Svalbard
A look at some of earth's greatest spectacles. Svalbard spends much of each year in complete darkness but when the sun reappears, the landscape turns into a rich tundra.
Set in three of the most seasonally changeable landscapes on earth - Svalbard, Okavango and New England - this series showcases the stunning transformations that occur each year, revealing the unique processes behind them and showing how wildlife has adapted to cope with the changes.
Svalbard in the Arctic spends many months of the year in complete darkness, an unrelenting frozen winter with temperatures down to -40 Celsius. But when the sun finally reappears, the landscape magically transforms from an ice world into a rich tundra, full of exotic plants, birds, Arctic foxes, polar bears, walruses and reindeers. This film captures the changes in all their glory and reveals how this transformation is only possible thanks to some bizarre microorganisms that feed on ice and the stunning abilities of migrating birds.
Last on
Clips
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Russian ghost town
Duration: 02:22
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Weird plants in the land of the midnight sun
Duration: 02:31
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Polar bear battles Arctic terns
Duration: 02:09
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Svalbard's spring song
Duration: 01:04
Music Played
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Alice in Chains
Stone
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Phoenix Da Icefire, Iverse and Prophet
Black Tragedy (Half Past Calm Mix)
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Narrator | Domhnall Gleeson |
Producer | Andrew Murray |
Series Producer | Paul Bradshaw |
Executive Producer | Jo Shinner |
Broadcasts
- Fri 12 Feb 2016 21:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two England & HD only
- Sat 13 Feb 2016 17:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland & Wales
- Sat 13 Feb 2016 20:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Scotland
- Sat 13 Feb 2016 20:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Wales
- Fri 26 Feb 2016 00:55Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland
- Fri 26 Feb 2016 01:25Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Scotland
- Sat 7 Jul 2018 19:00
- Mon 6 May 2019 22:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland
- Fri 18 Oct 2019 16:15
- Sat 5 Mar 2022 11:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland
- Tue 14 Feb 2023 15:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland & Wales
The programme's featured locations
Find out more about the locations featured in Earth's Greatest Spectacles.
How Earth's Greatest Spectacles was made
Find out how the production team captured such dramatic natural transformations.