Nature's Wonderlands: Islands of Evolution

Unlocking the Mystery of Life represents a unique programming opportunity for local stations. Its broadcast release coincides with the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in history-James Watson and Francis Crick's discovery that the DNA molecule carries hereditary information in the form of a code that many scientists have likened to computer software or a written language. This discovery (announced on April 25,1953) sparked a scientific revolution. But it also left a fundamental question unanswered. Where did the information in DNA come from? How did the software in the cell arise? Unlocking the Mystery of Life explores these questions through the stories of a growing number of scientists who no longer believe that natural selection or chemistry, alone, can explain life's origin. Instead, they think that the microscopic world of the cell provides evidence of purpose and design in nature.

A turn of the century wild west show struggling to make a living in Mexico comes into the possession of a tiny prehistoric horse. This leads to an expedition to the Forbidden Valley where they discover living dinosaurs. They capture one and take it back to be put on display, leading to inevitable mayhem.

"Genius" accidentally invents "goo" which causes living things to rapidly grow to an enormous size. Seeing an opportunity to get rich, some delinquent teenagers steal the "goo" and, as a result of a sophomoric dare, consume it themselves and become thirty feet tall. They then take over control of the town by kidnapping the sheriff's daughter and dancing suggestively.

Richard Greico leads a team of electrical workers who stumble across a terrifying parallel universe. While investigating a strange power source in an abandoned building, the workers find themselves sucked into an underworld teeming with massive, man-eating, spider-like monsters. The bloodthirsty arachnid-human hybrids stalk and kill their victims one by one, leaving the dwindling group of survivors to fight back with just their wits and a handful of primitive weapons.

Altered Species is a 2001 horror film, about a scientist who has found a way to regenerate damaged tissue in the body. He has tried his experiment on rats, but the effects are disastrous. One of them grows to 50 times its normal size, and attempts to destroy the laboratory.

Near a small English village, a scientific team is conducting experiments with magnetic fields, the results of which may have military applications but the intensification of which seem to be connected to UFO reports, a series of murders, an enormous insect egg, and a strange visitor with exceptional scientific knowledge.

Alex, Marty, and other zoo animals find a way to escape from Madagascar when the penguins reassemble a wrecked airplane. The precariously repaired craft stays airborne just long enough to make it to the African continent. There the New Yorkers encounter members of their own species for the first time. Africa proves to be a wild place, but Alex and company wonder if it is better than their Central Park home.

A college paleontology professor acquires a newly discovered specimen of a coelecanth, but while examining it, he is accidentally exposed to its blood, and finds himself periodically turning into a murderous Neanderthal man.

Happy couple Jason and Alexandra lose their sail yacht in a storm and are grateful to get picked up by Captain Jim Bigelow's commercial carrier. Suspicious about the ship's doctor and realizing the ship is improbably empty and the radio not broken as the crew claims, Jason starts snooping around. Bodies on meat-hooks, genetic experimentation and giant spiders are what he finds.

The Zoosters are back in an all-new holiday adventure. When Santa and his reindeer crash onto the island of Madagascar it's up to Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman and those wacky penguins to save Christmas. Get ready for a sleigh full of laughs in this hilarious new holiday classic.

Documentary telling the little-known story of how Darwin came to write his great masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, a book which explains the wonderful variety of the natural world as emerging out of death and the struggle of life. In the twenty years he took to develop a brilliant idea into a revolutionary book, Darwin went through a personal struggle every bit as turbulent as that of the natural world he observed. Fortunately, he left us an extraordinary record of his brilliant insights, observations of nature, and touching expressions of love and affection for those around him. He also wrote frank accounts of family tragedies, physical illnesses and moments of self-doubt, as he laboured towards publication of the book that would change the way we see the world. The story is told with the benefit of Darwin's secret notes and correspondence, enhanced by natural history filming, powerful imagery from the time and contributions from leading contemporary biographers and scientists.

Sir David Attenborough chooses his favourite recordings from the natural world that have revolutionised our understanding of song. Each one - from the song of the largest lemur to the song of the humpback whale to the song of the lyrebird - was recorded in his lifetime. When Sir David was born, the science of song had already been transformed by Charles Darwin’s theory of sexual selection: singing is dangerous as it reveals the singer’s location to predators, but it also offers the male a huge reward, the chance to attract a female and pass on genes to the next generation. Hence males sing and females don't.

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.

Africa is a continent that conjures up images of bold predators: Lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and jackals. Now National Geographic sets those four-legged giants aside in search of the twelve deadliest snakes in Africa, including the continent’s most lethal serpent. There are over 400 different species of snakes in Africa, nearly 100 of those are considered dangerous to man. Out of those, 12 stand out.

National Geographic goes beyond the tourist hotspots and travels deep inside the 2 million acre national park to reveal the backcountry wilderness few have seen. Explore some of the 300 newly discovered waterfalls most tourists never get to see. Learn how wolves, back after five decades of absence from Yellowstone, are helping restore the balance in the ecosystem alongside the grizzly bear and bison. Finally, discover how the geology of Yellowstone with its giant well of molten lava underneath the surface is sometimes more dangerous than the wildlife. So serene and yet so dangerous, this powerful drama comes alive through satellite imagery and CGI animation.

Over 80 per cent of Madagascar's animals and plants are found nowhere else on Earth. Discover what made Madagascar so different from the rest of the world, and how evolution ran wild here.

A docudrama series focusing on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection; it uses reconstruction of the 19th century with present day documentary.

Sir David Attenborough goes back in time to the roots of the tree of life, in search of the very first animals, telling their story with stunning photography, state of the art visual effects and the captivating charm of the world’s favorite naturalist.

Physicist and professor Brian Cox travels across the globe to uncover the secrets of the most extraordinary phenomenon in the universe: life.

Islands can be home to the most extreme examples of life and the some of the most dramatic landscapes. Natural selection fuels evolution in the most extraordinary way. Isolated for hundreds of thousands of years, pockets of individuals survive, thrive and adapt to fill all available niches fuelling a rapid development of new species. Wildest Islands, a stunning five-part series featuring the world’s most spectacular island locations. Dive into the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean; journey through the lush forests of Zanzibar; discover the unspoilt environs of the Hebrides; and uncover the enduring wonders of the Galapagos Islands as Wildest Islands investigates the rich history of these pristine paradises.

In a country celebrated for its unique 'natural' beauty, Professor Iain Stewart reveals how every square inch of Scotland's landscape has been affected by centuries of human activity.

Geologist Iain Stewart explain in three stages of natural history the crucial interaction of our very planet's physiology and its unique wildlife. Biological evolution is largely driven bu adaptation to conditions such as climate, soil and irrigation, but biotopes were also shaped by wildlife changing earth's surface and climate significantly, even disregarding human activity.

In new six-part series Untamed China, wildlife adventurer Nigel Marven explores the country's mountains and grasslands, crosses its greatest deserts and treks through its deepest jungles in search of the rare, little-known and extraordinary creatures that live there. Over half of China's plant and animal species live in Yunnan Province in the far southwest of the country. In episode one, Nigel goes there to explore the ancient city of Dali and the surrounding mountains and forests. He meets some bizarre and deadly reptiles and amphibians, goes on a very unusual fishing trip, enjoys the fairy-tale lifecycle of butterflies and gets up close to highly endangered Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys.

Professor Richard Fortey travels to some of the greatest fossil sites on earth to discover more about the distant past.

Dallas Campbell reveals why we can only understand the familiar world around us by discovering the hidden wonders beneath our feet.

Among the forests and ruins of Madagascar's Berenty Reserve, four gangs of ring-tailed lemurs are locked in a feud over territory, resources, and power... and often the fiercest conflicts are happening within the tribes. This five-part series places you in the heart of "Lemur Island," where half of the world's wild population of lemurs share a fragment of land less than a square mile. Here, battle lines are drawn and crossed, leaders are trusted and tested, and gang members thrive or perish in the harsh extremes of this intense environment.

Exploring some of the world's most isolated and iconic tropical islands.

Journey to three of the most exotic, mysterious and remote islands on the planet: Madagascar, Borneo and Hawaii. Isolated from the rest of the world, they harbor remarkable wildlife and pioneering human communities found nowhere else on Earth.

In this unique series, Steve Backshall explores every aspect of fox life; an animal that's a true natural history success. The fox is secretive, spending much of its life out of sight. In this engaging two part special, we explore the life of these often vilified and misunderstood creatures. We’ll witness a vixen give birth in an underground den, see five cubs take their first steps outside, share the magic of rural encounters and witness the harsh dangers a city fox faces in our human world - from cubs being severely entangled in football goals to an adult fox trapped in barbed wire. There’s inner city fox rivalry and a unique opportunity which allows us to follow the life of seven rescued siblings from just nine days old to taking their first steps back into the wild.

The series offers fascinating insights into the most successful animal group in the world. From the tiny Etruscan shrew to the giant blue whale, Mammals will reveal the secrets of their success, and how their winning design, incredible adaptability, unrivaled intelligence, and unique sociability have all contributed to their remarkable rise.