Islands • 2023 • episode "S2E1" • Prehistoric Planet

50:20

Five heroes, each with a unique power, fighting to survive, killing to reign supreme over the Savage Kingdom.

S1E6 • Savage Kingdom • 2016 • Nature

59:21

The squirrel family is one of the most widespread on earth, so what is the secret to their success? There are squirrels that can glide through the air, outwit rattlesnakes and survive the coldest temperatures of any mammal. We uncover the extraordinary abilities of these cheeky characters, putting their problem solving to the test on a specially designed assault course. We team up with some of the world's top squirrel scientists who are making groundbreaking discoveries - from the fox squirrel who can remember the location of 9,000 nuts to the grey squirrel whose tree-top leaps are the basis of new designs in robotics. We also see the world through the eyes of an orphan red squirrel called Billy, as he grows up and develops all the skills he will need to be released back to the wild. It is time to meet the animal family we should never underestimate - the super squirrels.

Natural World • 2018 • Nature

59:12

Stephen Fry and the zoologist Mark Carwardine follow attempts to move the world's rarest rhinos from a snowy zoo in the Czech Republic, to the expanses of Kenya in the hope that they will breed in the wild. With only eight of these creatures left on earth, the mission becomes a race against time to save the Northern White Rhino from extinction.

Last Chance to See • 2010 • Nature

52:25

In the frozen wilderness of Antarctica, where oceans ice over and just staying alive is an achievement, one creature has perfected the art of survival - the emperor penguin. Eons of evolution have built an animal superbly adapted to the howling gales and sub-zero temperatures, but the emperor may have finally met its match. Parts of Antarctica are warming, giving birth to huge icebergs, and the consequences could be catastrophic for this majestic animal. In a place where all life is touched by the ice, it is a dramatic shift. Explore this region from its inhabitant's perspective, using state-of-the-art technology. By better understanding these amazing animals, researchers can help prepare for their future, as the balance of life in the Antarctic continues to change.

2006 • Nature

58:54

Professor Richard Fortey investigates the remains of ancient volcanic lake in Germany where stunningly well-preserved fossils of early mammals, giant insects and even perhaps our oldest known ancestor have been found. Among the amazing finds are bats as advanced and sophisticated as anything living today, more than 50-million-years-later; dog-sized 'Dawn' horses, the ancestor of the modern horse; and giant ants as large as a hummingbird.

S1E3 • Fossil Wonderlands: Nature's Hidden Treasures • 2014 • Nature

58:05

David Attenborough journeys to both Polar Regions to investigate what rising temperatures will mean for the people and wildlife that live there and for the rest of the planet. David starts out at the North Pole, standing on sea ice several metres thick, but which scientists predict could be Open Ocean within the next few decades. The Arctic has been warming at twice the global average, so David heads out with a Norwegian team to see what this means for polar bears. He comes face-to-face with a tranquilised female, and discovers that mothers and cubs are going hungry as the sea ice on which they hunt disappears. In Canada, Inuit hunters have seen with their own eyes what scientists have seen from space; the Arctic Ocean has lost 30% of its summer ice cover over the last 30 years. For some, the melting sea ice will allow access to trillions of dollars worth of oil, gas and minerals. For the rest of us, it means the planet will get warmer, as sea ice is important to reflect back the sun's energy. Next David travels to see what's happening to the ice on land: in Greenland, we follow intrepid ice scientists as they study giant waterfalls of meltwater, which are accelerating iceberg calving events, and ultimately leading to a rise in global sea level. Temperatures have also risen in the Antarctic - David returns to glaciers photographed by the Shackleton expedition and reveals a dramatic retreat over the past century. It's not just the ice that is changing - ice-loving adelie penguins are disappearing, and more temperate gentoo penguins are moving in. Finally, we see the first ever images of the largest recent natural event on our planet - the break up of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, an ice sheet the size of Jamaica, which shattered into hundreds of icebergs in 2009.

S1E7 • Frozen Planet • 2011 • Nature