The Nature of Britain

Alan Titchmarsh travels the length of the British Isles, looking at what makes our wildlife so special. From boxing hares to blonde hedgehogs, fighting seals to leaping dolphins, Britain's natural heritage is full of wonder and surprise.

Alan Titchmarsh goes on a journey through Britain's farmland, discovering how wild creatures can find a place to live in our fields, meadows and hedgerows. He finds out how bumblebees are the key to producing the perfect tomato, why some Scottish sheep prefer seaweed, and meets the fastest creature on the planet - all living in England's green and pleasant land.

Nine out of ten Britons live in towns and cities but there's still plenty of room for wildlife. Alan Titchmarsh hits the city streets to find out what makes them so special. From Brighton's badgers to Glasgow's foxes, Dundee's red squirrels to Bristol's peregrines and London's parakeets to the otters of Tyneside, Britain's cities are rapidly turning into the new countryside. So if you're one of Britain's 50 million urban folk, the wildlife really is where you live!

Alan Titchmarsh travels from the river's source to the sea to reveal the beauty and spectacle of freshwater in Britain. Discover the real Loch Ness Monsters, the venomous mammal stalking the Hampshirecountryside, and the unexpectedly romantic side of the predatory pike. Watch kingfishers diving, salmon leaping and a songbird that swims underwater, and find out why a drop of rain is the key to keeping all this wonder and beauty alive.

Britain's coastline is defined by the wind, rain, sun and tides, and these forces of nature influence the lives of every single living thing here. Alan Titchmarsh braves the elements to find out why our coastline is such an extraordinary place for wildlife, from the giant minke whale to the tiny snail bee, the elegant arctic tern to the plodding toad, and the fastest seabird in the west to one of the world's greatest predators.

Alan Titchmarsh enters our ancient woodlands to discover beautiful butterflies, dormice and a bird with a beak like a pair of pliers. He reveals the secrets of the central character in all this drama, on whom all the creatures of the forest depend - the trees.

There might be 60 million people living in Britain, but one-third of our landscape can still be classed as 'wilderness', virtually empty of people. Our mountains and moorlands, lowland heath and the Scottish Flow Country are some of the toughest habitats of all; places where life really does live on the edge. Join Alan Titchmarsh as he explores Wilderness Britain, realm of the magnificent golden eagle, a plant that fools insects, and Britain's toughest bird.

Alan Titchmarsh goes on a journey around Britain to look at its most resilient wildlife, meeting creatures that have thrived in unexpected places, including the birds that moved in when Iron Age settlers movedout, the plant that hitched a ride on the railways, and the oldest and toughest organism of them all - lichen.