Monterey Bay on California's coast is one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, its giant kelp forest bursting with life, from microscopic plankton to visiting ocean giants. The secret key to success in such a busy microworld is balance. Steve Backshall guides us through the unique geography of the bay and introduces some of its key characters in a quest to find the one species that keeps life in the kelp forest in check.

A look at one of the most famous habitats on the planet, the Serengeti in East Africa, a vast grassland that is home to some of the greatest concentrations of herbivores on the continent. But what is the key to this exceptional grassland that allows such density and diversity?

Steve Backshall lifts the lid on an incredible world of intricate relationships and unexpected hardship in the Amazon rainforest, explores the way that the jungle's inhabitants interact, and reveals a hidden secret that might just be what keeps the whole place alive.

Wildlife documentary series in which naturalist Nick Baker hunts down some of the strangest creatures on the planet. Nick journeys to the Andes to seek out the giant 'saggy-skinned' Lake Titicaca frog, the world's largest aquatic frog

Documentary granting a unique and privileged access into the magical world of whales and dolphins, uncovering the secrets of their intimate lives as never before.

This episode explores the intimate details of the largest animals that have ever lived on our planet - the great whales. From the balmy waters of the Indian Ocean to the freezing seas of the Arctic, two daring underwater cameramen - Doug Allan, Planet Earth's polar specialist, and Didier Noirot, Cousteau's front-line cameraman - come face-to-face with fighting humpback whales and two-hundred-ton feeding blue whales.

Humans have long wondered if the universe may harbour other intelligent life forms. But perhaps we need look no further than our oceans?

Whales and dolphins are nature's supreme vocalists, with a repertoire to put an opera singer to shame. The mighty sperm whale produces deafening clicks in its blowhole which it uses to locate giant squid two miles down in the ocean abyss, while migrating narwhals use similar sounds to pinpoint vital breathing holes in Arctic ice-floes.

Four marine experts explore the planet's greatest wilderness - the oceans. They reveal the hidden stories of the deep through archaeology, geology, marine biology and anthropology.

The team investigates why parts of the Southern Ocean are warming twice as fast as the rest of the world's oceans and looks at the impact of this phenomenon.

The team explores the remote and unexplored Southern Red Sea, teeming with marine life and home to some of the warmest waters on the planet.

The team explores a corner of the Atlantic Ocean. This ocean is the youngest of the great oceans and critical in influencing our climate.

In the first of two episodes in the rich tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the team explore its remote and pristine underwater worlds.

The team explores the coastal waters of the Indian Ocean to discover what happens when the powerful Indian Ocean collides with the edge of a continent.

The team embarks on an expedition to explore the profound effect that man is having on the Mediterranean Sea. Western civilisation developed around its shores, but now human activity is threatening to destroy it.

The team ventures into one of the world's most hostile environments, the Arctic Ocean, which plays a crucial role in controlling our climate.

Extraordinary photography reveals the incredible swarm intelligence that lies behind animal invasions.

In the first episode, Dr Alice Roberts looks at how our skeleton reveals our incredible evolutionary journey. Trekking through the forests of our ancient ancestors, she goes to meet the apes who still live there today - chimpanzees.

In this second episode Dr Alice Roberts charts how our ancestors’ hunt for food has driven the way we look and behave today – from the shape of our face, to the way we see and even the way we attract the opposite sex.

In the wake of the swine flu outbreak, virologist Dr Mike Leahy uses over 50 years of BBC archive to explore the history of pandemics - infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites.

Panorama investigates the global advance of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and the threat they pose to modern medicine and millions of patients worldwide. Reporter Fergus Walsh travels to India and finds restricted, life-saving antibiotics on sale without prescription and talks to NHS patients whose recovery depends on them.

Ant colonies are one of the wonders of nature - complex, organised and mysterious. This programme reveals the secret, underground world of the ant colony in a way that's never been seen before. At its heart is a massive, full-scale ant nest, specially-designed and built to allow cameras to see its inner workings

This episode looks at the influence of the sun and reveals how its seasonal journey affects the lives of all creatures.

Fresh water defines the distribution of life on land. Follow the descent of rivers from their mountain sources to the sea. Watch spectacular waterfalls, fly inside the Grand Canyon and explore the wildlife in the world's deepest lake.

Caves are remarkable habitats with equally bizarre wildlife. Cave angel fish cling to the walls behind waterfalls with microscopic hooks on their fins. Cave swiftlets navigate by echo-location and build nests out of saliva. The Texas cave salamander has neither eyes nor pigment. Planet Earth gets unique access to a hidden world of stalactites, stalagmites, snotites and troglodytes.

12-01-2007, Around 30% of the land's surface is desert, the most varied of our ecosystems despite the lack of rain. Saharan sandstorms reach nearly a mile high and desert rivers run for a single day.

The Arctic and Antarctic experience the most extreme seasons on Earth. Time-lapse cameras watch a colony of emperor penguins, transforming them into a single organism. The film reveals new science about the dynamics of emperor penguin behaviour. In the north, unique aerial images show a polar bear swimming more than 100km. Diving for up to two minutes at a time. The exhausted polar bear later attacks a herd of walrus in a true clash of the Titans.

06-01-2007, Jungles cover roughly three per cent of our planet yet contain 50 per cent of the world's species. High-definition cameras enable unprecedented views of animals living on the dark jungle floor

06-01-2007, A humpback whale mother and calf embark on an epic journey from tropical coral paradises to storm ravaged polar seas.

05-01-2007, The Taiga forest, on the edge of the Arctic, is a silent world of stunted conifers. The trees may be small but filming from the air reveals its true scale. A third of all trees on Earth grow here and during the short summer they produce enough oxygen to change the atmosphere.