REEP - What's On - TV & Radio Listings

Saturday 4 February

Survivors

7:00pm

2/3. Richard Fortey explores the KT boundary, a line across Earth that geologists believe was created when an asteroid struck the planet 65 million years ago - an event that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. He also examines how a mixture of evolutionary adaptations and good fortune enabled some creatures to survive the catastrophes that caused the demise of the giant lizards.

Natural World

8:00pm

Film-maker Jeff Turner, who grew up in the Cascade Mountains of Canada, returns to his childhood home to discover whether grizzly bears can still be found in the region. Over the course of a year, he catches sight of many of British Columbia's wild inhabitants, including black bears, ospreys, coyotes and mule deer, but his true target remains elusive.

Sunday 5 February

Living World

6:35am

Miranda Krestovnikoff visits the Brecon Beacons in south Wales to learn about the dipper, a short-tailed bird that lives and feeds by rivers. She joins ecologist Steve Ormerod of the University of Cardiff to observe the birds in the wild, and discovers why some people regard them as barometers of environmental quality.

Tuesday 7 February

Nature

11:00am

Chris Watson details how he was approached by the National Gallery to create a sound-based piece inspired by a painting of his choice. Teaming up with professional musicians, sound artists and students from Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, he put together a soundtrack for John Constable's The Cornfield, and here explains why he believes sound installations can help viewers engage with works of art on a more personal level.

Costing the Earth

3:30pm

Dr Alice Roberts examines how scientists learned to use tiny parasites to disrupt the mating patterns of insects, thereby manipulating their overall behaviour. She investigates whether these techniques might help in the battle against diseases such as malaria, and explores the ethical, biological and environmental dilemmas brought about by these developments.

Botany

8:00pm

Timothy Walker charts how scientists unlocked the genetic structure of plants, enabling them to transform the breeding of flowers and crops into a precise science rather than a process of trial and error. He explores the risks some botanists were forced to take to protect their discoveries, and reveals how the study of plant genetics could help feed the world's growing population.

How to Grow a Planet

9:00pm

1/3. New series. Professor Iain Stewart explores how plants played a major part in changes to Earth throughout history. From caves in Vietnam to African deserts, he reveals how vegetation first harnessed the sun's light to create a life-giving atmosphere, and investigates the battle between dinosaurs and the world's tallest trees. He also uses imagery techniques to show plants breathing and communicating.