Planet Earth
Deserts
TV Flash files “Deserts” as hour 5 of 11 in the TV Flash guide — Planet Earth (2006) on BBC/Discovery, season 1, episode 5, aired 2006-04-02, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E05: listed hour 5 of 11 in the Planet Earth guide, hour 5 of 11 in season 1. It aired 2006-04-02 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Caves” (S01E04). Next is “Ice Worlds” (S01E06).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
David Attenborough takes a look at deserts, which cover a third of the Earth's land surface. From space they appear lifeless but a closer look reveals a different picture. Deserts, in fact, are surprisingly varied; from Mongolia's Gobi desert where wild Bactrian camels have to eat snow in lieu of water, to the Atacama in Chile where guanacos survive by licking the dew off cactus spines. Changes are rare in deserts but they play a crucial part in their story; from Saharan sandstorms nearly a mile high to desert rivers that run for a single day; from the brief blooming of Death Valley in the USA, to a plague of desert locusts 40 miles wide and 100 miles long - two events that might occur once in 30 years. The highlight of the programme is a unique aerial voyage over the dunes and rocky escarpments of a Namibian desert. From this lofty viewpoint, we follow elephants on a desperate trek for food and - most amazingly of all - desert lions searching the wilderness for wandering bands of oryx. The programme unravels the secrets behind desert survival - and reveals the ephemeral nature of this stunning environment.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Deserts sit in the Planet Earth guide?
S01E05 is listed hour 5 of 11 — hour 5 of 11 in season 1, season 1 episode 5.
When did Planet Earth S01E05 air?
Deserts aired 2006-04-02 and is listed at 60 minutes.
BBC or Discovery version?
BBC Natural History Unit masterpiece; U.S. version aired on Discovery. Attenborough whispering over HD biomes is the event.
In the series
Why this series still plays
David Attenborough whispers over high-definition footage that made Earth look extra-terrestrial in 2006. Planet Earth is natural-history spectacle as appointment awe — biomes as set pieces, how-did-they-film-that making-of lore, the production ceiling every later nature series still jumps for.
The group chat for Planet Earth is just people typing how did they film that until the making-of diaries become the second show, which they kind of are. Alastair Fothergill and the BBC Natural History Unit, David Attenborough whispering, U.S. version on Discovery in 2006: a landmark wildlife series spanning the planet's biomes in then-revolutionary high definition. Earth looking extra-terrestrial. Biomes as set pieces. Awe as a weekly appointment. Eleven episodes, one season, sequels including Planet Earth II.…
Filed against
- David Attenborough as Narrator
David Attenborough whispers Planet Earth into appointment awe — high-definition footage that made the globe look extra-terrestrial in 2006, biomes as set pieces, how-did-they-film-that lore. Natural-history spectacle as a 2000s production…