Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.
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Sep 24, 1984
The effect on the natural world of a nuclear war, reporting on reseacrh in America, Russia and Britain which suggests that for thirty years the world has had the capacity to cause `a nuclear winter'. A Natural World special transmitted in 1984.
Aug 4, 1986
Filmed in Nepal, Ethiopia and China investigates how the misuse of land and not drought lies at the root of famines in Ethiopia and elsewhere. The programme reveals how government policy and international trade conspire to cause starvation.
Aug 5, 1986
Burkino Faso, the edge of the Sahel in west Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. It has been gripped by drought since 1968, yet simple techniques are helping to conserve their rainfall. In the western USA, massive and expensive irrigation schemes are bringing a harvest of subsidised yet unsaleable crops.
Jan 1, 2002
Jan 1, 2002
In this fascinating new three-part documentary, viewers can look inside animals to see what makes them tick. Fusing exciting computer animation, thermal imaging and compelling science, Animals: The Inside Story puts creatures under the microscope to expose the hidden mechanisms that drive their actions. Part 2, New Lives, unravels the mysteries of animal reproduction from courtship and mating through to the creation of new life. The virtual world of the elephant womb allows us to see a baby elephant develop over 22 months. Emperor penguins produce eggs in the harshest climate on earth. Go inside this life support capsule and see how the shell is made and the chick grows. Metamorphosis is one of nature's miracles. From the inside, watch a total transformation as a land-based caterpillar becomes a graceful aerial athlete.
Jan 1, 2002
Extreme Lives, the final episode of Animals: The Inside Story, explores the limits of animal endurance. A polar bear uses its thick fur coat to turn light into heat and survive the Arctic cold. Hibernation is one way to endure winter but the rare Vancouver Island Marmot is on a knife-edge between life and death. Wood frogs enter a state of suspended animation, freezing 65% of their bodies to stay alive. The camel survives extremes of desert heat with amazing blood cells and a nose designed to conserve every drop of moisture.
Jan 1, 2005
Apr 6, 1997
Aug 25, 2007
TBA
TBA
Mar 29, 2012
Quick answers about this season's release timeline and episode lineup.
Natural World Season 0 premiered on September 24, 1984.
Natural World Season 0 has 12 episodes.
The season opens with Season 0 Episode 1, "On the 8th Day". It aired on September 24, 1984.
Go to Season 0 Episode 1