Safe in our Hands • 2010 • episode "S1E3" • Mountain Gorilla

43:17

Take a journey through majestic primeval forests of the Urals. These protected sites are known for their extremes, where the fine side by side, and giant deer, and giant leviathan, weighing half a ton, and tiny animals. This also, in search of food, make their seasonal raiding Eurasian elk. Unlike other types of elk Eurasian elk live alone, so for the pregnant female elk stress of meeting with other animals usually leads to a fight. As soon as the snow begins to melt in the woods, baring the ground, a lone wolf set out in search of food, not disdaining the frozen remains of animals

S1E6 • Wild Russia • 2009 • Nature

52:04

A thousand years ago, many millions of whales dominated the sea, with their ancient behaviours vital to the well-being of the oceans. These marine mammals are the ambassadors between one world and another, land and sea, their close communities only now being truly researched and understood. They are still a keystone species in our fragile ecosystem today, with crucial impact on our seas and the life contained within them. But whaling decimated their numbers over the last 150 years, in particular the whaling industry run by the KGB during the Cold War. In a basement in Odessa, top-secret Soviet whaling reports record the unimaginable number of whales killed. This film tells how surviving members of the Soviet leadership, and original Soviet whalers, uncover these secret records, allowing us to understand the magnitude of historical whale populations and the shocking impact of commercial whaling. Whale populations are now largely cherished across the world as we begin to understand these amazing animals, their intelligence and their important contribution to the sustainability and health of the oceans.

2023 • Nature

59:01

In this film Brian asks how a lifeless cosmos can produce a planet of such varied biology.

S1E3 • Wonders of Life • Nature

51:49

By telling the story of our organs, this documentary makes us aware of an evolutionary timeline. Our nose is 40 million years old, our coccyx 25 million, our fingers 370 million, while our chin is only 200,000 years old!

S1E2 • The Secret History of our Evolution • 2018 • Nature

58:10

The incredible anticipation of the annual great migration is being felt by all of the Serengeti's families as they wait with great desperation for it to arrive. The land continues to get hotter and hunger start to bite as food becomes ever more scarce for the predators. But life continues, with Kali the lioness and her sister entrusting their cubs to their new male babysitter, Sefu, with near-disastrous results. Bakari the baboon is shocked when a trip across the river to collect crocodile eggs looks like it will end in tragedy for his new female, Cheka, and the adopted baby. His rivalry with the troop leader then puts him and the baby in more danger. A family of wild dogs moves in, led by male Jasari. With a huge litter of pups, Jasari is ready to take advantage of the coming feast, but until the migrating herds arrive, it is a struggle to survive. Shani, a female zebra, is leading her family on the great migration. She is forced to stop temporarily to give birth to her foal, but as soon as he can run, they are off again heading towards the great river. When the herds finally arrive at the river, they find it teeming with crocodiles, and zebra mother Shani has to decide how and when she can take her newborn foal across the treacherous water. Lying in wait and watching them carefully is a large mother crocodile, who is determined to eat them if they try. With the great migration now in full flow, there are winners and losers on both sides. The awe-inspiring spectacle it brings are part of the deep seasonal rhythms that govern all life in the Serengeti.

S1E3 • Serengeti • 2019 • Nature

88:47

A fascinating look at the secret, underground world of the ant colony in a way that has never been seen before. At its heart is a massive, full-scale ant nest, specially-designed and built to allow cameras to see its inner workings. The nest is a new home for a million-strong colony of leafcutter ants from Trinidad. For a month, entomologist Dr George McGavin and leafcutter expert Professor Adam Hart capture every aspect of the life of the colony, using time-lapse cameras, microscopes, microphones and radio tracking technology. The ants instantly begin to forage, farm, mine and build. Within weeks, the colony has established everything from nurseries to gardens to graveyards. The programme explores how these tiny insects can achieve such spectacular feats of collective organisation. This unique project reveals the workings of one of the most complex and mysterious societies in the natural world and shows the surprising ways in which ants are helping us solve global problems.

2013 • Nature