Summer Meadow (2024)

Planet Ant: Life Inside The Colony

Ant colonies are one of the wonders of nature: complex, organised… and mysterious. This programme reveals the secret, underground world of the ant colony, in a way that’s never been seen before. At its heart is a massive, full-scale ant nest, specially designed and built to allow cameras to see its inner workings. The nest is a new home for a million-strong colony of leafcutter ants from Trinidad. For a month, entomologist Dr George McGavin and leafcutter expert Prof Adam Hart capture every aspect of the life of the colony, using time-lapse cameras, microscopes, microphones and radio tracking technology. The programme explores how these tiny insects can achieve such spectacular feats of collective organisation. It also reveals the workings of one of the most complex and mysterious societies in the natural world – and shows the surprising ways in which ants are helping us solve global problems.

Wild Slovakia

Slovakia lies in the heart of Europe. What natural treasures the small country holds, what spectacular nature and what peculiarities of flora and fauna, it is told in "Wild Slovakia".

Oceans: Our Blue Planet

Embark on a global odyssey to discover the largest and least explored habitat on earth. New ocean science and technology has allowed us to go further into the unknown than we ever thought possible.

Skogens vita konung

There are around fifty white moose in the Värmland forests. These are unique in the entire world. We get to follow nature filmmaker Ulf Jonasson through the seasons in his encounters with Ferdinand, a majestic white moose bull!

The Jungle 3D: Magic of Another World

Come along with us on a trip to the jungle of Costa Rica and marvel at these fascinating impressions in perfect 3D quality. Experience the magic of the rain forest and its inhabitants, mostly hiding away in big trees and covered by dense forest and difficult to see for the untrained eye. And listen carefully to the sounds of nature ...

Trees, a Global Superpower

Humanity would not exist without trees. They are the backbone of the biosphere, fertilizing the earth, regulating the climate and water cycles, indispensable to our survival on earth. But just as science is starting to understand the true importance of this little-known genius, its very existence is menaced by man-made disruption. This film provides a science-based exploration into the superpowers of trees, a first-of-its-kind journey below the surface, to better understand them, and also the challenge that we face together in the struggle against global warming – a journey into a new dimension.

Flight of the Butterflies

It takes two or three generations for the monarch butterfly to reach the Canadian breeding grounds, but it is one "supergeneration" that makes the 2,000 mile return trip back south into central Mexico. The documentary film covers Dr Fred Urquhart's interest in monarch butterflies, with perspectives of Urquhart as a child wondering where the butterflies went, his years of research and study into their life and migration, to his time decades-later as a senior scientist looking back at his investigations and discoveries about the insect's life pattern.

Evolution 4K

Experience the wonders of evolution like never before.

The Lake

The Filippov family live in the north of Russia, far from civilisation. Despite the lack of modern conveniences, they live in harmony with nature, create art, support and understand each other like no other people in this world.

Life In The Snow

In a seasonal special, Gordon Buchanan meets the animals who live in nature's winter wonderlands. He reveals their survival secrets, from the polar bear mother who gives her cubs the best possible start in life to the owl that finds food hidden beneath a blanket of snow, plus the plucky penguins that huddle together to keep warm. Gordon also unwraps the lives of our favourite Christmas characters - those wonderful reindeer and our very own robin redbreast!

Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above

Documenting Taiwan from an aerial perspective offering a glimpse of Taiwan's natural beauty as well as the effect of human activities and urbanization on our environment.

La Rivière

Plot unavailable

Lost Track New Zealand

Two surfers go on a road trip through New Zealand.

Alternate Spaces

A short documentary on the River Ouse, following it downstream from Lewes to Newhaven, meditating on the surrounding area.

Woodstock

An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.

John Muir in the New World

The life and the career of John Muir come to life through this inspiring and beautiful documentary set against the magnificent landscapes of the American West. The Scottish-born naturalist was one of the first nature preservationists in American history, inspiring others through his writing and his advocacy to keep the wilderness wild. Shot in high definition in the spectacular landscapes that shaped Muir - and were, in turn, shaped by his devotion.

5 Times Chico: The San Francisco River and His People

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The Rabbits of Skomer

Wild rabbits share the sea cliffs on the island of Skomer, off the Pembrokeshire coast, with seabirds like puffins and seagulls. They come in many shades, owing to their intriguing history, and each spring the island of Skomer itself is transformed by wild flowers, creating one of Britain's most beautiful natural spectacles. The green and brown island turns blue and pink for a couple of spectacular weeks under a carpet of bluebells and red campion.

The Owls and the Orchard

A devoted pair of little owls set up home in an old orchard in rural Herefordshire. From spring blossom to autumn apples, a year in the life of the parent birds, their baby owls and the old fruit trees.

West Coast Otters

Two otters, a mother and daughter, are inseparable as the cub faces the dangers of her first Scottish winter, and Mum works hard to ensure both survive. Never more than a few feet apart, cub and mum exhibit a very special relationship as the cub grows up, learning how to fish and fend for herself on the idyllic west coast of Scotland.

Sanctuaries of Silence

Silence just might be on the verge of extinction and acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton believes that even the most remote corners of the globe are impacted by noise pollution. In Sanctuaries of Silence, join Hempton on an immersive listening journey into Olympic National Park, one of the quietest places in North America.

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.

Wild Women

At the beginning of winter, a filmmaker retires for six months to a hermit's cabin in the middle of the forest, cut off from the world and its means of communication. Through the words of four women she has filmed previously, all of whom have dedicated their lives to different forms of spirituality, she embarks on a mysterious inner adventure, on the edge of solitude and nature. A journey that invites us to connect with the world in a different way.

Wolf Pack

This nature film closely observes wolves through late winter into early spring. Wolf Pack shows this creature’s character, behaviour and life cycle. What emerges is a portrait of the wolf as a disciplined hunter, respected leader and committed parent.

Bali & Beyond

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An Inconvenient Truth

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

Cave Crocs of Gabon

A caving expedition recently discovered a community of dwarf crocodiles living in the Abanda Caves, Gabon. The crocs are living in pitch darkness, hunt bats and some have bright-orange skin. Part of the original team returns to find out more about this bizarre phenomenon. It's mission impossible to access the crocs world and there's no way of knowing what they might find.

Kings of Baja

There are few places on earth more forbidding and beautiful than Baja, Mexico. 800 miles long and 10 million years in the making, it is home to a punishing desert and the most diverse sea on the planet. Explore amazing ecosystems in the Sea of Cortez and join the hunt with charismatic mega fauna - great creatures that inspire wonder, joy, fear, and awe. From Emmy-nominated producer Michael Watchulonis and Emmy award winning cinematographer Johnny Friday. Captured entirely in 4K over a period of 4 years.

Bluefin

Bluefin is a tale of epic stakes set in “the tuna capital of the world.” In North Lake, Prince Edward Island, filmmaker John Hopkins tries to shed light on a baffling mystery: normally wary bluefin tuna no longer fear humans, and no one is quite sure why. Astonished Island fishermen and scientists offer conflicting explanations for the bluefin’s puzzling behaviour. One thing is certain: this great resurgence of gigantic tuna flies in the face of scientific assessments claiming that endangered stocks are down by 90 percent.

Powaqqatsi

An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.

Deutschlands Wilde Vögel 2

Plot unavailable

Into the Deep

An underwater exploration beneath kelp forests in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California. The film captures the birth of a shark, squids mating, a lobster molting, a fish protecting its nest from an octopus and a sea urchin, and the sea bed covered with brittle stars.

Mountain Gorilla

Mountain Gorilla takes us to a remote range of volcanic mountains in Africa, described by those who have been there as ""one of the most beautiful places in the world"", and home to the few hundred remaining mountain gorillas. In spending a day with a gorilla family in the mountain forest, audiences will be captivated by these intelligent and curious animals, as they eat, sleep, play and interact with each other. Although gorillas have been much-maligned in our popular culture, viewers will finally ""meet the legend"" face to face, and learn about their uncertain future.

Ocean Odyssey

The largest predator on the planet, the sperm whale, is your host for an amazing exploration of the final frontier – the world at the bottom of the ocean. From the makers of the Walking With series comes this incredible marine tour, in which you'll witness a rarely seen world of hidden mountain ranges, majestic canyons, volcanoes and the beautiful and often deadly creatures that inhabit the deep sea.

Ocean Oasis

Ocean Oasis is a fascinating journey into the bountiful seas and pristine deserts of two remarkably different, but inextricably linked worlds — Mexico's Sea of Cortés and the Baja California desert.

Troubled Waters: A Turtle's Tale

Exploring the impact of human behavior on our environment from the perspective of one of South Florida's most beloved and fragile underwater creatures: the sea turtle. A critical look at the effects of global warming, water pollution, and our "throw-away" plastic lifestyle on this keystone species...and inevitably ourselves.

Abgeschossen

A clumsy hunter goes into the forest to hunt. But is he successful with his interesting methods of tracking game?