Hidden Japan

The culture of Japan is incredible, from bloom festivals to ultra-modern cities. But there are also more than 130 mammals and 600 bird species dwelling in Japan’s 6,852 islands. This island chain is long enough to span climate zones, providing a huge range of habitat.

Microcosmos

A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.

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Siberian Apocalypse

This astounding documentary delves into the mysteries of the Tunguska event – one of the largest cosmic disasters in the history of civilisation. At 7.15 am, on 30th June 1908, a giant fireball, as bright the sun, exploded in the sky over Tunguska in central Siberia. Its force was equivalent to twenty million tonnes of TNT, and a thousand times greater than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. An estimated sixty million trees were felled over an area of over two thousand square kilometres - an area over half the size of Rhode Island. If the explosion had occurred over London or Paris, hundreds of thousands of people would have been killed.

The Canary Islands

There are few places on earth that have such a diverse variety of terrain and range of climates concentrated in a relatively small area - temperate coastline, scorching arid deserts and tundra, tropical rainforests and frozen snowcapped mountains. And there are few places that are as heavily exploited by humans, yet remain a wilderness.

The Living Desert

Although first glance reveals little more than stones and sand, the desert is alive. Witness moving rocks, spitting mud pots, gorgeous flowers and the never-ending battle for survival between desert creatures of every shape, size and description.

Reflection

Eerie images of landscapes after the Fukushima nuclear disaster shot on black and white 8mm.

Billion Dollar Fish

The River Danube is home to a fish that grows larger than the Great White Shark. Although it leads a secretive life, the Beluga Sturgeon – the King of the Danube – produces the most prized food in the whole world. For over 200 million years, the 8-metre long fish had no enemies, and yet today it is on the verge of extinction. Evolution did not prepare the fish for pollution, river regulation and overfishing. Beluga caviar is traded for up to 20,000 dollars per kilogramme. Ironically, the high price of this precious product could save the animals from a premature disappearance from planet earth.

A Tale of Two Critters

A bear cub and a raccoon become fast friends when they're swept away down a river, away from their families.

La voie des glaces

The Hellstrom Chronicle

A scientist explains how the savagery and efficiency of the insect world could result in their taking over the world.

Platypus: World's Strangest Animal

One of only two living mammals to lay eggs, the platypus has baffled and inspired the scientific community for hundreds of years. Three years in the making, this stunning natural history film takes us down the East Coast of Australia to the many serenely beautiful habitats of the platypus. Technology specially created for this film captures images from inside the nesting chamber of a wild platypus, and records the extraordinary sounds of the mother suckling her offspring. We watch as they grow from newborns to adulthood. Join renowned documentary makers David Parer and Elizabeth Parer-Cook (Dragons of Galapagos, Wolves of the Sea) on this fascinating journey from the rainforests of Queensland to the frozen mountains of Tasmania, as they reveal new insights into this mysterious creature.

Chronos

Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions.

Europe‘s Largest Desert

Near the cold Pyrenees of Iberia, surrounded by ancient and dark green forests, lies a strange land where the rain is scarce and the wind is always blowing. The soil is poor, there are no trees and the landscape resembles the moon. Is this what the future of desertification will look like? Incredible creatures with surprising behavior live in this strange landscape. The documentary explores a place with very dry skin but a wet hidden heart where even waterfowl or amphibians can live. Living in such conditions is not easy and only the toughest animals will survive.

Grotta

In 1907 Herman Hesse spent a few days mediating and fasting in a cave near Monte Verità. During these days he collected the visions and insights that went on to be very influential in his thinking and shaped some of the most important works of his literary career. The images and sounds of this film were shot there and are a homage to this cave and its possible invocations. Grotta is part of Fieldworks, an ongoing experiment with ambient video and radio frequencies.

Ghosts of the Forest

In GHOSTS OF THE FOREST daredevil bird and wildlife cinematographer, John Young is embarking on a journey into the rainforest of the tropical north to find those creatures often heard but rarely, if ever, seen.

Planet Earth: A Celebration

David Attenborough, Hans Zimmer and Dave unite for a special Natural History event – Planet Earth: A Celebration. The special one-hour programme brings together eight of the most extraordinary sequences from Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II including racer snakes vs iguana, surfing bottlenose dolphins and rare footage of the Himalayan snow leopard. Featuring new narration from David Attenborough, new compositions and arrangements from Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea and the team at Bleeding Fingers and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, accompanied by Brit and Mercury Award-winning UK rapper Dave. In these extraordinary times, there is one thing that can offer solace to everyone – the wonder of the natural world.

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Frans Lanting: The Evolution of LIFE

A dazzling journey through time via the remarkable images of National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting and his epic "LIFE" project, which presents a stunning interpretation of life on Earth, from the Big Bang through the present.

Meet the Hedgehogs

Steve Backshall visits a hedgehog rescue centre in Surrey founded by Brian May. He meets the dedicated staff and discovering the stories behind some of the animals being treated, helps to release a successfully treated hedgehog back into the wild, and offers advice on how to make a garden into a welcoming environment for the creatures.