Untamed Britain

Season 1Episode 560 minAug 24, 2008
Untamed Britain

Andrew Marr microlights and paraglides through the skies, getting a buzzard's eye view of the nation's untamed and untameable landscape. Along the way, he joins geologists, meteorologists, amateur photographers and festival goers to explore Britain's geology, the impact of the weather on our shores and the riches hidden beneath our feet.

Microlighting down the Great Glen Fault in the Scottish Highlands, Andrew learns about the very origins of the nation, where England and Scotland collided over 400 million years ago. In Northern Ireland, he discovers where geologists looked down from above at a river containing gold flowing through the Sperrin Mountains. While paragliding on the Welsh borders, he finds out how to read the clouds before flying over the east coast of Norfolk, where the wind's destructive powers are shown to devastating effect.

Geology and weather also affect the country's wildlife and satellite tracking demonstrates the migration of birds from Senegal and Siberia to Britain's shores. Using thermal imaging that is normally employed to search out insurgents in war zones, the shy Sika deer is tracked along the land on Lulworth Range.

He concludes his journey at the Glastonbury Festival, where for three days a miniature society flowers which is crowded, cheerful, dirty and mildly anarchic, and which has a transport system that only just works - features that sound vaguely familiar to Andrew.

Untamed Britain has aired on Aug 24, 2008
Previous EpisodeNext Episode

Trailer

We do not have any trailers for this episode

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
Bering Sea Gold
Running

Bering Sea Gold

In the frontier town of Nome, Alaska, there's a gold rush on. But you've never seen gold mining like this before -- here, the precious metal isn't found in the ground. It's sitting in the most unlikely of places: the bottom of the frigid, unpredictable Bering Sea. And there are a handful of people willing to risk it all to bring it to the surface in Bering Sea Gold.

Maigret
Upcoming

Maigret

In Maigret, Chief Inspector Maigret and his team of maverick but loyal detectives, Les Maigrets, solve a series of complex crimes in Paris. Maigret's unconventional methods and unique sense of justice put him at odds with his superiors and the judicial system he is supposed to represent. Maigret must outwit some of Paris's most cunning and violent criminals, while dealing with his own troubled past.

Bachelor in Paradise
Running

Bachelor in Paradise

Some of The Bachelor's biggest stars and villains are back. They all left The Bachelor or The Bachelorette with broken hearts, but now they know what it really takes to find love, and on Bachelor in Paradise they'll get a second chance to find their soul mates. Contestants will live together in an isolated romantic paradise in Mexico and explore new romantic relationships.

GenreRomance
Life After People
Running

Life After People

What would happen to planet earth if the human race were to suddenly disappear forever? Would ecosystems thrive? What remnants of our industrialized world would survive? What would crumble fastest? From the ruins of ancient civilizations to present day cities devastated by natural disasters, history gives us clues to these questions and many more in the visually stunning and thought-provoking special, Life After People.

The Institute
Running

The Institute

When 12-year-old genius Luke Ellis is kidnapped, he awakens at The Institute, a facility full of children who all got there the same way he did, and who are all possessed of unusual abilities. In a nearby town, haunted former police officer Tim Jamieson has come looking to start a new life, but the peace and quiet won't last, as his story and Luke's are destined to collide.