All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 Episode 1

    • January 3, 2012
    • BBC Two

    In the first programme of this two-part series, Chris Packham takes us around the world to the scene of some of the weirdest natural events on the planet. With the help of footage taken by eyewitnesses and news crews, he unravels the facts and the science behind each phenomenon. There is the mysterious case of the car cocooned by caterpillars in Holland, and the baffling case of the exploding toads in Germany. In Switzerland a lakeside town is entombed in ice and a once in a lifetime storm turns Sydney, Australia crimson overnight. There are some disturbing plagues of mice and locusts and a swarm of ladybirds. And finally there are extraordinary strandings of starfish, crabs and whales.

  • S01E02 Episode 2

    • January 4, 2012
    • BBC Two

    The second in this two-part series about the weirdest natural events on the planet features the incredible sea foam which turns part of the Australian coast into what looks like the world's biggest bubble bath. Plus there is a look at the mysterious death of thousands of sea birds on America's west coast, and the otherworldly phenomenon known as milky seas. Other strange events include thousands of birds falling from the sky in America, causing panic and predictions of the apocalypse among the residents, and the fish that fell from the sky in south London. And finally there is the story of the truly terrifying holes which open up in the earth's crust and swallow not only buildings, but in the case of a nature reserve in Florida, an entire lake.

Season 2

  • S02E01 Episode 1

    • January 1, 2013
    • BBC Two

    Chris visits the town that was brought to a standstill by a swarm of flying insects, as well as meeting the polar bears whose bizarre friendships shocked a community and the sleepless residents kept awake by a lover's deafening serenade.

  • S02E02 Episode 2

    • January 2, 2013
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham unpacks the strange fiction facts behind what really happened. Chris looks at the events that stop people in their tracks, invade the human world and disrupt everyday lives. He travels to a village awash with billions of tiny crabs, meets the residents facing an angry mob of elk and visits the town that woke up to an apocalyptic sky.

  • S02E03 Episode 3

    • January 3, 2013
    • BBC Two

    Chris looks at some of the most extraordinary behaviours and extreme adaptations that animals have developed to survive. He discovers the secret of a frozen frog that can bring itself back to life, unmasks the slimy character responsible for mysterious oceanic ooze and delves into the underworld of real life zombies.

  • S02E04 Cutdowns : Episode 1

    • April 2, 2015
    • BBC Two

  • S02E05 Cutdowns : Episode 2

    • April 9, 2015
    • BBC Two

  • S02E06 Cutdowns : Episode 3

    • April 16, 2015
    • BBC Two

  • S02E07 Cutdowns : Episode 4

    • July 12, 2015
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham examines the world's weirdest natural events. Using incredible eyewitness footage, first hand accounts and scientific explanations.

  • S02E08 Reversions : Episode 1

    • November 27, 2015
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham visits the town brought to a standstill by a swarm of flying insects, meets the polar bears whose bizarre friendships shocked a community, and hears from sleepless residents kept awake by a lover's deafening serenade.

  • S02E09 Cutdowns : Episode 5

    • May 22, 2016
    • BBC Two

    Documentary series exploring bizarre and extraordinary natural events on the planet. Using eyewitness footage, first-hand accounts and scientific explanations, presenter Chris Packham unpacks the strange fiction behind what really happened.

Season 3

  • S03E01 Episode 1

    • December 31, 2013
    • BBC Two

    Chris investigates commuting dogs on the Moscow metro, killer sharks on an Australian golf course, a town taken over by tumbleweed and a Wolverine-like frog that shoots bones through its skin. In nature, fact is often weirder than fiction.

  • S03E02 Episode 2

    • January 1, 2014
    • BBC Two

    With incredible eyewitness footage and expert scientific explanations, Chris Packham continues his exploration of the world's most bizarre and extraordinary happenings in nature. In Florida, fish are walking out of the water, while bees in France are making shocking multi-coloured honey. We find out why whales and dolphins would forge an unlikely friendship, how trees are oozing red 'blood', and why all over the world people are reporting alien-like sounds from the sky. In nature, fact is often weirder than fiction.

  • S03E03 Episode 3

    • January 5, 2014
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham continues his exploration of nature's most bizarre and extraordinary happenings. He looks at bears that have turned criminal, fish that have learned to attack birds on land, a possum that fakes its own death, a snake with two heads, seriously clever crows and fainting goats. In nature, fact is often weirder than fiction.

Season 4

  • S04E01 Episode 1

    • January 13, 2015
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham delves into the world of weird; there's something strange in the water in the Caribbean a 4ft worm in your fish tank and a tick turning America vegetarian.

  • S04E02 Episode 2

    • January 14, 2015
    • BBC Two

    From a crab milked for its blue blood and stones moving across the desert by themselves to a veritable swarm of rabbits, Chris Packham unravels nature's weirdest events.

  • S04E03 Episode 3

    • January 15, 2015
    • BBC Two

    In the UK a virgin snake gives birth, in the US a sea serpent washes up and in Morocco 12 goats stand stock still in a tree. It's a weird world, and Chris Packham explains why.

Season 5

  • S05E01 Episode 1

    • September 29, 2016
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham investigates the strangest stories from the natural world. He finds out why Spain is under attack from spaceballs, how a penguin became a man's best friend and discovers prehistoric lions that could be brought back from the dead. Chris also uncovers the origin of a mysterious underwater blob, unearths goblin's gold, reveals a slimy invasion in Florida and learns how one woman's nose could hold the key to detecting Parkinson's disease.

  • S05E02 Episode 2

    • October 6, 2016
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham investigates some of nature's strangest stories. He examines the bizarre case of a mystery stinger in Australia, finds out what poisoned a scientist on a jungle expedition, why goats are flying in Utah and why albatross are being planted in flowerpots off the coast of New Zealand. Chris also unveils the secret behind a mystery spectre in the clouds, reveals why chimpanzees are having rituals and who, or what, were the source of some bizarre prehistoric handprints in Egypt.

  • S05E03 Episode 3

    • October 13, 2016
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham sets out to understand why a much-loved dolphin has started breaking people's bones, why a caterpillar wears a hat made out of its own spare heads and how a tiny crustacean has mastered the holy grail of science - the art of invisibility.

  • S05E04 Episode 4

    • October 20, 2016
    • BBC Two

    Chris Packham investigates and solves the puzzle of strange balls of worms on a road and fish stuck in fences in Texas. He explains how an Australian town became plagued by giant bats, and why so many sperm whales became stranded around the North Sea in 2015. Chris also explores how a robot could help save the Great Barrier Reef, why eagles might be the best defence against dangerous drones and how the discovery of a spider in the Sahara could take us to other planets. Finally, he reveals new discoveries, like a strange alien cocoon in the Amazon, a plant that makes a home for a bat in Borneo and how the discovery of scratch marks on a cave wall in Western Australia sheds new light on an ancient and terrifying mystery.

  • S05E05 Episode 5

    • December 26, 2016
    • BBC Two

    In this episode, Chris Packham uncovers nature's super survivors - a frog whose dinner is fighting back, a shark with the secret to long life and a prehistoric fish with a thirst for blood that almost destroyed an entire fishing industry. A foray into freak weather reveals why a monster wave shocked swimmers in Sydney, and how two fisherman were engulfed by a fog tsunami on Lake Michigan. The senses also come under scrutiny as Chris investigates whether great white sharks like heavy metal and how one man literally eats his own words.

  • S05E06 Episode 6

    • April 17, 2017
    • BBC Two

    In this episode, Chris Packham unravels some of nature's oddest events. Featuring a deep sea blob spotted in the Gulf of Mexico that mystified oil rig workers and sent the internet in to frenzy, the washed up remains of a gargantuan creature that baffled scientists for decades and a stowaway spider with a set of unfathomable feet. Chris also investigates an octopus whose behaviour was so extraordinary that nobody believed it was real, the curious case of bright blue frogs appearing in pools in Germany, and an Australian lake the colour of bubblegum that had an evolutionary secret hidden within its lurid depths.

  • S05E07 Episode 7

    • April 24, 2017
    • BBC Two

    In this episode, Chris Packham uncovers the mysterious sudden death of hundreds of reindeer in Norway, discovers a mythical boiling river in Peru and finds out why blood red rain appeared in Spain. Chris also reveals a bird that sings with its wings, a heartwarming stork romance and a woman troubled by alarming sounds form her body - she could even hear her eyeballs move!

  • S05E08 Episode 8

    • May 8, 2017
    • BBC Two

    In this episode, Chris Packham uncovers some bizarre events form the natural world. He examines a mysterious die-off of saiga in Kazakhstan, strange holes ripped out of the clouds and uncovers the real reason for a long line of pits carved out of the Peruvian desert. Chris charts the advance of a crab army in Norwegian waters, finds out what is killing off seabirds on remote islands, why spiders are glowing in the dark, discovers chimps with rock dolls and explores strange mineral deposits alive in the caves under France.

Additional Specials