The Life of Mammals episode 1, David Attenborough explores the “winning design” that has enabled mammals to become one of the most successful and diverse groups of animals on the planet. This success stems from a few key mammalian characteristics: being warm-blooded, having insulating fur or hair, and producing milk for their young.
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Rachel’s Farm: Rachel Ward, an acclaimed director and actress, is the last person most would associate with the world of farming. Yet, when faced with relentless droughts, devastating bushfires, and mounting ecological despair, she decided to take an extraordinary leap. Rather than succumbing to the challenges around her, Rachel found solace, inspiration, and ultimately hope in an unexpected place: the soil beneath her feet. This marked the beginning of a transformative journey—one that would reshape not only her Australian farm but also her perspective on life.
Before the arrival of the British and Europeans, Australia’s Indigenous communities were no strangers to disputes and skirmishes among themselves, a testament to their resilience and complex societal structures
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A Cook Abroad episode 5 – Rick Stein’s Australia: Rick Stein is in Australia, a country he fell in love with on his first visit at the age of 19. On a journey in search of the ingredients revolutionising Australian cooking, Rick sets off from his new home in Mollymook, New South Wales, up to Sydney before flying to Tasmania. In Sydney, Rick revisits some of his old haunts and reminisces over his misspent youth, a time when he was fleeing a personal tragedy back home. In the fish market, where his love affair with Australian fish
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Rise of the Continents episode 2 – Australia: Professor Iain Stewart uncovers the mysterious history of Australia, and shows how Australia’s journey as a continent has affected everything from Aboriginal history to modern-day mining, and even the evolution of Australia’s bizarre wildlife, like the koala. Iain begins searching for the platypus – a strange creature that is half mammal and half reptile. 200 million years ago reptile-like mammals were found across much of the world because at this time Australia was just one part of a huge landmass called Gondwana, that dominated the southern hemisphere. Piecing together evidence
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Australia Earth’s Magical Kingdom episode 3 – Human: Despite Australia’s relatively small population, the human impact on wildlife has been dramatic. This episode explores Australia’s natural history success stories and those being left behind as the continent undergoes rapid change. Starting in Australia’s second largest city Melbourne, this film sees how possums, tree-dwelling marsupials, have taken to sharing trees in busy city parks. They are breeding successfully but when pressure from the neighbours becomes too great, they risk encounters with heavy traffic and domestic cats in order to find shelter in rooves and garden sheds. Meanwhile, the cold-blooded
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Australia Earth’s Magical Kingdom episode 2 – Ocean: This episode sets out to understand why marine species are drawn to the coasts of Australia and discovers that the country’s three surrounding oceans – the Southern Sea, the Pacific and The Indian Ocean – create a unique environment for ocean voyagers of all types. In the clean waters of Pearson Island off South Australia, Australian sea lions, once a rare sight are now protected from hunting and are thriving. Meanwhile in the wide shallows of Spencer Gulf, June is the time for a midwinter gathering of spectacularly colourful giant
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Australia Earth’s Magical Kingdom episode 1 – Land : Asked to imagine Australia’s wilderness many people immediately picture its arid outback, but its landscapes are in fact surprisingly varied. Traveling from the peaks of the aptly-named Snowy Mountains – touched by Antarctic winds – to tropical Queensland we discover how animals have learned to thrive across the continent’s harsh and beautiful extremes. We meet an echidna, a curious creature related to the only other monotreme on the planet, the platypus, that has the rare ability to lower its body temperature to endure icy winters. The Dryandra Woodlands south
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