Friends and Rivals - Trials of Life - watch free online documentaries

Category: Nature

48:46

Arriving

An examination of the diverse techniques employed by animals to disperse and protect offspring.

1990 • Nature

48:38

Growing Up

For animals, there is no greater challenge than surviving the vulnerable first years of life. This episode demonstrates that nature's solutions are as varied as those in human society.

1990 • Nature

49:28

Finding Food

The search for food in the animal world. With leaves defended by poisons and seeds clad in thorns, animals fight back in very innovative ways.

1990 • Nature

49:16

Hunting and Escaping

Life-and-death duels are fought daily in the wild: an orchid turns out to be a predator, killer whales ambush sea lions and chimps pursue colobus monkeys.

1990 • Nature

48:27

Finding the Way

How animals ranging from albatrosses to ants can navigate themselves over long distances.

1990 • Nature

49:22

Home Making

How all animal architects aim to keep both the elements and intruders at bay through features that include defensive moats.

1990 • Nature

49:13

Living Together

Examining some of the weird relationships that develop between species, from birds that relieve clients of hangers-on to hermit crabs that enlist stinging anemones to repel octopuses.

1990 • Nature

49:00

Fighting

How many animals - including zebras, moose and stalk-eyes flies - assess their opponents' fighting prowess before making an attack that risks injury or death.

1990 • Nature

47:45

Friends and Rivals

From vampire bats to baboons, Sir David Attenborough investigates the importance of recognising friends and respecting the power of rivals throughout the animal kingdom.

1990 • Nature

49:25

Talking to Strangers

From the love songs of fish to the flashes of millions of tiny beetles, Sir David Attenborough examines methods of communication used by animals.

1990 • Nature

48:57

Courting

This edition looks at the various methods employed by species to attract a mate, including whales that sing "songs", hamsters that emit an odour, and manakins that do acrobatic dances.

1990 • Nature

49:16

Continuing the Line

A look at the many and varied ways in which animals procreate in order to ensure that their genes are passed on to the next generation.

1990 • Nature

49:27

Once More into the Termite Mound

The inside of a termite mound proved especially challenging for Attenborough: it was so cramped that he could only face in one direction. He therefore had to slowly crawl backwards out of shot when performing re-takes.

1990 • Nature

58:17

Autumn

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

50:17

First Blood

Leopard prince Neo’s life hangs in the balance when his mother is seriously injured.

S2E2 • Savage Kingdom • 2017 • Nature

48:33

Seasonal Seas

David Attenborough narrates a natural history of the oceans, exploring the richest waters on Earth, where the annual cycle of the sun drives an explosion of life.

S1E5 • Blue Planet I • 2001 • Nature

48:27

Finding the Way

How animals ranging from albatrosses to ants can navigate themselves over long distances.

5/12 • Trials of Life • 1990 • Nature

49:28

Finding Food

The search for food in the animal world. With leaves defended by poisons and seeds clad in thorns, animals fight back in very innovative ways.

3/12 • Trials of Life • 1990 • Nature

58:14

Our Frozen Planet

The series concludes by showcasing the work of scientists studying climate change to discover how exactly the environment is changing and its impact for all life on Earth. Glaciologist Alun Hubbard investigates Greenland's melting glaciers from within, while astronaut Jessica Meir describes witnessing forest fires across Europe from the international space station, and reflects on how changing weather patterns are interconnected.

S1E6 • Frozen Planet II narrated by Sir David Attenborough • 2022 • Nature

Friends and Rivals • 1990 • episode "9/12" • Trials of Life

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Trials of Life • 1990 • 13 episodes •

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