On 7 May 1765 the HMS Victory was floated out of Chatham’s Royal Dockyard. She would become the most famous ships in the British Royal Navy and achieve everlasting fame as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson in Britain’s greatest ever naval victory, the defeat of the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar.
The ongoing battle for domination of the seas has been one of immeasurable devastation and technological innovation. Wooden hulls were encased in iron, sails replaced by some of the most powerful engines ever built, and cannons outgunned by missiles capable of toppling empires. From the most deadly submarines ever seen to the infamous destroyers of the Second World War, this episode is the story of what it takes to rule the waves.
In the final episode charting the journey of Naturalist and Conservationist Iolo Williams across the Great Barrier Reef, Iolo examines the changing face of the reef over the past 15 thousand years, building a picture of how the reef was formed, meeting the creatures and communities who have lived alongside it in harmony, and asks what part we can all play in the reef’s future.
We explore the Animal Kingdom and look closely at how animal tribes/families live together. The family dynamic – the role of mum and dad, the competition and bonding between the offspring, when do they leave their patch/home to start their own ? We see common themes in how animal families work and live together, protect each other and then go off to fend for themselves across a range of species.
