Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

Through the mountains and jungles of Colombia, Cooper goes in search of the truth behind one of the greatest stories ever told - the legend of El Dorado. His journey takes him from Bogota to the Caribbean coast, through territories once dominated by two cultures, the Muisca and the Tairona, who flourished for centuries before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. Cooper reveals forgotten peoples who valued gold in a way the Western world still struggles to understand, travelling to an astonishing lost city and meeting the last survivors of an ancient civilisation.

An apocryphal view on the pyramids, starting in awe at the amazing achievement of the Pharaonic architecture and sculpture, most specially at Gizeh, given Cheops's pyramid's size, weight, incredibly precise carving, four pairs of slightly shifted half sides, stunningly precisely measured shapes and symmetry. Then it questions and challenges conventional Egyptology beliefs, which it calls unproven or even impossible to verify, such as the absence of machines, a wharf duration of only 20 years or accidental equinox-orientation. Next it elaborates the theory that other major pyramid technology sites in Precolombian America, Easter Island and China can't coincidentally lie on two lines intersecting at Gizeh, even if not contemporaneous and without known contacts in their ages, and have several improbable things in common, like some of their cultures. Elaborate mathematical theories and measurements indicate the Egyptians must have known some astronomy, pi and the golden number

Ewan and Charley swap their e-Harley Davidsons for plane first and follow it up with a journey by ship to Panama. McGregor's bike needs some repairs and will be fixed by the time they reach Costa Rica. The ship they travel in with the bikes looks like a beaten-down vessel that raises genuine concerns about making the journey in one piece. The boat crew looks sharp and proactive while trying to make the show crew's journey as comfortable and safe as possible. The episode also introduces Nuqui, one of the wettest regions in the world where the ship quickly makes a pitstop to fuel up on essential supplies.

Water plants create some of the most beautiful, bizarre and important habitats on earth. To hold on in torrents, plants use a kind of superglue. Some are armed with vicious weapons to fight titanic battles for space. Others form perfect spheres and escape from animal enemies by rolling. Where nutrients are washed away, plants turn into hunters of animals, laying traps and even counting to ensure their success.
In this episode we explore those watery worlds with David Attenborough, from Croatia to Brazil, from Colombia to Thailand, the brilliantly coloured flowers smother lakes, and in one magical river in Brazil, the water bubbles like champagne as plants create the atmosphere itself.

In episodes 3 and 4, a seemingly simple ingredient becomes the invisible force that has shaped civilizations, fueled exploration, and quietly dictated the fate of empires. From ancient trade routes to modern industry, salt emerges not just as a seasoning, but as a powerful driver of human history and survival. At the same time, the story shifts to something far more familiar yet equally unsettling: the global dominance of a single type of banana. What appears to be abundance hides a fragile system built on uniformity, where one disease could wipe out a staple food relied upon by millions.
As the journey unfolds, the narrative exposes the hidden cost of convenience and monoculture, revealing how the loss of biodiversity is not a distant ecological concern but an immediate threat to our food security and future. With striking connections between past and present, these episodes invite you to rethink what you eat, where it comes from, and how something as ordinary as salt or a banana could hold the key to understanding the balance—and imbalance—of our world.