Living Together • 1990 • episode "7/12" • Trials of Life

58:22

Spring arrives in the polar regions, and the sun appears after an absence of five months; warmth and life return to these magical ice worlds - the greatest seasonal transformation on our planet is underway. Male Adelie penguins arrive in Antarctica to build their nests - it takes a good property to attract the best mates and the males will stop at nothing to better their rivals! But these early birds face the fiercest storms on the planet. In the Arctic, a polar bear mother is hunting with her cubs. Inland, the frozen rivers start to break up and billions of tons of ice are swept downstream in the greatest of polar spectacles. This melt-water fertilizes the Arctic Ocean, feeding vast shoals of Arctic cod and narwhal. The influx of freshwater accelerates the breakup of the sea-ice - an area of ice the size of Australia will soon vanish from the Arctic. On land, a woolly bear caterpillar emerges from the snow having spent the winter frozen solid. Caterpillars normally become moths within months of hatching, but life is so harsh here that the woolly bear takes 14 years to reach adulthood. Once mature it has only days to find a mate before it dies! Alongside the caterpillars white Arctic wolves race to raise their adorable cubs before the cold returns.

2/7 • Frozen Planet • 2011 • Nature

49:01

As a whole, Africa is a dry continent with deserts dominating the landscape. Wild Africa explores how these deserts were created, and the amazing ways in which animals and plants have evolved to cope with the meagre and unpredictable rainfall, intense solar radiation, shortages of food and lack of shelter. By traveling through the African deserts, Wild Africa reveals that given enough time, a diverse variety of animals and plants can make a living in even the harshest conditions.

3/6 • Wild Africa • 2001 • Nature

59:00

From around three months old, the animal babies can all get around on their own, but that means the impact of their environment and the struggle to find food really begin to hit home.

2/3 • Animal Babies: First Year on Earth • 2019 • Nature

48:40

Human mothers raise fetuses inside their wombs and breast feed their babies for a long time after birth. What made humans evolve so that we raise our children so affectionately? The latest research reveals an unexpected origin of mothers' affection toward their children. Scientists believe that our ancestors experienced unforeseen dramatic changes in DNA under threats of extinction. These DNA changes caused humans to be devoted to raising children. Learn about the scientific interpretation of the evolutionary roots of your affectionate bonds with your kids.

2/3 • Leaps in Evolution • 2016 • Nature

59:09

On 12th September 2015, a 30-ton humpback whale breached and landed on Tom Mustill and his friend Charlotte Kinloch as they paddled a sea kayak in Monterey Bay, California. Incredibly, both survived the incident, but the near-death experience haunted documentary maker Tom and left him wondering if the whale was deliberately trying to hurt them. To find the answer, Tom returned to California in 2018 to investigate. Tom meets those who have survived similar hair-raising encounters and the experts who know the whales best. What he discovers raises far bigger questions, not just about what happened that day but also about our relationship with whales and their future alongside us.

Natural World • 2019 • Nature

32:54

Lions differ from all other cats in that they are highly social, forming prides of up to 35 animals. There are now thought to be fewer than 15,000 lions remaining in Kenya's Masai Mara, a drop of 75% in 50 years.

4/7 • The Secret Lives of Big Cats • 2019 • Nature