"the icy worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic" "are as alien to most of us as the surface of another planet." "They are places of superlatives." "From ice caps that hold nearly 80% of our planet's fresh water to frozen forests that encircle the entire globe. places that seem to be borrowed from fairy tales." "They're dominated and shaped by the ice... ..both by its coming and by its going." "This is our planet's last true wilderness and one that is changing just as we're beginning to understand it. to witness its wonders perhaps for the last time and to discover some extraordinary examples as can be found anywhere on the planet." "The poles are permanently capped with ice." "windier or more hostile to life." "I'm standing at the North Pole - the very top of the Earth." "it's easy to see why the polar regions are so cold." "The sun never rises high enough in the sky to warm my back and those rays that do strike the surface are mostly reflected back from this great whiteness." "But the fundamental problem is that there's no sun here at all for half the year." "The polar winter is unrivalled in its harshness." "A night that lasts for months. as temperatures plunge to minus 70 degrees centigrade. but the extreme swings between the seasons. an extraordinary transformation begins." "This frozen world begins to melt away." "The polar spring brings a brief opportunity for life." "the sun no longer sets and works its magic for 24 hours a day." "Now it's a race to breed before the sun departs." "all but the hardiest abandon the poles and the ice extends its grip. the sun returns." "It's spring in the High Arctic the first stop on our journey." "The most powerful land predator is on the prowl." "A male polar bear is searching for a mate." "Willing females are few and far between and the sea ice on which he travels will soon melt and vanish." "frozen desert." "a single female without cubs - exactly what the male is seeking." "even though she's miles away." "This is an exciting prospect." "She's clearly giving off the right signals." "eager not to lose her trail." "It's easier to tread in the compacted snow of her footprints." "This pursuit could last for days." "The female eventually comes into view." "The search is finally over. this must be a nerve-racking encounter." "The male could kill her if he chooses." "But he has other intentions... ..and she is ready and willing." "She leads him to higher ground. often leaving the sea ice and heading for the hills to avoid the prying eyes of rival males who might disturb them." "Few have witnessed this moment. his only tender encounter in an otherwise solitary life." "But it doesn't last long - a rival suitor has also caught the female's scent." "Courtship has to be put on hold." "He must fight for his rights." "THEY ROAR but bloodier battles are to come." "THEY ROAR" "though he has been slightly injured. but now she seems to have lost her enthusiasm." "Female polar bears are high-maintenance." "mating with her when she allows and guarding her at all times." "the male sees off many rivals but the battles take their toll on him. but he has ensured that no other bears have mated with his female." "It's time for the couple to go their separate ways." "in nine months' time and he may never see her again. and just in time." "The ice beneath his feet will soon be gone." "the Arctic Ocean undergoes an extraordinary transformation. exposing the rich waters beneath." "000 miles from Australia to be here. the largest gathering of sea birds on the planet." "Humpback whales have come all the way from the Equator polar waters." "Their giant tails are five metres across." "Simply raising them above the surface gives the whales enough downward momentum to reach the great swarms of krill and herring below." "The shearwaters follow the giants' lead. these waters provide a feast of epic proportions." "But the good times will be very short - a problem that faces all life in the polar regions. the largest island in the world. covered by a giant ice sheet six times the size of the United Kingdom." "the ice is nearly two miles thick." "quiet world." "Sapphire-blue melt lakes are the first sign that a dynamic process is underway." "expanding until it's miles across and starts to overflow." "The spill water then carves its way through the ice." "The water courses through an icy delta a monster that is stirring. falling a vertical mile into the heart of the ice sheet." "This meltwater has a surprising effect - it lubricates the junction sliding downhill into the ocean. moving as much as 40 metres a day. even cutting its way through Greenland's great mountain ranges on its drive downwards towards the sea. these solid rivers of ice seem to flow just like liquid rivers." "This is the titanic force that cuts down mountains and levels the surface of continents." "The ice is now entering the last stage of its descent. huge crevasses open that extend down to its very core. and millions of tonnes of ice have lost the support of their rocky bed." "Something must give." "CREAKING" "These icefalls are an ominous sign of what is about to happen... ..a rupture deep within the glacier." "A colossal iceberg is born. would dwarf the biggest of mankind's buildings. and their number is steadily increasing as the climate continues to warm." "The break-up of the bergs fills the bays of the Arctic with exquisite ice sculptures." "fresh water into the sea. has an effect on the weather around the world." "The Arctic is closer to home than many of us realise." "It includes the northernmost parts of the three continents" "Asia and North America." "The first bare land we reach on our journey south is a bleak treeless wilderness known as tundra. to be ready for the rich grazing that will be unveiled by the spring melt." "the timing is critical." "Arrive early and a winter storm could kill you." "Delay too long and you may fail to lay down the fat needed to survive a polar winter. shrouded figures end the flat monotony of the tundra." "the first place on our journey with sufficient warmth and liquid water to enable a tree to grow. that it can take hundreds of years for a seedling to grow into a stunted shrub." "But even small trees can provide cover for a predator. are the largest and most powerful in the world and they are setting out to hunt. a sign that the prey they are seeking is formidable." "These bison are even bigger than their southern cousins and the largest land animals in North America." "wolves and bison here making each the most impressive of its kind." "The bison will not stay long among the trees." "They're not safe here. but their chance of ambushing the bison in the woods has passed." "Their prey are now in the open and grouped together for safety." "The wolves will need to work as a team if they are to make a kill." "trying to unsettle it and split it up." "But the bison are armed and dangerous." "They will be safe as long as they stick together. a ploy to trigger a stampede and split away one of the smaller ones. horns pointing outwards." "The wolves need a bison to break rank." "But the tables are turning and now the wolves have to retreat." "The pack focus their attention on the rear of the herd and the bison begin to panic." "A young bison falls behind." "Even this yearling dwarfs the wolves." "the herd's only thought is escape." "A stroke of luck for the wolves." "The kill will feed the pack for several days." "But then they will have to resume the chase. the struggle for survival never eases. so trees grow faster and taller and forests begin to appear. the moisture it carries crystallises and snowflakes fall from the sky." "Each crystal forms around a particle of dust." "All have a six-fold symmetry but no two have ever been found with exactly the same shape." "Their variety and complexity is breathtaking." "Each snowflake is water waiting to be released in spring. snow is the lifeblood of these silent forests and all that live here depend on it in one way or another. then vanish like phantoms. insulated from the cold air above." "The northern forests are a crossroads for seasonal visitors and arctic specialists." "But they are so much more than this." "an unbroken belt of forest 000 miles around our planet and contains one third of all the trees on Earth. from the frozen ocean down across the lands that surround it." "is starkly different." "A frozen continent completely surrounded by ocean." "Icebergs here are so large that they're measured in miles not metres. which circle around the continent unchecked by other lands." "These seas may be cold and storm-racked but they're bursting with life." "No bird is more at home in water and they are masterful surfers." "Penguins are found only in the Southern Hemisphere." "but they don't need to." "There are no polar bears here." "These are Gentoo Penguins." "they come ashore to lay their eggs and rear their young." "Their hungry chicks demand so much seafood that both parents have to go fishing." "And fishing can be dangerous." "A southern sea lion." "It uses the speed of a breaking wave to catch up with the Gentoos. but the Gentoos seem more than his match out at sea." "He must change tactics." "Perhaps it will be easier in the shallows." "But no!" "It seems penguins are uncatchable in water." "How about on land? are of no help when it comes to running." "the sea lion has a chance." "both are like fish out of water." "Rarely do hunter and hunted play their roles with so little skill." "The outcome is anyone's guess. over 40 million penguins take to the Southern Ocean to feed." "They're joined by thousands of whales." "Minkes are the most numerous." "They all come here to harvest the richest ocean on Earth." "we get our first glimpse of the frozen continent. are finally arriving in Antarctica. yet it was only a hundred years ago that the first explorers walked inland and were confronted by driest and coldest territory on Earth." "the continent is transformed as the sea ice that surrounds it begins to disappear." "This melt halves the size of Antarctica." "It's the most spectacular seasonal change occurring anywhere on our planet." "The remnants of the sea ice are occupied by sunbathing seals that have been here all winter." "But new arrivals are following the retreating ice edge and they have come here to hunt." "the ocean's top predator. for they will hunt animals far larger than themselves." "But even smaller prey are a problem if you can't reach them." "The solution is teamwork." "they flick their tails in unison and create a wave that cracks the ice." "They regroup and assess the damage." "A more powerful wave is needed." "The ice floe is breaking up." "Now they are close enough to get a good look at their target." "sharp-toothed and feisty." "Not their favourite." "The wolves of the sea move on in search of easier quarry." "A Weddell seal." "That's better." "These are more docile and easier to tackle." "The pod stays close together and travels silently. and with astonishing accuracy. and they rarely fail. but the hunt is far from over." "They need to grab their prey by the tail while avoiding its snapping jaws." "Only then will they be able to pull it down and drown it." "a new tactic." "Blowing bubbles gives cover for others to lunge at the seal's tail." "the seal manages to reach a tiny ice floe. but now this seems to have become a game." "The seal's life hangs on a roll of the ice." "the pod joins forces to dislodge the seal." "The seal sees a chance to escape." "it no longer has the energy to pull itself to safety and the killers are moving in." "Game over." "scientists believe they may be the most complex ever documented in the natural world." "They were first witnessed by Captain Scott and his men when they came to explore Antarctica 100 years ago." "the fragmenting ice is replaced by a permanent sheet that doesn't melt even at the height of summer." "It's a barrier that many creatures find impassable." "It repels even powerful minke whales." "They have to turn back if they can no longer reach the air they need to breathe." "life has to be extremely specialised to survive. no-one knows much about it." "The crystalline surface of the ice stalactites provides a home for ice fish whose bodies are full of anti-freeze." "The ceiling of ice shields those living below it from the violent polar weather that rages above." "Little here has changed for millions of years." "The cold allows animals to grow very slowly and become giants." "A relative of the woodlouse is the size of a dinner plate." "And this so-called "sea spider" has legs that span half a metre." "Now explorers are revealing other worlds that lie hidden beneath the ice on land." "These smoking towers are the gateway to a network of caves. unlike any other on Earth." "every crystal is unique." "Some are taller than a man. seeded by strange bacteria that thrive in these extreme conditions." "The breeze that gently sways these crystals is responsible for making them. the most southerly volcano on our planet." "It's now thought that the ice caves fringing this crater may even be a home for hitherto-unknown life forms. our journey continues inland towards the South Pole." "The first great hurdle is the formidable Transantarctic mountain range." "We are following the route taken by Scott and Amundsen as they struggled to become the first humans to reach the South Pole." "They were travelling on foot and their first sight of these mountains must have been daunting indeed. 000 miles from one side of the continent to the other." "The winds up here are the fastest on Earth." "They reach speeds of 200 miles an hour. bizarre sculptures carved from solid ice." "It's not only the ice that yields. eroded from all sides by the ferocious elements." "a wholly unexpected landscape - the dry valleys. and most of that bare rock is here." "The Dry Valleys are more like the surface of Mars than is any other place on Earth. created by the same winds that help to keep these valleys free of snow. until just a shell remains." "the ice is making a breakthrough." "Millions of tons are tumbling in slow motion into the valley." "These ice blocks are the size of skyscrapers. which Scott and his men somehow traversed on foot." "It's over 100 miles long and one of the largest glaciers on Earth." "But nothing could have prepared those early explorers for what they were about to encounter." "the largest expanse of ice on the planet." "It's three miles thick in places and imprisons 70% of the world's fresh water. there is nothing but ice." "I'm at the South Pole at the end of my journey." "the temperature here is a bone-chilling 35 degrees below freezing." "It's exactly a hundred years almost to the day Amundsen followed by Scott." "reaching the poles and a source of great national pride. because now we've come to understand that what happens here no matter where we live on this planet." "The greatest challenge for the team making Frozen Planet was the extreme remoteness of their locations." "Many of the shoots lasted months at a time and needed a number of crews to join forces." "One location that would require such siege tactics" "Antarctica's most active volcano." "This magical mountain does not give up her secrets easily." "To capture the full story of Mount Erebus from top to bottom required four different film crews. close to the crater. their challenge is to find a way into the volcano itself." "They are venturing into the unknown." "melted out by volcanic steam." "Getting the team safely underground is a relief for director Chadden Hunter." "it's freezing up there." "Minus 29." "With him is cameraman Gavin Thurston." "you are actually inside a volcano." "there's bubbling lava so there's also increased carbon dioxide in here. dangerous volcanic gases make breathing difficult." "The clock is ticking." "They will not have long to find the caves of crystals." "the aerial team is pushing for the summit of Erebus. while aerial cameraman Michael Kelem controls the camera attached to the nose. on the performance limits of this aircraft." "Any bad weather comes in up there you've got to get off the mountain fast." "the pilot must breathe oxygen through a plastic tube in his nostrils." "conditions do not look good. making flying extremely risky." "the helicopter can't hover and must keep moving." "This is aerial filming at its most extreme." "They struggle to get a clear view. you can actually look right into the lava lake." "just hold that there. but it's soon obscured again." "The volcano is temperamental." "The team have seized a rare opportunity but now they must descend to safety." "the cave team are making progress below." "It's Christmas Day and the crew are dressed for the occasion." "I don't want to snap that top one off." "How strong are these pillars of ice?" "It's about..." "Round about five... it's not going to snap it?" "Gavin is reassured by advice from the scientist." "Oh!" "Ohhh!" "Gavin!" "I'm sorry." "look." "Look at that." "these crystals are made of frozen water and can grow back in weeks." "glass-like pillars this really delicate..." "Look how thin that filament is there. each chamber reveals ice crystals more strange and spectacular than the last." "No-one on the team imagined a single Antarctic mountain could house so many wonders. which extend beneath the frozen sea." "On board is underwater cameraman Hugh Miller." "we don't actually know what's under the ice here." "it's a bit of an adventure." "Old-fashioned tools still work best. then a saw to widen the hole." "Ice-diving in the coldest waters on the planet should be taken extremely seriously." "This dive's going to be a lot of things and warm is not on that list." "Insulated suits will keep them alive under the ice for only 60 minutes." "there's no margin for error. discovering a hidden world rarely seen by humans. the most southerly in the world." "Tracking them from above is the orca team." "They need a helicopter to get ahead of the whales and to land them on the fragile sea ice." "Cameraman Jamie McPherson must pick his spot carefully." "His aim is to get the cameras as close to the killer whales as possible without disturbing them." "He uses a film camera to capture the action in slow motion." "And the orcas come right by him. a film camera proves to be rugged and reliable... provided there's enough film in the camera." "End of the run." "No!" "I just didn't get him going back in." "All right!" "the dive team is setting up an underwater studio. they hope to capture the growth of bizarre underwater ice formations. the dive team would go below the ice over 100 times to film the extraordinary secret world on the lower flanks of Mount Erebus." "the orca team has repositioned." "Their new goal is to get underwater shots of the whales." "They don't dare to get IN the water with orcas. provided the whales aren't put off by it." "No-one is prepared for what happens next." "Tell her what you just saw." "HE LAUGHS" "The entire pod arrives. this is about as close to killer whales as it's possible to get." "the Frozen Planet team from the fire at its crater down to the whales that patrol its frozen shores." "It's quite a privilege to feel whale breath on your face." "Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd"