David Attenborough looks for crucial clues that help to explain how and why we have come to dominate life on Earth.

Bright blue starfish, crimson feather stars, shell-less snails in designs as extravagant as any Paris fashion show, shrimps of every colour, others that are transparent - just a sample of the animal wonders to be found in a small area of the Great Barrier Reef.

For most of Earth's history there was no life on land. But over 400 million years ago some tiny plants began an invasion from the water, closely followed by the first animals - the ancestors of millipedes and insects.

The number of insect species runs into millions; a single termite colony may consist of a million individuals; a locust swarm even a million million.

Fish occur in populations of billions and there are over 30,000 species, more than in any other group of backboned animals. The development of the backbone was a crucial advance in evolution -and it probably came from a most unlikely source, a little jelly-like creature called a sea squirt.

Some 350 million years ago, evolution reached one of its most crucial stages when fish crawled from water onto the land and became amphibians. Today, newts, salamanders, toads and frogs still survive in great quantities, and there is even one species of frog where the male gives birth from its mouth! Presented by David Attenborough

David Attenborough looks at the history of reptiles, the first back-boned creatures to solve the problems of living high and dry on the land. Their waterproofed skin and sealed eggs enabled the mighty reptiles to rule the world.

The story of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now live around us. David Attenborough examines the uses and advantages of birds' unique possession - the feather. Man has yet to invent anything that, weight for weight, is as strong as the feather. Feathers are insulators, they provide the surface of the most perfect aerofoils known - bird's wings

Mammals have proved to be one of the most adaptable products of evolution. David Attenborough looks at their evolution from reptiles 200 million years ago. This remarkable transition involved the development of mechanisms for regulating body temperature, for allowing the young to develop in the womb and for suckling newborns.

David Attenborough brings us the universal story that unites each of us with every animal on the planet, the story of the greatest of all adventures - the journey through life. In the first episode, animals overcome their first great hurdle - surviving infancy.

In the journey towards adulthood, a moment comes for all animals when they must strike out on their own. With their parents absent they must learn to survive in a dangerous world. At this stage of life every small success may mean the difference between life and death.

Animals must find somewhere to live - a place that provides the necessities of life, shelter from the elements and a refuge from enemies.

Animals must try to gain a position of power in their worlds. The most powerful have best access to food and water, and they are also the most attractive to the opposite sex.

David Attenborough explores the courtship displays of flame bowerbirds and pufferfish.

In this final episode, animals attempt to rear their offspring.

Life Story takes us on the greatest of all adventures - the journey through life.

Two-part series in which Professor Jim Al-Khalili shows how, by uncovering its secrets, scientists have used light to reveal almost everything we know about the universe.

Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the story of how we went from thinking we were close to a complete understanding of the universe to realising we had seen almost none of it. Today, our best estimate is that more than 99 per cent of the cosmos is hidden in the dark, invisible to our telescopes and beyond our comprehension.

The scientists behind the scenes tell the extraordinary story of what really happened in the run up to the first lockdown, when ministers claimed to be 'following the science'.

Over 80 per cent of Madagascar's animals and plants are found nowhere else on Earth. Discover what made Madagascar so different from the rest of the world, and how evolution ran wild here.

Revealing the wildlife at home in Madagascar\'s most bizarre and dramatic places.

Follows the animals\' fortunes through the wet and dry seasons in this island of extremes.

A look at the eastern coast of the island and its unique wildlife.

Documentary series in which Dr Hannah Fry explores the mystery of maths. Is it invented like a language or is it discovered and part of the fabric of the universe?

Documentary series in which Dr Hannah Fry explores the mystery of maths. Is it invented like a language, or is it discovered and part of the fabric of the universe?

Documentary series. Dr Hannah Fry travels down the fastest zip wire in the world to learn more about Newton's ideas on gravity.

Documentary series. Dr Hannah Fry explores a paradox at the heart of modern maths, and what maths reveals about the fundamental building blocks of the universe.

In just seven years, Mark Zuckerberg has gone from his Harvard college dorm to running a business with 800 million users, and a possible value of $100 billion. His idea to 'make the world more open and connected' has sparked a revolution in communication, and now looks set to have a huge impact on business too.

Geologist Iain Stewart retraces the steps of a band of maverick pioneers who made ground-breaking discoveries in the landscape of Scotland about how our planet works.

Iain Stewart follows in the footsteps of the founding father of geology, James Hutton. This Scottish rogue was a profound and original thinker who, 250 years ago, overturned ancient beliefs about how and when the world was formed. His ideas clashed with those of the most eminent scientist of his day. Lord Kelvin was determined to prove Hutton wrong.