The first episode tells how invertebrates became the first creatures of any kind to colonise dry land. Their forerunners were shelled and segmented sea creatures that existed 400 million years ago. Some of them ventured out of the water to lay their eggs in safety, and Attenborough compares those first steps with today's mass spawning of horseshoe crabs off the Atlantic coast of North America.
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The first episode tells how invertebrates became the first creatures of any kind to colonise dry land. Their forerunners were shelled and segmented sea creatures that existed 400 million years ago. Some of them ventured out of the water to lay their eggs in safety, and Attenborough compares those first steps with today's mass spawning of horseshoe crabs off the Atlantic coast of North America.
2005 • Nature
The next programme deals with flying insects. It begins in Central Europe, where the Körös River plays host to millions of giant mayflies as they rise from their larval skins to mate. — the climax of their lives. Mayflies and dragonflies were among the first to take to the air about 320 million years ago, and fossils reveal that some were similar in size to a seagull. Damselflies are also looked at in detail.
2005 • Nature
The third instalment examines the spiders and others that produce silk. Attenborough visits New Zealand's Waitomo Caves, which are inhabited by fungus gnats whose illuminated larvae sit atop glistening, beaded filaments to lure their prey.
2005 • Nature
The penultimate episode focuses on the relationships between invertebrates and plants or other animals. It begins with ants and aphids: the former 'herd' the latter and protect them in return for secreted honeydew.
2005 • Nature
The final programme looks at the superorganisms formed by bees, ants and termites. Attenborough reveals that their colonies, whose individuals were once considered purely servile, are "full of conflict, power struggles and mutinies." They evolved when such creatures moved away from a solitary existence and started building nests side-by-side, which led to a collective approach to caring for their young.
2005 • Nature
Making Of (Special Fly On The Wall inserts at the end of each programme will explore, in greater detail, how the BBC's Natural History Unit was able to capture such stunning footage for the first time.)
2005 • Nature
Will Smith heads to the Serengeti to catch a glimpse of one of Earth's greatest migrations.
S1E3 • Welcome to Earth • 2021 • Nature
Trapped by the rising flood waters, Dikeledi must teach her wayward cubs the lessons of survival in a kingdom ruled by the rotten army of hyenas.
S03E02 • Savage Kingdom • 2017 • Nature
After Earth's third mass extinction, mammals' surviving ancestors ruled the supercontinent Pangea. But lizards soon ushered in the age of reptiles.
S1E4 • Life on Our Planet • 2023 • Nature
Blue Whisper immerges into the ocean's fascinating underwater world and gets to the bottom of a widely unexplored field of underwater science: the communication among fish. The documentary accompanies a team of specialists to overwhelmingly beautiful coral reefs, ancient shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea and sunken submarines that are clouded in secrecy, to explore the versatile forms of underwater communication. What language do fish use? Do they make sounds? Do they have a body language? And what role do colours play? With the aid of complex underwater video and audio equipment those and further questions are answered during a suspenseful journey around the world.
2013 • Nature
On a journey across Africa towards the war-torn Congo, the travellers encounter chimpanzees, gorillas and elephants, but are there any northern white rhinos still alive in the wild? The news is not good but there is some hope in the remarkable project under way to save the black rhino in Kenya.
S1E2 • Last Chance to See • 2009 • Nature