Inheriting the Earth • 2023 • episode "S1E7" • Life on Our Planet

Category: Nature | Subtitle:

Emerging from the dinosaurs' shadows, mammals went from underdogs to global power, with game-changing adaptations that would conquer land, air and sea.

Make a donation

Buy a brother a hot coffee? Or a cold beer?

Hope you're finding these documentaries fascinating and eye-opening. It's just me, working hard behind the scenes to bring you this enriching content.

Running and maintaining a website like this takes time and resources. That's why I'm reaching out to you. If you appreciate what I do and would like to support my efforts, would you consider "buying me a coffee"?

Donation addresses

BTC: bc1q8ldskxh4x9qnddhcrgcun8rtvddeldm2a07r2v

ETH: 0x5CCAAA1afc5c5D814129d99277dDb5A979672116

With your donation through , you can show your appreciation and help me keep this project going. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a significant impact. It goes directly towards covering server costs.

Life on Our Planet • 2023 • 8 episodes •

The Rules of Life

The Rules of Life

Evolution. Competition. Mass extinction. Three fundamental rules have driven the rise and fall of life on Earth for over four billion years.

2023 • Nature

The First Frontier

The First Frontier

For billions of years, land on Earth was uninhabitable. But in the seas, predation allowed species to thrive before — and after — two mass extinctions.

2023 • Nature

Invaders of the Land

Invaders of the Land

Sprawling moss, towering trees, flying insects, limbed amphibians: Early species vied for domination as the land went from hostile to hospitable.

2023 • Nature

In Cold Blood

After Earth's third mass extinction, mammals' surviving ancestors ruled the supercontinent Pangea. But lizards soon ushered in the age of reptiles.

2023 • Nature

In the Shadow of Giants

In the Shadow of Giants

The formation of continents with varied environments allowed for an explosion of biodiversity — and turbo-charged the evolution of mighty dinosaurs.

2023 • Nature

Out of the Ashes

Out of the Ashes

The dinosaurs met their end with a cataclysmic asteroid impact. Rising from the ashes, birds reinvented themselves into a dynasty 10,000 species strong.

2023 • Nature

Inheriting the Earth

Inheriting the Earth

Emerging from the dinosaurs' shadows, mammals went from underdogs to global power, with game-changing adaptations that would conquer land, air and sea.

2023 • Nature

Age of Ice and Fire

Age of Ice and Fire

As the Ice Age thawed, humans rose above the rest. But the possibility of a sixth mass extinction now looms: Has our ingenuity caused our downfall?

2023 • Nature

You might also like

Why on Earth

Travel the the globe to experience the vital connection between humans, animals, and our planet through stunning, rarely before seen footage which exposes the effects that deforestation have had on endangered species.

2022 • Nature

Decoding Disaster

Decoding Disaster

From earthquakes to tsunamis to volcanic eruptions, natural disasters are both terrifying and fascinating - providing endless fresh material for documentary makers. But how well do disaster documentaries keep pace with the scientific theories that advance every day? To try and answer that question, Professor Danielle George is plunging into five decades of BBC archive. What she uncovers provides an extraordinary insight into one of the fastest moving branches of knowledge. From the legendary loss of Atlantis to the eruption that destroyed Pompeii, Danielle reveals how film-makers have changed their approach again and again in the light of new scientific theories. While we rarely associate Britain with major natural disaster, at the end of the programme Danielle brings us close to home, exploring programmes which suggest that 400 years ago Britain was hit by a tidal wave that killed hundreds of people, and that an even bigger tsunami could threaten us again.

A Timewatch Guide • 2017 • Nature

Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness

Pouring out of Lake Victoria, the Nile bursts into life, growing vast with sandy banks and mighty rapids. Under the scorching sun, elephant herds leave the savannah to drink and bathe in the river.

S1E2 • Wild Nile • 2014 • Nature

Magic in the Rocks

Magic in the Rocks

First prog in series about fossils. David Attenborough travels in UK, Dominican Republic, West Germany & USA in search of fossils, & the palaeontological techniques to find and reveal them.

S1E1 • Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives • 1989 • Nature

Weird Wonders

Professor Richard Fortey journeys high in the Rocky Mountains to explore a 520-million-year-old fossilised seabed containing bizarre and experimental lifeforms that have revolutionised our understanding about the beginnings of complex life. Among the amazing finds he uncovers are marine creatures with five eyes and a proboscis; filter-feeders shaped like tulips; worm-like scavengers covered in spikes but with no identifiable head or anus; and a metre-long predator resembling a giant shrimp.

S1E1 • Fossil Wonderlands: Nature's Hidden Treasures • 2014 • Nature

Unicorn of the Sea

Unicorn of the Sea

Narwhals are the unicorns of the sea, but what is the point of those tusks? What could swallow 50-foot trees in seconds? What animal has changed the face of Yellowstone?

S1E17 • Nature's Strangest Mysteries: Solved • 2019 • Nature