Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

Uranus and Neptune: The 'ice giants'. Strap yourselves in for an incredible voyage to the most remote and intriguing planets of all. There has never been a better time to boldly go where no human has gone before to follow in the footsteps of our robot pioneers and visit the planets of the Solar System. Ever wanted to be an astronaut? Imagine heading into the Ice Zone, the frigid, dark realm beyond the orbit of Saturn. So far from the Sun, you wouldn't expect much to be happening here. From orbit, Uranus appears sedate and calm. But why is the planet on its side? And Neptune: The second blue planet, and the last world in our Solar System. But something is driving its wild winds. And what about its Great Dark Spot? this planet just changes its spots. Leopards don't, but Neptune does.

Moving on to Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago, we witness the beginnings of mankind via a group of australopithecus - a type of ape which, like us, walks upright on two legs. But unlike us, these early members of the human family weren't predators, they were prey. Things get worse for the group as they are hunted by a sabre-tooth cat called dinofelis and fall victim to other dangers such as malaria, rival australopithecus and a rampaging 14-tonne deinotherium.

In the summer of 1983, just days before the birth of his first son, writer and theologian John Hull went blind. In order to make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began keeping a diary on audiocassette. Upon their publication in 1990, Oliver Sacks described the work as 'the most extraordinary, precise, deep and beautiful account of blindness I have ever read. It is to my mind a masterpiece.'
With exclusive access to these original recordings, Notes On Blindness encompasses dreams, memory and imaginative life, excavating the interior world of blindness.

With unprecedented access to the nuclear industry in France, Russia, and the United States, director Oliver Stone delves deep into the groundbreaking technologies that promise a revolution in energy production. But this is not just a story of power and progress; it's a tale of dispelling myths and confronting the fears surrounding nuclear energy. From the passionate voices of those funding their ventures to the illuminating insights of visionaries like Stephen Hawking, 'Nuclear Now' challenges viewers to question their preconceptions.
Join this journey to uncover the truths, understand the risks, and judge the possibilities. Imagine a tomorrow that is brighter than today, where humanity harnesses the primordial power of the atom to ensure a future we can all look forward to. Dive into the debate, and decide for yourself.

Mathematician Dr Hannah Fry explores the mystery of maths. It underpins so much of our modern world that it's hard to imagine life without its technological advances, but where exactly does maths come from? Is it invented like a language or is it something discovered and part of the fabric of the universe? It's a question that some of the most eminent mathematical minds have been wrestling with. To investigate this question, Hannah goes head first down the fastest zip wire in the world to learn more about Newton's law of gravity, she paraglides to understand where the theory of maths and its practice application collide, and she travels to infinity and beyond to discover that some infinities are bigger than others.
In this episode, Hannah goes back to the time of the ancient Greeks to find out why they were so fascinated by the connection between beautiful music and maths. The patterns our ancestors found in music are all around us, from the way a sunflower stores its seeds to the number of petals in a flower. Even the shapes of some of the smallest structures in nature, such as viruses, seem to follow the rules of maths. All strong evidence for maths being discovered. But there are those who claim maths is all in our heads and something we invented. To find out if this is true, Hannah has her brain scanned. It turns out there is a place in all our brains where we do maths, but that doesn't prove its invented.
Experiments with infants, who have never had a maths lesson in their lives, suggests we all come hardwired to do maths. Far from being a creation of the human mind, this is evidence for maths being something we discover. Then along comes the invention of zero to help make counting more convenient and the creation of imaginary numbers, and the balance is tilted in the direction of maths being something we invented. The question of whether maths is invented or discovered just got a whole lot more difficult to answer

Join David Attenborough on an extraordinary voyage into the hidden world beneath the waves. With unmatched storytelling and unparalleled access to remote ocean realms, he unveils a new era of marine discovery. Through breathtaking visuals and compelling narratives, the documentary exposes both the fragile beauty of ocean life and the grave challenges it faces. Yet, amid the threats, a powerful message of hope emerges — revealing nature's remarkable resilience and the inspiring efforts that could restore the oceans for future generations.