How the Earth Changed History

The first episode explores the relationship between the deep Earth and the development of human civilization, visiting an extraordinary crystal cave in Mexico, dropping down a hole in the Iranian desert and crawling through thousand year old tunnels in Israel. Discover how our ancestors were strangely drawn to fault lines; areas which connect the surface with the deep interior of the planet.

In the second episode, we explore our complex relationship with water. Visiting spectacular locations in Iceland, the Middle East and India, we look at how control over water has been central to human existence. Throughout history, success has depended on our ability to adapt to and control constantly shifting sources of water.

Set sail on one of the fastest racing boats ever built as we explore the story of our turbulent relationship with the wind. Travelling to iconic locations including the Sahara desert, the coast of West Africa and the South Pacific, we discover how people have exploited the power of the wind for thousands of years.

In this epsiode man’s relationship with fire is explored. We begin by embarking on an extraordinary encounter with this terrifying force of nature - a walk right through the heart of a raging fire. Fire has long been our main source of energy and we show how this meant that the planet played a crucial role in Britain's industrial revolution, whilst holding China's development back.

In this final episode we explore a completely new force; humans. It's easy to think of our impact on the planet as a negative one, but as we discover, this isn't always the case. But it is clear that today we have unprecedented control over many of the planet's geological cycles. The question is how will we use this power?