With a humorous and surprisingly revealing look at modern farming, this documentary series follows Jeremy Clarkson as he trades fast cars and city life for the unpredictable challenges of running a working farm in the English countryside. What begins as an ambitious new venture soon becomes a constant battle against weather, bureaucracy, livestock, machinery, and the harsh realities faced by farmers every day. Combining stunning rural landscapes with Clarkson's trademark humor, the series offers an entertaining and eye-opening glimpse into life on the land. In the first three episodes, Jeremy finds himself largely on his own as key members of the team are away, forcing him to take greater responsibility for the farm's daily operations. Persistent rain threatens crucial planting schedules, while new equipment, a new farmhand, and even a potential new business opportunity provide fresh challenges and unexpected lessons. As he searches for a local pub to expand his ambitions, Jeremy also faces competition, difficult decisions, and the constant pressure of keeping the farm running in an environment where success often depends on factors completely beyond his control.
Mammals' ability to learn new tricks is the key to survival in the knife-edge world of hunters and hunted. In a TV first, a killer whale off the Falklands does something unique: it sneaks into a pool where elephant seal pups learn to swim and snatches them, saving itself the trouble of hunting in the open sea. Slow-motion cameras reveal the star-nosed mole's newly-discovered technique for smelling prey underwater: it exhales then inhales a bubble of air ten times per second. Young ibex soon learn the only way to escape a fox - run up an almost vertical cliff face - and young stoats fight mock battles, learning the skills that make them one of the world's most efficient predators.
Around 30% of the land's surface is desert, the most varied of our ecosystems despite the lack of rain. Unravel the secrets of desert survival and experience the ephemeral nature of this dynamic environment. Watch Saharan sandstorms nearly a mile high and desert rivers that run for a single day. In the Gobi Desert, rare Bactrian camels get moisture from the snow. In the Atacama, guanacos survive by licking dew off cactus spines. In the USA, the brief blooming of Death Valley triggers a plague of locusts 65km wide and 160km long. A unique aerial voyage over the Namibian desert reveals elephants on a long trek for food and desert lions searching for wandering oryx.
The Universe as we know it is condemned to death. Space, matter and even time will one day cease to exist and there's nothing we can do about it. Harsh realities are revealed about the future of our Universe; it may collapse and burn or it might be gripped by a galactic ice age. Either of these scenarios might be a long way off. However, our Universe could suddenly be destroyed by a "random quantum fluctuation", a bubble of destruction that can obliterate the entire cosmos in the blink of an eye. No matter how it ends, life in our Universe is doomed.
We will nvestigate the first skeleton that really looks like us –Turkana Boy– an astonishingly complete specimen of Homo erectus found by the famous Leakey team in Kenya. These early humans are thought to have developed key innovations that helped them thrive, including hunting large prey, the use of fire, and extensive social bonds. The program examines an intriguing theory that long-distance running –our ability to jog– was crucial for the survival of these early hominids. Not only did running help them escape from vicious predators roaming the grasslands, but it also gave them a unique hunting strategy: chasing down prey animals such as deer and antelope to the point of exhaustion. Birth of Humanity also probes how, why, and when humans' uniquely long period of childhood and parenting began.
Wood travels through war-torn Afghanistan, crossing the Oxus River into Central Asia and the Silk Road city of Samarkand where, in a drunken brawl, Alexander killed the friend who had previously saved his life.
In the first three episodes, Jeremy finds himself largely on his own as key members of the team are away, forcing him to take greater responsibility for the farm's daily operations. Persistent rain threatens crucial planting schedules, while new equipment, a new farmhand, and even a potential new business opportunity provide fresh challenges and unexpected lessons. As he searches for a local pub to expand his ambitions, Jeremy also faces competition, difficult decisions, and the constant pressure of keeping the farm running in an environment where success often depends on factors completely beyond his control.