Lucy Smith

With their charismatic faces and extraordinary head-turning ability, owls are one of our best-loved birds. And yet it's rare to catch more than a glimpse of one in the wild. These mysterious birds haunt our night, floating through the darkness with an eerie silence. But how do they see in the dark? And how do they fly so silently? Through the eyes of two special barn owl chicks and with the help of world leading scientists, Natural World reveals the magic behind owls' superpowers.

Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.

8.6/10

Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.

8.9/10