What Makes Me Human • 2018 • episode "S1E2" • Who Am I (Royal Institution Christmas Lectures)

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

59:03

Everyone loves giraffes, but what do we really know about them? Dr Julian Fennessy starts to reveal their secrets - the most important being that they are disappearing. In an urgent and daring mission, with a determined Ugandan team, he plans to round up 20 of the world's rarest giraffe to take across and beyond the mighty Nile River. The stakes are high, but if they succeed the reward will be a brighter future for an animal we have somehow overlooked.

Natural World • 2016 • Nature

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

58:59

It is high summer in the Polar Regions, and the sun never sets. Vast hordes of summer visitors cram a lifetime of drama into one long, magical day; they must feed, fight and rear their young in this brief window of plenty. Summer is a tough time for the polar bear family, as their ice world melts away and the cubs take their first swimming lesson. Some bears save energy by dozing on icy sun beds, while others go egg-collecting in an Arctic tern colony, braving bombardment by sharp beaks. There are even bigger battles on the tundra; a herd of musk oxen gallop to the rescue as a calf is caught in a life and death struggle with a pair of Arctic wolves. But summer also brings surprises, as a huge colony of 400,000 king penguins cope with an unlikely problem - heat. The adults go surfing, while the woolly-coated chicks take a cooling mud bath. Nearby, a bull fur seal is prepared to fight to the death with a rival. Fur flies as the little pups struggle desperately to keep out of the way of the duelling giants. Further south, a minke whale is hunted amongst the ice floes by a family of killer whales. The dramatic chase lasts over 2 hours and has never been filmed before. The killers harry the minke whale, taking it in turns to wear it down. Eventually it succumbs to the relentless battering. Finally, comical adelie penguins waddle back to their half a million strong colony like clockwork toys. The fluffy chicks need constant feeding and protection as piratical skuas patrol the skies. When an unguarded chick is snatched, a dramatic "dogfight" ensues.

S1E3 • Frozen Planet • 2011 • Nature

91:27

Gunda provides a glimpse into the raw and simple power of nature through mesmerising encounters with farm animals, the eponymous Gunda, a mother pig, two ingenious cows and a scene-stealing, one-legged chicken. Film-maker Victor Kossakovsky reminds us of the many lives that share this earth with humans and their value. From the first steps of piglets to the roaming joy of freed cows, Gunda: Mother, Pig draws a connection between human and animal, and the planet that we share with creatures great and small.

2021 • Nature

44:11

After the death of her mother, Motshidi is starving and alone; in an act of charity, Blue Eyes gives Motshodi a new lease of life; a violent traitor rises in the ranks, challenging the selfish princess and bringing an end to Mmamotse's rule.

S3E6 • Savage Kingdom • 2019 • Nature