New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands

Isolated since the time of the dinosaurs, New Zealand's wildlife has been left to its own devices, with surprising consequences. Its ancient forests are still stalked by predators from the Jurassic era. It's also one of the most geologically active countries on earth. From Kiwis with their giant eggs, to forest-dwelling penguins and helicopter-riding sheep dogs, meet the astonishing creatures and resilient people who must rise to the challenges of their beautiful, dramatic and demanding home.

The most extreme and wild parts of New Zealand are in the South Island, which lie towards Antarctica, in the path of the tempestuous 'roaring forties'. This is home to some of the most rapidly rising mountains in the world, the Southern Alps. From hyper-intelligent parrots to sinister snails with teeth and magical constellations of glow-worms, this is the story of New Zealand's wildest places and its most resilient pioneers, all of whom must embrace radical solutions to survive.

The final part of this epic journey across a land left isolated for 80 million years will reveal the surprising and heart-warming story of New Zealand's new arrivals, tell the tale of the formation of the country we see today, and ask how some of its ancient wildlife survives. Narrated by Sam Neill, this episode explores the changing fortunes of the landscape and the wildlife in New Zealand. When Polynesian explorers discovered the land less than 800 years ago and then Europeans reached it in the 17th Century, human settlers brought a host of new animals and plants with them. New Zealand is now home to some of the richest agricultural land in the world, magnificent gardens with plants from around the planet, and rare magical creatures, from giant mouse-eating trouts to crickets who dive into streams and hold their breath until danger passes by. A caving expedition reveals relics of the original lost world of New Zealand's pre-human past; the actual bones of a cow-sized flightless grazing bird, a Moa, among the largest birds that has ever lived - but none survive today. Against all odds though, one giant bird from primeval New Zealand survived. The world's heaviest and only flightless nocturnal parrot, the Kakapo (pictured), is an extraordinary character that has been brought back from the brink by dedicated experts and the latest technology. One Kakapo called Sirocco has become a celebrity, with New Zealanders queueing around the block to meet him. He even got to fly to Parliament to meet the government and personally petition for conservation. Sirocco is an icon of a country which is leading the world in rescuing its endangered species and turning them into national treasures.