Why Are We Morbidly Curious?

50:53

Be it buffalo, polar bears, humpback whales or albatross chicks, migration is a vital survival strategy for animals to feed, reproduce and find homes.

S2E1 • Our Planet • 2023 • Nature

42:55

Leading experts examine a rock in a crate of finds from an archaeological dig in Africa, which could contain a very rare 200-million-year-old dinosaur skull. The museum staff prepares for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards. Other artefacts from the museum featured in this episode include meteorite fragments that are older than the solar system and the oldest complete beetle specimens ever found in the UK.

S1E4 • Natural History Museum: World of Wonder • 2021 • Nature

44:11

As rival dynasties jostle for control of the kingdom, one reign comes to a tragic end.

S3E5 • Savage Kingdom • 2019 • Nature

58:39

In this episode, Brian travels round Australia to explore the physics of the size of life.

S1E4 • Wonders of Life • Nature

58:10

As the Serengeti starts to dry out, competition hots up between the families we were first introduced to in Episode One. The strong females take centre stage, dealing with wayward males and fighting for the survival of their kin. Lioness Kali and her sister are enjoying time with their seven cubs. Together, hunting is much easier and life is good. But their happiness is short-lived as they are being tracked by Sefu, a male lion from the pride. He takes their food and then relentlessly pursues them, but what does he want? A new family has moved into the Serengeti: Kike, a first-time cheetah mother with three tiny cubs in tow. If her first litter is to survive, she must learn the skills of motherhood fast. Not only must she learn to hunt and keep her cubs safe, but she must keep them away from the other predators who are out to get them. Bakari the baboon struggles to raise the baby he rescued when its mother was killed and desperately tries to find a female to help him raise his motherless baby. Nalla, the elephant matriarch, is worried for the safety of her baby when a group of huge male elephants come to fight over one of the family's females. A young female ostrich attempts to raise an enormous brood of chicks whilst being watched by the hungry eyes of the hyena leader, Zalika. As pressure builds, Kali decides that for the sake of her cubs she must confront the male stalker Sefu – but it's a dangerous decision. Bakari is threatened by the leader of the troop when their rivalry escalates and the baby is put at risk. Will a kind-hearted female called Cheka help him raise the baby? Only the strong survive in the Serengeti, and the mothers are the toughest of the lot.

S1E2 • Serengeti • 2019 • Nature

52:55

This episode continues the study of mammals, and particularly those whose young gestate inside their bodies. Attenborough asks why these have become so varied and tries to discover the common theme that links them. Examples of primitive mammals that are still alive today include the treeshrew, the desman and the star-nosed mole. Insect eaters vary enormously from the aardvark, giant anteater and pangolin to those to which much of this programme is devoted: the bats, of which there are nearly 1,000 different species. These took to flying at night, and its possible that they evolved from treeshrews that jumped from tree to tree, in much the same way as a flying squirrel.

10/13 • Life on Earth • 1979 • Nature