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Episode 1 – Birth of the Earth

At the very dawn of time a cataclysmic collision with Earth hurled millions of tonnes of debris into space and almost destroyed the planet completely. Instead it is this chance collision that formed the moon and in turn triggered an extraordinary sequence of events that formed this unique planet teaming with life. The moon, our closest neighbour, seems a peaceful presence in our night sky. Yet its story is violently entwined with Earth’s. Four and half billion years ago, in the chaos of the early solar system, 20 proto planets zoom around the inner solar system. A Mars sized object smashes into our young planet Earth with the force of many billions of nuclear bombs. As the vapourised Earth reels from the impact, the moon forms out of the dust and rock debris that gravitates around it. Days are just 6 hours long, giant mile high tides rip around the planet and surface is continually bombarded by comets and asteroids. This world is completely inhospitable to life and yet remarkably, within a few thousand million years, life takes a hold. And all this is possible because of the moon. Mixing Earth’s organic rich oceans with giant tides, slowing Earth’s rotation and stabilising Earth’s axis, the moon plays a vital role in progression of life. Without this violent beginning, we have no moon and without the moon this planet would be a barren rock. Discovery the amazing story of chance events that gave birth to this unique and beautiful planet.

Episode 2 – Snowball Earth

The Earth was once entombed in sheets of ice miles deep, extinguishing nearly all life. In this show we travel to the ends of the earth with intrepid scientists investigating the Snowball Earth event. Could this controversial theory be the key to the evolution of mankind on Earth? Deep in the Australian outback a smooth grey stone stands out in the parched red earth. The stone is over 630 million years old and proves that Australia used to be buried under ice. It’s a tantalising sign of the global freeze that once enveloped every inch of this planet. In Alaska, a group of American scientists highlight the power, possibilities and history of this icy world. We climb the overhangs of the vast Matanuska glacier, cave deep into the ice crevasses of White Out and land on the smouldering summit of the Mt. Augustine volcano. However, it is back in South Australia that this ancient climate disaster reveals its most extraordinary twist. Stamped in the rugged rocks there is a vital clue – one of the world’s first ever multi-cellular organisms. Only slightly older than the global freeze itself, is this fossil the crucial evidence that Snowball Earth created complex life on Earth?

Episode 3 – Planet of Fire

250 Million years ago our planet was a very different place. Earth had one mass continent known as Pangea- a lush oasis swarming with life forms distinct to those that exist today. Millions of years before the era of Dinosaurs, mammal like creatures roam the land, while an immense array of creatures inhabit the sea. Then in almost the blink of a geological eye everything changed. Life itself was almost completely wiped out. But what was responsible for the biggest extinction event in the history of the planet? Now scientists believe they have solved the biggest murder mystery of all time. Piecing together evidence from all over the world, leading experts believe that the culprit responsible for obliterating 95% of life on Earth was a massive volcanic eruption, one which covered millions of cubic miles with lava and set off a chain of events which would have catastrophic consequences for all forms of life at the time!

Episode 4 – Asteroid Strike

Dinosaurs rose up as rulers of the Earth 250 million years ago, eventually commanding every niche and dominating all other species. Mammals were relegated to the shadows. But 65 million years ago the Earth is rocked by another great catastrophe. We discover the trail of tantalizing clues that lead to the discovery of what killed the dinosaurs and ultimately lead to the evolution of humans. Our journey begins near the French-Spanish border. The discovery of traces of an extra-terrestrial element in the coastal rocks of Zumaya, now a surfers paradise, provide the first sign that the culprit for the dinosaurs demise may have come from outer space. Travelling across America’s West and in to the Canadian badlands we gather further clues to confirm this premise. But if an impact was responsible, where did it hit the Earth? We tell the amazing story of the discovery of the crater on the coast of Mexico – the “smoking gun” that proved an asteroid the size of Mount Everest slammed in to the Earth 65 million years ago. By pure cosmic chance, the mighty dinosaurs are wiped out. Now the small mammals sheltering in the ground have a chance to emerge on the stage, and evolve into the creatures that control the Earth.

Episode 5 – Survival Earth

Today we humans run the show. But it has not always been that way. Many other species have dominated and died at the hands of our capricious planet. Whether it was an asteroid from the sky or lava from below it seems that on a timeline the chances of survival for all sophisticated life becomes zero. So what of mankind? In this, the final episode of the series, we look at key events over the last 100,000 years that could have changed everything. The Super Volcano that nearly wiped us off the map before we got going, Glacial Periods that covered Europe with Ice Sheets kilometres thick and the Asteroid that is believed to have changed life forever for the early inhabitants of North America. The journey takes us to the bottom of a cave in Ohio, the top of an active volcano in Alaska, to the site of our biggest volcanic threat and the world’s most powerful gun. We meet the experts and learn of the devastation wreaked during our time on the planet and of the potential threats that lie in wait for us in the not too distant future.

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