Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

The Cave of Swallows in Mexico is a 400m vertical shaft, deep enough to engulf the Empire State Building. The Lechuguilla cave system in the USA is 193km long and 500m deep with astonishing crystal formations hanging from its chambers. Although often overlooked, caves are remarkable habitats with equally bizarre wildlife. Cave angel fish cling to the walls behind cave waterfalls with microscopic hooks on their flattened fins. Cave swiftlets navigate by echo-location and build nests out of saliva. The Texas cave salamander has neither eyes nor pigment. Unique access to a hidden world of stalactites, stalagmites, snotites and troglodytes brings a wealth of surprises.

Zachary Quinto explores the unpredictable and terrifying phenomenon of sinkholes to determine just what causes them. He visits a Florida man whose brother was killed when their family home was literally swallowed whole by the Earth as well as a series of sinkholes that are forming a series of caves right below the houses of a quaint suburban neighbourhood.
Whether they be a part of some biblical prophecy or further evidence of mankind's effect on our planet, he's alarmed to discover that all the same, they can strike anywhere in the world, at any time.

In the second episode of Asia – Above the Clouds, you will witness the incredible inhabitants of the continent’s mountainous regions. Watch elephants roaming the high-altitude tea plantations of India and swifts gathering in the majestic limestone caves of Thailand. In Pakistan, witness markhors battling on sheer cliffs, while in the forested foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal, you’ll encounter one of Asia’s most elusive mammals—the red panda. This episode unveils the secrets of life at the highest points on Earth and showcases how diverse species have adapted to the extreme conditions of the mountains.

Across two continents and from one pole to the other, this spectacular wildlife series explores the wonders, mysteries and fragilities of the Americas. Narrated by Tom Hanks, it reveals extraordinary animal behaviour, dramatic struggles for survival and some of the planet’s most varied landscapes, from frozen wilderness and ancient forests to deserts, tropical seas and vast grasslands. Filmed over five years and more than 180 expeditions, the series combines intimate wildlife stories with remarkable natural spectacles, showing both the resilience of life and the delicate balance on which these ecosystems depend.
In the first three episodes, the journey begins along the Atlantic Coast, where wild horses battle, bald eagles pursue ospreys, sharks move among great shoals of fish, raccoons adapt to city life and black bears search ancient forests for food. It then heads south into Mexico, where deserts meet the tropics and pygmy owls, hunting orcas, orchid bees and mysterious creatures in flooded caves reveal a hidden world of astonishing diversity. Finally, the Wild West brings an even harsher test of survival, as coyotes face a snowbound Yellowstone, hundreds of rattlesnakes emerge from their winter refuges, woodpeckers compete to store food, bison clash across the Great Plains and immense gatherings of cranes continue one of nature’s most ancient migrations.