Evolution
2026 · BBC iPlayer · 58 min · 1 season
S01E05 · The Horse
Mon, 13 July, 3:00 pm
How did the horse become so fast? Chris Packham sets out on a slithering, swimming, sprinting odyssey that explores the evolutionary beginnings of animal movement and how it reached its peak in one of the most elegant and athletic animals on Earth: the horse.
About
From a single spark of life, through millions of generations, animals have become diverse, weird and beautiful. Chris Packham tells the incredible story in astonishing new detail.
Episodes
- E01
The Elephant
Mon, 13 July· 58 minHow did the elephant get so big? Chris Packham explores the four-billion-year story of how a tiny cell evolved into complex, gentle giants.
- E02
The Ostrich
Mon, 13 July· 58 minHow did the ostrich come to lay the biggest egg on Earth? Chris Packham explores the way reproduction has shaped life on Earth and the surprising evolutionary origins of sex, eggs and birds. It's a four billion year journey contained within a shell.
- E03
The Bat
Mon, 13 July· 58 minHow did the bat get so hungry? Chris Packham explores how the drive to find food has shaped animal life. The origin of bums, guts, jaws and super-hearing.
- E04
The Dolphin
Mon, 13 July· 58 minHow did the dolphin get so smart? Chris Packham explores the origins of senses, brains and intelligence, in an evolutionary odyssey that ventures from ocean to land and back again.
- E05
The Horse
Mon, 13 July· 58 minHow did the horse become so fast? Chris Packham sets out on a slithering, swimming, sprinting odyssey that explores the evolutionary beginnings of animal movement and how it reached its peak in one of the most elegant and athletic animals on Earth: the horse.
Cast
Chris Packham
Presenter