats ahead. Can this intrepid little misfit find his way back to safety, or will the harsh rules of the wild prevail?

S1E4 • Africa's Hunters • 2015 • Nature

58:31

Remote islands offer sanctuary for some of the planet's strangest and rarest creatures. The rare pygmy three-toed sloth enjoys a peaceful existence on an idyllic Caribbean island, while nesting albatross thrive in predator-free isolation. But island life always comes at a cost. On the Galapagos Islands, young marine iguana must escape an onslaught of deadly racer snakes the moment they hatch from the sand. On the sub-Antarctic island of Zavodovski, life gets more extreme still. Every day, one and a half million penguins risk being battered against the rocks by fierce waves as they try to get on and off the island.

S1E1 • Planet Earth II • 2016 • Nature

57:52

How do polar predators face the challenges of hunting in the most seasonal place on Earth?

S1E2 • The Hunt • 2015 • Nature