Wider Watching in Geography
What’s on demand?
We’ve pulled together a collection of great TV programs every geographer should watch. Got a recommendation? Contact us using the form below.
Panorama
Climate Change: What can we do?
The government has promised Britain will radically reduce carbon emissions to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. To get there, we’ll need to make big changes to the way we live – to our homes, how we travel, and what we eat – but how much difference will these changes really make? With the help of a family in Nottingham, Justin Rowlatt finds out what are the most important things we can do and asks what the government is doing to encourage us to change the way we live.
The Americas
Simon Reeve travels the entire length of the Americas
In this first leg of his epic journey, Simon travels from the frozen beauty of Alaska down through Canada to Vancouver and the border with the United States.
In this second leg, Simon is in the United States travelling down the Rocky Mountains from Montana to Colorado. In the wide-open prairies of Montana, the cowboy way of life is under threat from a long-term decline in the rural economy, but Simon meets a former Silicon Valley executive who has envisaged a new future for the land. The hugely ambitious American Prairie Reserve is attempting to turn three million acres of former ranches, farms and public lands into a protected habitat for America’s wildlife, reintroducing iconic species long extinct, including the North American bison. It is a move being welcomed by native American groups still living under the shadow of historical injustice.
Earth’s Great Rivers
Revealing the extraordinary animals, astonishing landscapes and remarkable people who live alongside the Amazon, Mississippi and Nile.
Available until December 2019
Available until December 2019
Available until December 2019
Episode duration: 59 minutes
Earth from Space
Cameras in space tell stories of life on our planet from a brand new perspective, revealing new discoveries, incredible colours and patterns, and just how fast it is changing.
S1 Episode 1 – A new perspective
Available until March 2020
S1 Episode 2 – Patterned Planet
Available until March 2020
S1 Episode 3 – Colourful Planet
Available until March 2020
S1 Episode 4 – Changing Planet
Available until March 2020
The Equator from the air
In a defining moment for the natural world, Gordon Buchanan makes an epic journey round the equator – taking to the skies with experts racing to protect both wildlife and people.
Available until end of June 2019
Available until end of June 2019
Stacey Dooley Investigates
Stacey Dooley uncovers the shocking environmental impact caused by an insatiable appetite for cheap clothing.
Available until end of June 2019
David Attenborough
Sacred Rivers with Simon Reeves
Adventurer Simon Reeve discovers stories from parts of the world that cannot be grasped without understanding the vast influence of their rivers.
Available until end of May 2020
Available until end of May 2020
Available until end of May 2020
Before the Flood
Leonardo DiCaprio crisscrosses the globe to investigate the consequences of climate change and the measures being taken to reverse it.
Rating: PG
Duration: 1h:36m
Africa
A six-part nature series chronicling stories of survival on the African continent.
Episode 1 – Kalahari
Episode 2 – Savannah
Episode 3 – Congo
Episode 4 – Cape
Episode 5 – Sahara
Episode 6 – The Future
Rating: PG
Duration: Approximately 50 minutes per episode
Our Planet
Experience our planet’s natural beauty and examine how climate change impacts all living creatures in this ambitious David Attenborough documentary of spectacular scope.
Episode 1 – One Planet
Episode 2 – Frozen Worlds
Episode 3 – Jungles
Episode 4 – Coastal Seas
Episode 5 – From Deserts to Grasslands
Episode 6 – The High Seas
Episode 7 – Fresh Water
Episode 8 – Forests
Rating: U
Duration: Approximately 50 minutes per episode
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Based on the book of the same name, this movie tells the real-life story of William Kamkwamba, who saved his village by inventing a windmill.
Rating: PG
Duration: 1h:33m
Into the Inferno
With stunning views of eruptions and lava flows, Werner Herzog captures the raw power of volcanoes and their ties to indigenous spiritual practices.
Rating: 12
Duration: 1h:47m
Explained
In less than 20 minutes, the show tackles various topics, from the water crisis to the racial wealth gap, in an accessible way. Please be aware that these episodes are age rated 15.
Recommended episodes: The World’s Water Crisis & Can we live forever?
Rating: 15
Duration: 20 mins/episode
A Plastic Ocean
When he discovers the world’s oceans brimming with plastic waste, a documentary filmmaker investigates the pollution’s environmental impacts.
Rating: All
Duration: 1h 40m
Cowspiracy – The sustainability project
Learn how factory farming is decimating the planet’s natural resources and why this crisis has been largely ignored by major environmental groups.
Rating: All
Duration: 1h:30m
Chasing Coral
Divers, scientists and photographers around the world mount an epic underwater campaign to document the disappearance of coral reefs.
Rating: PG
Duration: 1h:29m
The Future of Water
Divers, scientists and photographers around the world mount an epic underwater campaign to document the disappearance of coral reefs.
Episode 1 – Waterlords
Episode 2 – New Uncertainties
Episode 3 – Water Age
Rating: All
Duration: Approximately 50 minutes per episode
Extreme Everest with Ant Middleton
Ant Middleton gets trapped in an unexpected, life-threatening storm as he attempts to climb Everest. And he seeks to understand the attraction of such a popular but dangerous challenge.
Davina McCall: Life at the Extreme
In this four-part documentary series, Davina McCall travels to some of the hottest, coldest, deepest and wettest places on earth to discover how some of the most extraordinary animals on the planet survive in its most hostile environments.
Davina McCall visits the most extreme places on Earth. In Namibia, she discovers an incredibly diverse range of life, and learns how to survive in the scorching heat.