Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

Birds of paradise are one of David Attenborough's lifelong passions. He was the first to film many of their beautiful and often bizarre displays, and over his lifetime he has tracked them all over the jungles of New Guinea. In this very personal film, he uncovers the remarkable story of how these 'birds from paradise' have captivated explorers, naturalists, artists, film-makers and even royalty. He explores the myths surrounding their discovery 500 years ago, the latest extraordinary behaviour captured on camera and reveals the scientific truth behind their beauty": the evolution of their spectacular appearance has in fact been driven by sex. And in a final contemporary twist to this story of obsession and royalty, he travels to the desert of Qatar, to a state-of-the-art facility which houses the largest breeding group of these birds in the world - a sheikh's very own private collection. There he has his closest ever encounter with a greater bird of paradise and its dramatic display, reliving the experience that captivated him in the forests of New Guinea more than 50 years ago.

A look at the life, passions, achievements and tragedies surrounding the famous Jacques Cousteau, featuring an archive of his newly restored footage. Its focus will be on the inventor-explorer-environmentalist-filmmaker revolution, i.e., giving mankind the resources to explore the ocean with the Aqua Lung, calling attention to ocean pollution, and his long-time collaboration.

Will Smith confronts his fear of nature on powerful white-water rapids in Iceland. "Over five expeditions, I've followed explorers into situations that were straight-up scary. It was worth it to discover the Earth's wonders. But your boy was tripping more than once. Because when I see wilderness, you know, nothing but nature, I get nervous because I don't understand it."

Deep beneath the Indian Ocean, a team of explorers embarks on a bold scientific mission to capture one of nature’s rarest survivors — the coelacanth, a fish unchanged for 400 million years. Narrated by David Attenborough, the film follows NHK’s deep-sea crew aboard the OceanX vessel as they attempt the world’s first 72-hour observation of this living fossil. Using cutting-edge submersibles, they descend into an ancient realm where time itself seems frozen.
As the cameras reveal the coelacanth’s slow, graceful movements, scientists uncover vital clues about evolution’s greatest leap — the moment life crawled from sea to land. Blending adventure, technology, and breathtaking natural history, this deep-ocean odyssey illuminates how a single fish still holds the key to understanding our own beginnings.

An astonishing close encounter with some of the most exotic creatures inhabiting the hidden depths. In the realm of the giant octopus, the rainbow nudibranch (sea slug), and the Scorpion fish, viewers become a fearless undersea explorers, discovering the strange and unusual partnerships these 'star wars' creatures forge to ensure their survival, and learning how this cooperation allows life in this enchanting world to flourish. Filmmaker Howard Hall guides an astonishing adventure. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet narrate as Green Sea Turtles gather so Surgeonfish can strip harmful algae from their shells. A Humboldt Squid changes color four times per second like a flashing strobe light. A Mantis Shrimp’s claws have the speed of a bullet in battling a hungry octopus. Brace yourself to be submerged in a wondrous new dimension.

In the second episode, Will Smith descends 3,300 feet to the bottom of the ocean in a deep-water submersible, where even fewer people have gone than outer space. Along the way down, Will and explorer Diva Amon investigate how colour is used in the natural world and the role of bioluminescence. In the oceans, nearly 80 percent of animals use bioluminescence in some way, possibly the most common form of communication on the planet.