The Biblical Plagues - Duel on the Nile: In the first episode of the three-part series, The Biblical Plagues, scholars deal with the first six natural disasters. In the Nile, scientists discovered deadly microorganisms that caused the fish to die and a stress situation among the frog population.
Giacomo Casanova was born in Venice in 1725, to poor parents. Initially, he is expected to become a priest, but he is ultimately going to reject this career path. His destiny is governed by the love of women, and he challenges the most powerful institutions of his time: the Catholic Church and the Venetian Inquisition. For Casanova, life in decadent Venice is an on-going feast for the senses.
Wandering Wolves - Episode 2: In Part Two of the documentary, the wolf experts Luigi Boitani, Francesca Marucco, Ilka Reinhardt and Hubert Potocnik track the animals all the way across Europe. We see how wolves often cover over a thousand kilometres on their migrations. They swim through fast-flowing rivers and traverse icy mountain ranges and multi-lane motorways.
Wandering Wolves - Episode 1: For most Europeans, the wolf is more of a myth than an actual wild animal. But since the nineties, Isengrim has been making his way back to the middle of the continent, kilometre by painstaking kilometre. Part One of ‘Wandering Wolves' follows the renowned biologist Francesca Marucco and other experts on the trail of an Italian nomad wolf on his way to the French Maritime Alps.
When Jason and his crew of 50 men set sail, a dangerous journey to what was then known as the end of the world lies ahead of the Greek heroes. The young hero had a one-of-a-kind galley built for the voyage, which he baptized "Argo." The mighty rowing boat was designed to take the committed band to the legendary land of Colchis, beyond the Dardanelles.
In Lake Kivu, on the borders of Rwanda and Congo, there is methane gas worth $25 billion. Enough to supply central Africa's energy needs for generations. But if it explodes, it will kill up to two and a half million people living on Lake Kivu's shores. The danger is real.
He is one of the greatest German explorers of all time even though his name fell into oblivion: As luck would have it, in 1772 17-year-old Georg Forster was given the chance to accompany the greatest navigator of his time, James Cook, on his world circumnavigation. On this voyage, Captain Cook discovered islands and peoples, while Georg Forster focused on animals and plants, discovering more than 400 species that had been unknown to Europeans until then. “Terra X” follows German actor Robert Atzorn on his search for traces around the world. He gets to know a young man, whose philosophy and conception of the world still appear to be really modern. Sophisticated dramatic reconstructions bring the fateful sea journey to life. The film portrays a great natural scientist whose knowledge and legacy determined patterns for scientific research in the 21st century.
At the bottom of the Baltic Sea lies a cog, a relic of the might of the German Hanse, a league of merchantmen founded about 1200 AD. Archaeologists are retracing its final voyage using state of the art technology as well as ancient scripts. Their search takes them to the Norwegian port of Bergen, to the Shetlands and even as far as Iceland.
Return of the Bible Plagues - Hailstorm: “… and the Lord sent thunder and hail, … and fire mingled with the hail,” reports the Old Testament. “And the hail smote … all that was in the field, both man and beast.” (Exodus 9:23–25).
Return of the Bible Plagues - Mosquitos: “… so there were lice upon man, and upon beast,” reports the Bible, “all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 8:18, 17). Even today, two million people die every year from malaria transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly in Africa.
Return of the Bible Plagues - Deadly Waters: “... all the waters that were in the river [Nile] were turned to blood. And all the fish that was in the river died,” reports the Bible, “and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river.” (Exodus 7:20–21).
Monsters have always been part of our nightmares and fairy tales. But where do they actually come from? How much of them is truth, how much is myth? Going to great lengths in this documentary, the filmmakers join scientists to explore a number of the best known sagas and legends in the world.
The Biblical Plagues - Flight from Egypt: Although nine disastrous plagues had already devastated the land along the Nile, Pharaoh remained stubborn and would not release Moses and his people from slavery. And so their God, Yahweh, planned his final assault: At midnight, he sent death over Egypt – all the firstborn, Man or beats, had to die … there was no escape.
The Biblical Plagues - Darkness over Egypt: For a long time, scientists have tried to prove that nine of the Ten Plagues described in the Old Testament point to a serious breakdown of the climate, triggering an ecological chain reaction. Apart from theological considerations, scholars all over the world have studied individual phenomena, trying to explain the causes of this Biblical disaster.
The Biblical Plagues - Duel on the Nile: In the first episode of the three-part series, The Biblical Plagues, scholars deal with the first six natural disasters. In the Nile, scientists discovered deadly microorganisms that caused the fish to die and a stress situation among the frog population.
In the waters surrounding New Zealand live a number of dolphin species - each of which has evolved unique strategies in their family pods to survive and thrive in the different habitats around these islands in the Pacific Ocean. On the east coast of the south island off the iconic Kaikoura peninsula, an underwater canyon pushes water seething with nutrients to the surface which provides a year round banquet for huge pods of dusky dolphins. These athletic and highly social dolphins spend their nights feeding out in the canyon, and in early morning they return closer to shore where they rest socialize and play. One of their favourite activities is the “seaweed game” where individuals pass pieces of seaweed to each other practicing fancy maneuvers where they'll catch it on their tail, dorsal or pectoral fins. Down in the south west corner of New Zealand in the majestic landscape of Fiordland live the southern-most bottlenose dolphins. At almost 4 metres long these dolphins have adapted physically to the extreme winter conditions down here by growing bigger and fatter with extra insulating blubber and evolving stubbier beaks and shorter fins and tail flukes to reduce heat loss through their extremities. These fiords are different to the coastal environment in that freshwater sits on top of the denser seawater in a distinct layer, and is much colder than the saltwater and can prove lethal to the pods' calves in winter, so every year the bottlenose dolphins make a short migration to the outer fiords where there is less freshwater to enable their calves to survive. Off New Zealand's north island, in the middle of the Bay of Plenty, the country's most active volcano erupts from the sea, sending plumes of toxic gases rising skywards. In the water surrounding this volcano roam common dolphins - the nomads of the dolphin world. They are pelagic predators which mean they roam the open ocean searching for prey.
Sex is at the heart of everything. It's the only real way of leaving a legacy - in the genes of the future. But there's more than just the act - it's the build up to it when wildlife shows its incredible diversity. It drives touching courtships and fierce battles. Hormones and sex drive are forces that shape behaviour and can change an animal's purpose and persona. This is the story of how wild things get sexy.
The Story of Europe - State of Play: Europe has never experienced such a long period of peace and prosperity as after the Second World War. When the Iron Curtain falls in 1989, the dream of a Europe united in peace and freedom seems finally to become reality. But whether financial or refugee crisis - the European euphoria has disappeared, nationalists are on the rise again.
The Story of Europe - Commonalities and Division: Europe has been a battle concept for centuries: it often takes foreign enemies to weld the Europeans together. But for centuries, they are primarily fighting against themselves. It was not until the Enlightenment and the French Revolution of 1789 that a new idea of Europe emerged based on common values: freedom, equality and fraternalism.
The Story of Europe - Achievements and Rewards: Europe's history has many dark sides, but its culture is more than a small gleam of hope, it radiates in many areas far out into the world. The old continent sets standards in art, literature and science. Starting with the ancient Greeks, Europe produces a number of smart and creative minds: from Aristotle to Michelangelo and Einstein, from Beethoven to the Beatles.