Enter a world filled with the most spectacular freaks of nature on the planet. Here you will find a weird and wonderful collection of leaping spiders, snot-casting fish, blood-sucking bats, flesh-boring bugs, and other bizarre creatures occupying our land, sea, and sky. Join us as we celebrate oddities of all shapes, sizes, and species, giving an up-close view of them in their natural habitat, and revealing how these misfits of nature have developed their strange adaptations over tens of millions of years.
Sprawling estates and magnificent castles dot Britain's landscape, passed down from one aristocratic heir or heiress to the next. But life in a stately home isn't quite the fairy tale it's made out to be. Join Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke as she ventures through some of the most storied and remarkable estates in Great Britain. From England's Newby Hall and Holdenby House to Scotland's Inveraray and Floors Castles, this is an all-access look at grand residences and the families who keep their histories alive.
A deep dive into the underbelly of the Prohibition era, which was characterized as much by jazz, illegal booze and female liberation as it was by gangsters and brutality.
Join Elizabeth McGovern as she takes an in-depth look at the young American heiresses whose real life stories inspired the acclaimed TV drama Downton Abbey. This series explores the time between the 1870s and the outbreak of World War One, when more than 200 daughters of America's new industrial millionaires marry into the money-strapped British aristocracy. They use their affluence, allure and ingenuity to their advantage, and they bring dramatic changes to the English ruling class and eventually the world.
In the heart of Beijing lies the largest palace in the world, The Forbidden City. For five hundred years, it served as the home of the almighty Emperors of China along with their wives, concubines, and entourages of tens of thousands of eunuchs and civil servants. But the Forbidden City is more than an imperial residence; it is the center of the universe, a unique complex of structures revealing a hierarchy of power both imperial and divine.
The parched and barren landscape of the Arabian Peninsula offers a vivid backdrop for life in the harsh desert. Water is scarce and death due to the extreme heat is common, yet a natural world continues to flourish. Follow some of the desert's most iconic creatures and learn the unique ways in which they've adapted to the stark conditions around them.
Around the world, a group of scientists are risking their lives to come face-to-face with the most fearsome sharks in the ocean. From researchers in Guadalupe attempting to attach a camera to a great white, to a dedicated 'shark lab' in the Bahamas investigating shark migration and overall intelligence, join a thrilling journey into the hidden habitats of these premier marine predators.
To many, the legacy of King Henry VIII begins and ends with his six wives. But remarkable though his marital history is, it is not what defines him. Just as influential were the men who surrounded him before and during his 37-year reign as King of England. Join host Dr. Tracy Borman as she reveals the story of Britain's most famous monarch and how his male advisors, ministers, family, and friends molded his views, shaped his destiny, suffered his ruthlessness, and, in the end, exploited his vulnerability.
Africa's diverse terrain is as awesome as it is deadly. With scalding volcanic fields, scorched-earth deserts, and violent waterways, discover what lives in some of the world's most inhospitable places and see how these species have adapted to thrive where others would perish.
Best friends come in all shapes, sizes, and species, from America to Australia, and from Britain to Zimbabwe. This six-part series looks at the cutest, funniest, and least expected animal relationships in the world, featuring animals that shouldn't get along but, for whatever reason, make their special bonds work. Join us as we travel the globe to meet an orphaned rhino calf and her dog and sheep companions, an orphaned baby kangaroo and a wombat, a zebra-donkey hybrid and two camels, and many more unusual but amazing friendships.
The evolutionary journey of life on Earth spans millions of years - and the results are as diverse as they are jaw-dropping. Travel through time as we explore the amazing adaptations that help certain species excel within their environments.
The story of Qin Shi Huang is as epic in life as it is in death. Crowned as a boy king over 2,000 years ago, he grew to unify China for the first time, establishing a new form of government, uniform laws, and a single writing system that is still in use today. He also ordered the construction of a royal tomb that is larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza and is guarded by a massive army of terracotta warriors. Explore the transformative life and magnificent afterlife of China's first emperor.
A half-hour documentary series set in a unique Arctic town with true northern exposure that provides a front-row seat for some of the closest human-bear encounters ever seen on television.
Some of the most coveted and valuable treasures from history's greatest games and players are missing or misidentified. It's up to the Sports Detectives to find the items and get to the truth. Follow private investigator Kevin Barrows and sports reporter Lauren Gardner as they travel the country on the hunt for Ali's missing Olympic gold medal, Jim Craig's Miracle on Ice flag, Dale Earnhardt's first racecar, and other legendary items.
Primates, like lemurs, baboons, and monkeys, are our closest living relatives, making them a source of endless human fascination. See their adaptability and resilience in action through their daily quests for food and shelter.
Embark on a journey into the world's most unforgiving arctic zones, where land and ice are inseparably joined. Swim through the mammoth Mackenzie Delta, or explore the great tundra of Nunavik. These hostile regions yield little for the hardy wildlife and local Inuit tribes that wait patiently for an all-too-brief summer.
The narrow coast that runs along the southern tip of Africa is home to an abundance of vibrant wildlife, thanks to the two ocean currents that wash up along its opposite shores. Explore the vast ecosystems that make it a haven for biodiversity.