Wilderness Explored: Congo

Wednesday 22nd October

BBC 4 at 9pm

The first Europeans to penetrate the vast forests of central Africa encountered an exuberance of animals, plants and minerals. Their accounts created a sensation back in their own countries, none more so than that of the gorilla, yet has this abundance of wildlife and resources been at the expense of the region's indigenous populations?

Sunday Times - 'This fine series concludes with a penetrating foray into the history, land and lore of the Congo basin'
The Daily Mail - This final part of what has been an entrancing documentary series
Radio Times - 'Beautifully filmed and meticulously researched'
The Daily Telegraph - This evocative series concludes with
The Independent - This fascinating series end with
The Times - In the final episode of this evocative series

The Observer - Pick of the Day 'This illuminating programme'

Wilderness Explored 2/3: Australia's Red Heart

The second film in the "Wilderness Explored" series goes out tonight at 9pm on BBC4.
Wed 15 Oct, 23:40-00:40 60mins Stereo Widescreen
Australia's stark and beautiful red centre is now seen as part of the country's national identity, with Uluru, or Ayres Rock, a national symbol. But this vast desert centre was originally seen as a place of death and silence by the first white explorers. It has taken 200 years for a new perception to emerge, one that recognises it as a place of life and creation - the way it has always been seen by the continent's original inhabitants, the Aborigines.

'Aerial views of the weirdly wonderful Australian interior make this second slice of cultural history a visual feast, as well as brain food. Its a fascinating journey through history, geography, colonialism, climatology, art and , most of all, European and Aboriginal myth.' Radio Times

"..this fabulous series..a superb essay.." Sunday Times

"Glorious documentary ...fantastic." - Guardian

"..stunning footage, great interviews.. an entrancing piece of cultural history" - Radio Times

"Awe inspiring footage..epic stories for an epic landcape" - Daily Mail

"..this excellent series.." The Observer

"..stunning panoramas and expert commentary..unusually evocative'" - The Times

Wilderness Explored - The Arctic

8th Oct 2008 9pm on BBC Four


Three-part documentary series telling the stories of early European explorers who reached the wildernesses of Canada, the Congo and Australia.

200 years ago, the Arctic was largely a great blank on the map for would-be explorers. It captured their imagination as a place of sublime beauty and yet also as a desolate frozen landscape, home to the deadly polar bear. It was a place where heroes attempted to find the North-West passage and where whole expeditions disappeared without trace.

In the last century, the polar sea has become a region of vital strategic significance where the great powers built secret bases, transforming the lifestyle of the Inuit. Now, as the Arctic ice melts, the polar bear has become an emblem for the fragility of our planet.