Worlds Planet

Shine a light into the unknown

Antarctica - a land of survivors enduring the most hostile conditions on earth. 98 per cent of the mainland is covered by ice on which virtually nothing can live. Even the sea freezes over, but the Weddell seal manages to survive here by keeping its breathing holes open by using its teeth to grind away the ice.

South America - the most species-rich continent on earth. From the bone-dry deserts of the Atacama, where penguins weave their way through a minefield of snapping sea lions, to the lush cloud forests of the Andes, where Andean bears scale 30-metre trees in search of elusive fruits, South America is full of the unusual and ingenious.

Asia is the largest and most extreme continent on our planet, stretching from the Arctic Circle in the north to the tropical forests on the equator. The animals here face the hottest deserts, tallest jungles and highest mountains found anywhere on Earth. But the continent has not always looked like this. These extreme worlds were created when India collided with the rest of Asia 30 million years ago, shaping the continent as we know it today. Animals here have adapted to the extreme environments in almost unbelievable ways.

David Attenborough narrates a look at life on each of the seven continents, revealing how each distinct land mass has shaped the creatures found there and the many challenges faced by animals in a modern world dominated by humans.

Australia, a land cast adrift at the time of the dinosaurs. Isolated for millions of years, the weird and wonderful animals marooned here are like nowhere else on Earth. In the north of this island continent is the Daintree, one of the world’s oldest tropical forests. It’s home to the most dangerous bird on earth - the cassowary. A dinosaur-like bird standing 6 feet tall, they are formidable but their success is down to how well a father cassowary can carefully protect his tiny stripy chicks. Inland the continent is full of more surprises. The wombat, a tough short-legged marsupial, roams Australia’s mountain ranges surviving freezing snowstorms.