03: The Challenger | How To Grow A Planet

Duration: 58'16''

Synopsis

Professor Iain Stewart explains how grass fought its enemy, the forests, how it transformed ocean life and how it triggered human civilisation.

Further Information

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'29''

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'05''

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'29''

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'05''

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'29''

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'05''

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'29''

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'05''

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

BBC Two | 2019 | 59'02''

Documentary revealing the animals, landscapes and people of the greatest river on earth. From transparent lagoons to pink dolphins, the...

02: Deserts - Life in the Furnace | Human Planet

02: Deserts - Life in the Furnace | Human Planet

BBC One | 2011 | 59'01''

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

BBC One | 2010 | 29'06''

Reporter Raphael Rowe journeys into the rainforest of Borneo, where he uncovers evidence of palm oil companies developing plantations on prote...

Episode 5 | Amazon with Bruce Parry

Episode 5 | Amazon with Bruce Parry

BBC Two | 2008 | 59'00''

Bruce Parry explores the Amazon rainforest. He meets the millionaires of Manaus, lives and works with illegal gold miners and sleeps in t...

03: Arctic - Life in the Deep Freeze | Human Planet

03: Arctic - Life in the Deep Freeze | Human Planet

BBC One | 2011 | 58'48''

The remarkable stories of some of the extraordinary people who make their homes in the Arctic, the harshest environment o...

02: Greenland | Arctic with Bruce Parry

02: Greenland | Arctic with Bruce Parry

BBC Two | 2011 | 59'07''

Bruce Parry journeys to the far north of Greenland, home to the last traditional Inuit hunters, and learns how climate change is thre...

Battle for the Amazon | Amazon Specials

Battle for the Amazon | Amazon Specials

BBC Two | 2005 | 29'06''

What has happened to the Amazon rainforest since the 1980s? This report reveals that the battle for the Amazon is now fiercer than ever.

Episode 6 | Amazon with Bruce Parry

Episode 6 | Amazon with Bruce Parry

BBC Two | 2008 | 58'55''

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.

Episode 2 | Simon Reeve's South America

Episode 2 | Simon Reeve's South America

BBC Two | 2022 | 59'05''

Simon travels through Brazil, from the heart of the Amazon rainforest to the coast and the glamorous-but-troubled city of Rio de Jane...

S01E02: Nile | Earth's Great Rivers

S01E02: Nile | Earth's Great Rivers

BBC Two | 2019 | 59'02''

A look at the astonishing wildlife, landscapes and people of the Nile. From elephants and leopards to ancient wonders, its great length i...

S01E02: Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador | Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby

S01E02: Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador | Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby

BBC Two | 2017 | 59'06''

Giles Coren and Monica Galetti head to the Andean Cloud Forest of Ecuador to work at Mashpi Lodge, a $1...

04: Jungles - People of the Trees | Human Planet

04: Jungles - People of the Trees | Human Planet

BBC One | 2011 | 58'58''

Series examining man's survival in extreme environments. A look at life in the rainforest, which requires great skill, ingen...

Desertification | Newsnight

Desertification | Newsnight

BBC Two | 2017 | 8'36''

Featuring the wall of green land preventing desertification in sub-Saharan Africa.

Episode 1 | I Bought a Rainforest

Episode 1 | I Bought a Rainforest

BBC Two | 2014 | 59'16''

Series following wildlife cameraman Charlie Hamilton James, who has bought 100 acres of Peruvian rainforest. Charlie establishes camp and m...

Restoring Our Rivers | Our Changing Planet

Restoring Our Rivers | Our Changing Planet

BBC One | 2025 | 58'20''

Liz Bonnin and Ade Adepitan investigate two ambitious river restoration projects: in the US, the largest dam removal in the world,...

01: Tropical Worlds | The Green Planet

01: Tropical Worlds | The Green Planet

BBC One | 2022 | 58'43''

Tropical rainforests are plant battlegrounds. New filming techniques allow us to enter the world of plants to see it from their perspe...

02: Savannah | Africa

02: Savannah | Africa

BBC One | 2013 | 58'39''

David Attenborough takes a breathtaking journey through Africa, looking at the constantly changing landscape of east Africa and creatures found nowhere...

Episode 1 | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve

Episode 1 | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2025 | 58'48''

The first leg of Simon's Scandinavian journey takes him from the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard to the frozen wilderness of Lapland ...

01: Oceans - Into the Blue | Human Planet

01: Oceans - Into the Blue | Human Planet

BBC One | 2011 | 58'37''

Humans have always found ways to live an almost aquatic life so they can exploit the sea's riches. This journey reveals tales of in...

03: Alaska | Arctic with Bruce Parry

03: Alaska | Arctic with Bruce Parry

BBC Two | 2011 | 59'26''

Bruce travels to Alaska, America's last great wilderness, where modern-day pioneers are harvesting the vast natural wealth of the seas.

More from Iain Stewart

01: Deep Earth | How Earth Made Us

01: Deep Earth | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 59'24''

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

BBC Two | 2007 | 58'54''

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

BBC Four | 2017 | 59'16''

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

BBC Two | 2013 | 59'04''

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

BBC Two | 2012 | 59'03''

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

BBC One | 2012 | 59'05''

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

BBC One | 2010 | 2'35''

The important role that trees play in clearing carbon dioxide.

03: The Big Freeze | Men of Rock

03: The Big Freeze | Men of Rock

BBC Two | 2010 | 58'52''

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...

BBC Four | 2008 | 3'19''

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

BBC Four | 2006 | 1'28''

Mount Merapi erupts, followed by an earthquake.