The Magic of Mushrooms

Predators of the Wild: Polar Bear

1993

Polar bear… immensely powerful, ferociously cunning, lethally equipped for devastating exploitation of its frozen realm. Legendary for its endurance, hunting prowess and awesome strength, it is the largest and most formidable land predator of the planet’s most brutally unforgiving environment. Venture into the trackless Arctic wastes to witness the uncanny survival strategies developed by this magnificent creature – tactics honed to a killing edge during 250,000 years of adaptation to its icy kingdom. See why the largest of these fearsome bears, weighing more than two full-grown lions, stands as the undisputed predatory monarch of a pristine, unconquered land where man still ventures at his peril.

Ocean Voyagers

2007

Ocean Voyagers explores the familiar themes of motherhood and parenting in a world as unfamiliar as it is breathtaking. Featuring a precocious newborn humpback calf and his enormous 40 ton mother, we are taken on a journey of discovery into their world.

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey

2003

Many geneticists and archaeologists have long surmised that human life began in Africa. Dr. Spencer Wells, one of a group of scientists studying the origin of human life, offers evidence and theories to support such a thesis in this PBS special. He claims that Africa was populated by only a few thousand people that some deserted their homeland in a conquest that has resulted in global domination.

In The Womb

2005

In The Womb is a 2005 National Geographic Channel documentary that focus on studying and showing the development of the embryo in the uterus. The show makes extensive use of Computer-generated imagery to recreate the real stages of the process.

Chronos

1985

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.

Rainier the Mountain

1999

In this retrospective tribute, acclaimed filmmaker Jean Walkinshaw hails the 100th anniversary of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington by talking to those who know it best: the scientists, naturalists, mountain climbers and artists whose lives have been touched by the peak's far-reaching shadow. The result is a harmonious blend of archival material and high-definition footage celebrating an icon of the Pacific Northwest.

Capturing the Killer Croc

2004

Over a 10-year period, more than 200 people have disappeared from the area surrounding Tanzania's Lake Tanganyika. At first, the disappearances were attributed to a serial killer or tribal warfare, but scientists eventually discovered that the culprit was a huge, nearly 100-year-old crocodile dubbed "Gustave." This fascinating PBS documentary chronicles scientists' efforts to trap Gustave and move him to a nature preserve before he strikes again.

The Secret Science of Sewage

2021

Dr George McGavin and Dr Zoe Laughlin set up base camp at one of the UK's biggest sewage works to investigate the revolutionary science finding vital renewable resources and undiscovered life in human waste. Teaming up with world-class scientists, they search for biological entities in sewage with potentially lifesaving medical properties, find out how pee can generate electricity, how gas from poo can fuel a car and how nutrients in waste can help solve the soil crisis. They follow each stage of the sewage treatment process, revealing what the stuff we flush can tell us about how we live today, and the mindboggling biotechnology being harnessed to clean it, making the wastewater safe enough to return to the environment.

Un fleuve invisible

2019

The Polio Crusade

2009

The film interweaves the personal accounts of polio survivors with the story of an ardent crusader who tirelessly fought on their behalf while scientists raced to eradicate this dreaded disease. Based in part on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky, Features interviews with historians, scientists, polio survivors, and the only surviving scientist from the core research team that developed the Salk vaccine, Julius Youngner.

Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life

2009

Darwin's great insight – that life has evolved over millions of years by natural selection – has been the cornerstone of all David Attenborough’s natural history series. In this documentary, he takes us on a deeply personal journey which reflects his own life and the way he came to understand Darwin’s theory.

Deepsea Challenge 3D

2014

Described as being a film about determination, danger and the ocean’s greatest depths, James Cameron's "Deepsea Challenge 3D" tells the story of Cameron’s journey to fulfill his boyhood dream of becoming an explorer. The movie offers a unique insight into Cameron's world as he makes that dream reality – and makes history – by becoming the first person to travel solo to the deepest point on the planet.

The Man Who Wanted to Change the World

2016

Peter Westerveld, artist and visionary, doesn’t want institutions to resolve the problems linked to earth’s problems. Growing up in Africa, he witnessed the advance of the desert and dedicated himself to finding solutions for the ongoing erosion and desertification of the land. The film follows Peter and the NGO working with him to realise his project; to build contour trenches that capture and store rain water under the surface and replenish the desert land.

The Strange Disappearance of the Bees

2010

Investigation into a global ecological disaster that could endanger the entire human race. Today, a third of our food depends directly on bees, the most important agricultural pollinator* on our planet. Yet, for several years now, millions of bees have been mysteriously disappearing. Why? Will we be able to cope with this predicted catastrophe?

Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance

2001

Lost Worlds looks at untouched aspects of nature in parts of the world where humans rarely tread. From plants, to animals, to geology, this artfully photographed documentary presents facets of the biological world that you are not likely to see anywhere else.