Sir David Attenborough takes a breath-taking journey through the vast and diverse continent of Africa as it's never been seen before. From the richness of the Cape of Good Hope to blizzards in the high Atlas Mountains, from the brooding jungles of the Congo to the steaming swamps and misty savannahs, Africa explores the whole continent. An astonishing array of previously unknown places are revealed along with bizarre new creatures and extraordinary behaviours. Using the latest in filming technology including remote HD cameras, BBC One takes an animal's eye view of the action. The journey begins in the Kalahari, Africa's ancient southwest corner, where two extraordinary deserts sit side by side and even the most familiar of its creatures have developed ingenious survival techniques. Black rhinos reveal a lighter side to their character as they gather around a secret waterhole. Springbok celebrate the arrival of rains with a display of 'pronking'. Bull desert giraffes endure ferocious battles for territory in a dry river bed.

The series, depicted by state of the art CGI techniques, and applying the laws of life on Earth to the rest of the galaxy, blends fact with science fiction and conceptualizes what alien life might be like on other planets.
In the prologue, astronomer Didier Queloz makes an appearance to discuss the discoveries of exoplanets and how they are analyzed in the real world. In Episode 1, the fictional world imagined is Atlas, a world with higher gravity than Earth and a thicker atmosphere leading to airborne creatures. In explaining the aliens of Atlas, the episode also explores the handicap principle in insects, and shows a rehabilitative form of falconry as captive falcons are trained to live in the wild.

The Dutch Golden Age saw map-making reach a fever pitch of creative and commercial ambition. This was the era of the first ever Atlases - elaborate, lavish and beautiful. This was the great age of discovery and marked an unprecedented opportunity for mapmakers who sought to record and categorise the newly acquired knowledge of the world. Rising above the many mapmakers in this period was Gerard Mercator, inventor of the Mercator projection, who changed mapmaking forever when he published his collection of world maps in 1598 and coined the term 'Atlas'. The programme looks at some of the largest and most elaborate maps ever produced, from the vast maps on the floor of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, to the 24 volume atlas covering just the Netherlands, to the largest Atlas in the world, The Klencke Atlas. It was made for Charles II to mark his restoration in 1660. But whilst being one of the British Libraries most important items, it is also one of its most fragile so hardly ever opened. This is a unique opportunity to see inside this enormous and lavish work, and see the world through the eyes of a King.

On a trip to the fortified Moroccan village of Ait-Ben-Haddou in the Atlas Mountains, Professor Brian Cox reveals how by watching the stars' motion across the night sky, it is quite natural for man to think he is at the centre of everything. That view was held for many ages, but innate human curiosity has eventually led to an understanding of mankind's true place in space and time, and an appreciation that Earth is not a focal point but a mere particle of rock in a possibly infinite expanse of space, 13.8 billion years from the beginning of the universe.

Explore the breathtaking extremes of our planet in this captivating episode. Journey through the vast Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam, the largest on Earth. Witness the resilience of life in harsh conditions, marvel at the adaptation strategies of species like the blind cave fish and the enduring Arctic wolf pack. In the Arctic, observe the strategic hunt of wolves preying on musk oxen, a dance as old as the Ice Age. In the French Alps, the struggle for mating among common frogs unfolds, showcasing the urgency and challenges faced by cold-blooded animals. Witness the social dynamics of Barbary macaques in the cedar forests of the Atlas Mountains, where survival hinges on social bonds. The forests of Mexico, home to millions of monarch butterflies that huddle for warmth, illustrates the fragility and beauty of nature.
Discover how fire shapes ecosystems in South Africa's fynbos and Northern Australia, crucial for the survival of species like the golden-shouldered parrot. The documentary poignantly addresses the impact of changing climates and human intervention on wildlife, from the endangered elephants of Amboseli, Kenya, to the secretive snow leopards of the Gobi Desert. This episode offers a profound glimpse into the extraordinary adaptations and challenges faced by wildlife across the globe, reminding us of the delicate balance and beauty of life on Earth.