Synopsis
Professor Iain Stewart explains how grass fought its enemy, the forests, how it transformed ocean life and how it triggered human civilisation.
- Programme: How To Grow A Planet
- Episode: 03: The Challenger
- Channel: BBC One
- Broadcast year: 2012
- Geography
Licence: ERA Licence required
Free to watch for UK schools, colleges and universities with an ERA Licence
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from How to Grow a Planet
01: Life From Light | How to Grow a Planet
01: Life From Light | How to Grow a Planet
How plants have driven the greatest changes to the Earth. Prof Iain Stewart shows how they first harnessed light from the sun and ...
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
In the second episode, Iain discovers how flowers have transformed our planet. He journeys to the remote islands of the South...
01: Life From Light | How to Grow a Planet
01: Life From Light | How to Grow a Planet
How plants have driven the greatest changes to the Earth. Prof Iain Stewart shows how they first harnessed light from the sun and ...
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
In the second episode, Iain discovers how flowers have transformed our planet. He journeys to the remote islands of the South...
01: Life From Light | How to Grow a Planet
01: Life From Light | How to Grow a Planet
How plants have driven the greatest changes to the Earth. Prof Iain Stewart shows how they first harnessed light from the sun and ...
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
In the second episode, Iain discovers how flowers have transformed our planet. He journeys to the remote islands of the South...
01: Life From Light | How to Grow a Planet
01: Life From Light | How to Grow a Planet
How plants have driven the greatest changes to the Earth. Prof Iain Stewart shows how they first harnessed light from the sun and ...
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
In the second episode, Iain discovers how flowers have transformed our planet. He journeys to the remote islands of the South...
More resources about Ecosystems and Biomes
S01E01: Amazon | Earth's Great Rivers
S01E01: Amazon | Earth's Great Rivers
Documentary revealing the animals, landscapes and people of the greatest river on earth. From transparent lagoons to pink dolphins, the...
04: Jungles - People of the Trees | Human Planet
04: Jungles - People of the Trees | Human Planet
Series examining man's survival in extreme environments. A look at life in the rainforest, which requires great skill, ingen...
02: Deserts - Life in the Furnace | Human Planet
02: Deserts - Life in the Furnace | Human Planet
A look at how the eternal quest for water brings huge challenges - and ingenious solutions - for millions of people in the d...
Dying for a Biscuit | Panorama
Dying for a Biscuit | Panorama
Reporter Raphael Rowe journeys into the rainforest of Borneo, where he uncovers evidence of palm oil companies developing plantations on prote...
Episode 1 | Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough
Episode 1 | Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough
David Attenborough descends beneath the waves at night to meet some of the tiny coral animals that built the reef.
03: Arctic - Life in the Deep Freeze | Human Planet
03: Arctic - Life in the Deep Freeze | Human Planet
The remarkable stories of some of the extraordinary people who make their homes in the Arctic, the harshest environment o...
Episode 2 | Simon Reeve's South America
Episode 2 | Simon Reeve's South America
Simon travels through Brazil, from the heart of the Amazon rainforest to the coast and the glamorous-but-troubled city of Rio de Jane...
Saving the Orangutan | Natural World
Saving the Orangutan | Natural World
Red Ape uses footage filmed by teams fighting to save critically endangered orangutans of Borneo, to reveal the reasons for their declin...
Borneo | Panorama
Borneo | Panorama
Coca-Cola sells more than 100 billion throwaway plastic bottles each year. Panorama investigates Coca-Cola's promises to crack down on plastic waste.
02: Savannah | Africa
02: Savannah | Africa
David Attenborough takes a breathtaking journey through Africa, looking at the constantly changing landscape of east Africa and creatures found nowhere...
03: Alaska | Arctic with Bruce Parry
03: Alaska | Arctic with Bruce Parry
Bruce travels to Alaska, America's last great wilderness, where modern-day pioneers are harvesting the vast natural wealth of the seas.
02: Greenland | Arctic with Bruce Parry
02: Greenland | Arctic with Bruce Parry
Bruce Parry journeys to the far north of Greenland, home to the last traditional Inuit hunters, and learns how climate change is thre...
Antarctica - Ice Station Rescue | Horizon
Antarctica - Ice Station Rescue | Horizon
Documentary which follows the everyday people battling in the most extreme environment on earth to move Halley VI, a vital polar re...
S01E03: Mississippi | Earth's Great Rivers
S01E03: Mississippi | Earth's Great Rivers
The surprising story of the Mississippi, a river that unites the USA. From frozen waterfalls to time-travelling barges, the Missis...
01: Antarctica | Seven Worlds, One Planet
01: Antarctica | Seven Worlds, One Planet
Antarctica - the coldest, windiest, most hostile continent. Only the toughest can survive here. But the ocean here is warming and w...
Episode 6 | Amazon with Bruce Parry
Episode 6 | Amazon with Bruce Parry
Bruce Parry reaches the end of his Amazon adventure in Brazil's Para state where huge areas of forest are being cut down for cattle farming.
S01E02: Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador | Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby
S01E02: Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador | Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby
Giles Coren and Monica Galetti head to the Andean Cloud Forest of Ecuador to work at Mashpi Lodge, a $1...
01: Our Precious Isles | Wild Isles
01: Our Precious Isles | Wild Isles
David Attenborough celebrates the rich variety of habitats in our wild isles, the existence of which is critical for the survival of spec...
Episode 1 | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve
Episode 1 | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve
The first leg of Simon's Scandinavian journey takes him from the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard to the frozen wilderness of Lapland ...
S01E02: Nile | Earth's Great Rivers
S01E02: Nile | Earth's Great Rivers
A look at the astonishing wildlife, landscapes and people of the Nile. From elephants and leopards to ancient wonders, its great length i...
More from Iain Stewart
01: Deep Earth | How Earth Made Us
01: Deep Earth | How Earth Made Us
Series telling the story of how the development of civilisation was influenced by planetary forces. Professor Iain Stewart explores the ro...
05: Rare Earth | Earth: The Power of the Planet
05: Rare Earth | Earth: The Power of the Planet
Life on Earth prospers because it enjoys the right amount of heat from the sun, and the atmosphere prevents meteorite bombard...
Episode 1 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World
Episode 1 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World
From the moment we first drilled for oil, we opened a Pandora's box that changed the world forever. It transfor...
04: Eurasia | Rise of the Continents
04: Eurasia | Rise of the Continents
Professor Iain Stewart shows that where the south of Eurasia is today there was once an ocean and how, in 250 million years, all of the ...
Iceland Erupts: A Volcano Live Special | Volcano Live
Iceland Erupts: A Volcano Live Special | Volcano Live
Kate Humble heads to Iceland and meets the scientists monitoring the country's most dangerous volcanoes. She also inves...
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet
In the second episode, Iain discovers how flowers have transformed our planet. He journeys to the remote islands of the South...
Trees and carbon dioxide | Making Scotland's Landscape
Trees and carbon dioxide | Making Scotland's Landscape
The important role that trees play in clearing carbon dioxide.
03: The Big Freeze | Men of Rock
03: The Big Freeze | Men of Rock
In the final episode of the series, Iain Stewart finds out about daredevil scientist Louis Agassiz, who first imagined the world had been gr...
The Worst Avalanche In History | 10 Things You Didn't Know About...
The Worst Avalanche In History | 10 Things You Didn't Know About...
The worst avalanche in history occurred in 1970 in Peru, when an underwater earthquake triggered a glacia...
Mount Merapi erupts and is followed by an earthquake | Journeys into the Ring of Fire
Mount Merapi erupts and is followed by an earthquake | Journeys into the Ring of Fire
Mount Merapi erupts, followed by an earthquake.