Nature of Australia: A Portrait of the Island Continent

The earliest explorers of Australia felt themselves to be in an alien world of bizarre animals and strange plants, a land left behind by time. That sense of strangeness pervades the perception of Australia to the present day.

This digitally remastered and internationally acclaimed documentary traces the making of Australia and the origins of its most extraordinary inhabitants. This series explores the diversity of the landscape, from the seas to the arid interior, the effects of the extremes of flood, drought and bushfire and examines the impact of two hundred years of European settlement on the land, its plants and animals.

Programs:

1. A Separate Creation: Traces the rise of the marsupials, from their beginnings in the primeval forests of ancient Gondwanaland to their triumph as the dominant animals in Australia, culminating in the kangaroos.
2. Seas Under Capricorn: The story of the seas that encircle Australia with a unique chain of marine environments from icy Antarctica to the marvels of the Great Barrier Reef.
3. The Making of the Bush: Ancient rainforests gave rise to the eucalypt woodlands and heathlands, and remarkable animals, from honeyeaters and possums to numbats and koalas.
4. The Sunburnt Country: Australia's arid interior is often called the dead heart. In fact, it teems with life, supported by a hidden network of buried rivers recharged by rare but heavy rains.
5. Land of Flood and Fire: Where life is governed by monsoonal flood and drought. The first people on the continent arrived here, and used fire to farm and manage the land.