Documentary
Stephen Tompkinson and hot air balloon pilot Robin Batchelor embark on the journey of a lifetime across the African continent. They experience the amazing abundance and diversity of wildlife and explore the relationship between Africa's game and its people.
Setting off in Tanzania, they travel over the Ngorongoro Crater, where one of the world's densest concentrations of game inhabits an enormous extinct volcanic crater. Landing in the Serengeti, Stephen shadows a local vet on his rounds treating the wildlife of the famous national park. Then he takes to the air again, this time heading westward into the dense forests of Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park in search of one of the planet's most awe-inspiring animals - the mountain gorilla.
Stephen’s African Balloon Adventure continues to the mountains of Rwanda, and the world famous Victoria Falls. Along the way Stephen tracks a leopard using 21st Century technology, visits an elephant orphanage and has a close encounters with lions and a leopard.
In this final programme of the series Stephen continues his African Balloon Adventure, travelling from Botswana to Namibia. On the way he encounters crocodiles, elephants, vultures and comes across a baboon who thinks he is a goat.
Himself - Presenter
The Earth’s continents are instantly recognizable. These iconic landmasses seem permanent and unchanging, yet they are merely the wreckage of a much larger long-lost supercontinent – Pangaea. In this stunning four part series Professor Iain Stewart uncovers the evidence for this ancient past. He reveals how the world around us is full of clues – in the rocks, the landscapes and even the animals. All of which tell us how the land we live on was created.
Africa is a land sculpted by time where animals have evolved complex weapons to arm them in the battle to live another day. An elephant's tusks can defend, or attack. An octopus uses camouflage to find food, or hide from an enemy. A Cape Fur Seal's speed and agility are valuable tools to catch a penguin, but ineffectual against a Great White Shark. A single hippopotamus holds a pride of twelve lions at bay with his sheer bulk, but backs down when faced with the piercing teeth of another hippo. With lethal weapons wielded by fearsome predators and prey, animals walk a precarious path, here among Africa's Deadliest.
In this four-part BBC documentary, former Monty Python funnyman and renowned globe-trotter Michael Palin sets off from Gibraltar to travel across the Sahara, his witty humor downplaying the hardships he faces along the arduous journey. He travels to Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and beyond, across some of the harshest terrain on the planet.
This series explores the facts and investigates the truth behind the British Redcoat Army's campaign in Zululand during 1879. The war was started by a country at the height of it's imperial powers and prosecuted by an army charged with the responsibility of implementing a policy known as Confederation - a proposal to unite various black and white factions in South Africa under British authority. Interviews, on-location footage and new geological surveys all help to reconstruct the conflicts and give insight into the tactics used in these epic battles.
Stephen Tompkinson's adventure begins in dramatic fashion when his maiden flight over South Australia's Flinders Ranges ends in a crash landing at 40 mph. But he presses on to the Barossa Valley, where a serene flight over the vineyards is followed by a far from calm cricket match against local winemakers - the outcome of which sends Stephen packing for Victoria and a spell on the mighty Murray River. Stephen's bid to win Australia’s biggest balloon competition continues. A childhood dream is fulfilled when he walks out onto the pitch of the Melbourne Cricket Ground during an Aussie Rules game - and trumped the following morning when his balloon flies through the ground's goalposts. His balloon truck gets a makeover and the city's Greek festival nearly ends in a diplomatic incident. Then heavy rain prevents him flying over Canberra - and to get back on track he risks a flight to 10,000 feet. Actor Stephen Tompkinson's attempt to win Australia's prestigious Canowindra Balloon Challenge concludes in this final episode. Stephen heads to Sydney, where he samples some of the city's culinary delights with MasterChef's Matt Preston, helps judge a drag competition, and receives some encouragement from the British High Commissioner to Australia. When the day of the race finally arrives, he meets his competitors at Canowindra. The teams have to hit three targets laid out over the countryside, but things start disastrously for Stephen when he misreads the wind and drifts off-course. Can he recover and win the challenge?
