We're transported to Atka Bay on the frigid coast of Antarctica, where a magnificent colony of emperor penguins embarks on a jaw-dropping journey. These remarkable birds, after three months of oceanic feasting, return to the frozen continent as the waters freeze over. What makes their story even more gripping is that they are the last inhabitants of Antarctica, as other wildlife has wisely retreated to the safer sea.
Narrated by David Attenborough, this extraordinary documentary immerses you in an epic saga of survival, fierce parenting, and unwavering tenacity. Join these resilient penguins as they confront the harshest conditions on Earth, embarking on an unforgettable adventure deep within the icy heart of the wilderness.

Follow the true stories of five of the world's most celebrated yet endangered animals: chimpanzees, penguins, lions, painted wolves, and tigers. These five extraordinary animals are each engaged in a heroic struggle against rivals and the forces of nature, fighting not only for their own survival but also for the future of their dynasties. Narrated by David Attenborough.
In the first episode, we will explore the lives of a group of chimpanzees led by a male named David in Senegal, West Africa. He has already been alpha for three years - a time when leaders in this region are usually overthrown.

Antarctica is the most hostile of all earth’s frozen worlds. Yet even here, amongst some of the most challenging conditions on the planet, life finds a way not just to survive, but thrive.
Our journey begins at the far edge of the continent, on its far-flung sub-Antarctic islands. Here we meet king penguins that, to feed at sea, must face the danger of ferocious leopard seals lurking in the shallows. On another island, we witness for the first time male Antipodean wandering albatross partnering up with each other as the females in their population are disappearing due to fishing activity.
Heading towards the continent of Antarctica, we traverse the roughest seas on earth - the Southern Ocean - where we find the rarely filmed Antarctic blue whale, the largest animal to have ever lived. At the edge of Antarctica, the sea is so cold that it freezes over, creating a vital ice platform for a mother Weddell seal to raise her precious pup. Still, she needs to protect him from aggressive males.
In spring, the coast of Antarctica is free of snow, drawing in thousands of breeding chinstrap penguins. Stones are at a premium to build their elevated nests and protect chicks from meltwater. But stealing is commonplace, and to make matters worse, with climate change we find chicks today shivering with hypothermia – a warming Antarctica means increased meltwater. Other residents are facing an uncertain future too, including wave-washing killer whales. We discover that their favourite prey, Weddell seals, are now harder to reach, so instead they are resorting to targeting much more feisty prey, including leopard seals, an apex predator in its own right. This dramatic encounter has never been filmed before.
Travelling into the interior of the continent - into the frozen heart of Antarctica - we find great surprises. This is one of the most volcanic regions on earth, and one of the driest. We reveal unexpected sand dunes, hidden in a rare ice-free valley. Then, on the exposed mountain tops, sticking out from the otherwise ice-covered interior, we find tiny snow petrels, which raise their chicks further south than any other bird, and defend their territory by projectile vomiting!
The greatest revelation lies deep in the interior, beneath the surface of an ice-covered lake, where we discover ancient alien-like structures - giant stromatolites - built by primitive lifeforms. If life can make it here, in the extremes of Antarctica, it raises the possibility that life can exist elsewhere, including in the frozen lakes of distant planets.

Experience the world from the viewpoint of animals themselves. From spellbinding wildlife spectacle to intimate encounters, Planet Earth II takes you closer than ever before.
Remote islands offer sanctuary for some of the planet's strangest and rarest creatures. The rare pygmy three-toed sloth enjoys a peaceful existence on an idyllic Caribbean island, while nesting albatross thrive in predator-free isolation. But island life always comes at a cost. On the Galapagos Islands, young marine iguana must escape an onslaught of deadly racer snakes the moment they hatch from the sand. On the sub-Antarctic island of Zavodovski, life gets more extreme still. Every day, one and a half million penguins risk being battered against the rocks by fierce waves as they try to get on and off the island.

At the end of each Antarctic summer, the emperor penguins of the South Pole journey to their traditional breeding grounds in a fascinating mating ritual that is captured in this documentary by intrepid filmmaker Luc Jacquet. The journey across frozen tundra proves to be the simplest part of the ritual, as after the egg is hatched, the female must delicately transfer it to the male and make her way back to the distant sea to nourish herself and bring back food to her newborn chick.

The polar regions of our planet may seem beyond the reach of most of us, but they are not beyond our influence. We, unintentionally, are changing these frozen worlds, and these changes will not just affect the poles but the whole planet. On the unforgiving frontier of climate change, polar bears, walruses, seals and penguins find their icy Edens in peril.