Natural World (1983)
Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.
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Episode 1 - Mysteries of the Ocean Wanderers
Release Date: 1994-11-27Focusing on a pair of albatrosses during the year they produce and raise a chick, Mysteries of the Ocean Wanderers is an engaging and atmospheric insight into the wildlife of the sub-Antarctic Crozet Islands. Delving into a previously unknown area, the film follows the intriguing work of French scientist Henri Weimerskirch as he uses satellite tracking and time-depth recorders to follow the ever changing population of these remote isles.
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Episode 2 - Badlands
Release Date: 1994-12-04Documentary on the prairie dog of the South Dakota Badlands.
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Episode 3 - Hunters of the Sea Wind
Release Date: 1994-12-11Documentary showing life under the Pacific Ocean and the predatory life of the marlin, sailfish, sea snakes, dolphins and tuna, birds and turtles.
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Episode 4 - Parrots: Look Who's Talking!
Release Date: 1995-01-15Examines the parrot in the wild and sees how its natural behaviour is modified in a domesticated environment.
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Episode 5 - Avenue of the Volcanoes
Release Date: 1995-01-22Records the rare and unusual wildlife that lives in a remote volcanic area of Ecuador
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Episode 6 - Ytene: England's Ancient Forest
Release Date: 1995-01-29Documentary, filmed over a two year period, exploring the wildlife found in the New Forest in southern England, which the Saxons called Ytene. The woodland, bogs and heaths of the area are home to wild ponies, fallow deer, badgers, foxes, wildfowl, and insects. Seasonal changes are shown, and some elusive species, such as firecrests, hawfinches, woodlarks and tadpole shrimps are pictured. The programme is interwoven with a history of land use in the area from mediaeval times.
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Episode 7 - Gentle Jaws of the Serengeti
Release Date: 1995-02-12Focuses on a clan of spotted hyenas.
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Episode 8 - Monkey in the Mirror
Release Date: 1995-02-19Observes some of the behaviour of the Bonobos, pygmy chimpanzees that inhabit a remote area of rainforest in Zaire. The species is considered to be man's closest living relative.
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Episode 9 - Ocean Drifters
Release Date: 1995-02-26Examines the weird planktonic animals that drift in the current of the Gulf Stream as it passes Florida and enters the Atlantic. Follows a baby loggerhead turtle which hatches on a Florida beach and heads out to the Atlantic.
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Episode 10 - The Call of Kakadu
Release Date: 1995-03-05Follows a pair of kookaburras over the course of a year in the Kakadu National Park in Australia.
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Episode 11 - The Riddle of the Sands
Release Date: 1995-03-19Documentary on the wildlife found through the four seasons in the estuary of the River Ythan in north-east Scotland, a five-mile stretch of marshes, mud flats and sand banks situated some ten miles north of Aberdeen. The waters of the estuary are home to waders, wildfowl, shellfish, small crustaceans, fish and otters. The estuary is a nature reserve and, since the 1950s, the University of Aberdeen has been running a research project to examine its complex ecosystem.
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Episode 12 - Jewels of the Caribbean Sea
Release Date: 1995-04-02Delving deep into the tropical waters of the Caribbean Sea, this Emmy award-winning production celebrates the region’s bountiful life and impressive diversity. World-famous marine photographers Howard and Michele Hall explore this vast underwater world, their stunning cinematography bringing to light both the area’s radiant beauty, and that of its abundant wildlife population.
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Episode 13 - Survival of the Fittest: a Natural History of Sport
Release Date: 1995-04-16Looks at the aspects of nature with which sportsman come into contact.
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Episode 14 - Sulawesi: an Island Bewitched
Release Date: 1995-04-23Looks at some of the unusual fauna found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, including pig-like creatures which have curled tusks growing through their cheeks, punk-crested primates, the world's largest snake and birds that incubate their eggs in volcanic soil.
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Episode 15 - The Little Creatures of Africa's Hidden World
Release Date: 1995-04-30Filming in South Africa's Kruger National Park, looking at the lives of small creatures e.g dung beetle, ticks, termites etc.