Earth
Channel: BBC Earth (DStv 184)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Documentary Series, Nature
There's nothing else like it.
Chris Packham reveals the epic, 4.5-billion-year story of our home - from its dramatic creation to the arrival of human life... and whatever's next.
Inferno
Chris explores one of the darkest periods in Earth's history: the worst mass extinction the planet has ever seen, when as much as 90% of all species died 252-million years ago.
This extraordinary moment in Earth's history took life to the brink, wreaking havoc and destruction on an unprecedented scale.
But, somehow, life found a way to bounce back, and a new geological era ushered in the age of the dinosaurs.
Snowball
How Earth's terrifying journey into the deep freeze started with fire, not ice.
800-million years ago, long before the age of the dinosaurs, indeed any animal life, the giant supercontinent Rodinia broke up.
Earth's vast powerful tectonic forces ripped the land apart, kicking off a series of events that resulted in huge amounts of carbon dioxide being sucked from the atmosphere and sending global temperatures plummeting.
Green
Chris tells the miraculous story of how plant life turned the Earth from a barren rock into a vibrant green world - a 4.5-billion year-saga of extraordinary highs and lows that almost wiped out all life on the planet.
The Earth began as a water world without land masses.
Then, a giant asteroid bombardment triggered its plate tectonics, leading to huge fungi, soil and giant swamp forests.
But the early plants locked so much carbon dioxide that global temperatures suddenly plunged.
Atmosphere
When the Earth first formed from clouds of dust and gas 4.6-billion years ago, it was - like so many other lifeless worlds in the universe - devoid of an atmosphere, an inhospitable rock floating in the black void of space.
But as the young planet is pummelled by asteroids, a period of extraordinary upheaval begins.
Human
Today, Earth is a human world, home to eight-billion people and counting.
Humans now have a greater effect in shaping Earth's surface than many natural processes.
Chris explores how dramatic twists in Earth's story enabled humans to go from being part of nature to controlling it and what can be learnt from this epic tale before it's too late.
Trucking Hell 3
Channel: CBS Reality (DStv 132 / StarSat 170)
TX Time: 07h40
Genre: Docu-Reality, Motoring
Follow the experts who transport huge and unusual loads across the UK.
This is an adrenaline-fueled observational documentary series following rescue drivers working for two of the UK's leading heavy rescue specialists, Crouch Recovery and Lantern Recovery.
We follow the work of the drivers as they endeavour to solve the problems caused by large and heavy vehicles when they roll, crash, or burn.
We get to know the drivers and the supporting staff at the two firms and hear many pearls of wisdom along the way.
In the Season 3 premiere: In Leicestershire a 44-tonne food lorry is on fire, blocking a slip road of the M1 and putting motorists in grave danger.
Crouch incident manager Steve Kelly and his team need to get it shifted off the road as quickly as possible, but the smouldering wreck threatens to catch alight at any moment, making this one of the most dangerous jobs the team have ever encountered.
In Hertfordshire, Lantern recovery op Sean Bearnie is sent to rescue a Jeep Cherokee that's been abandoned in a muddy field.
But when he attempts to move it, disaster strikes as the team's 4x4 ends up sinking fast.
Meanwhile on a tiny lane in the middle of the countryside, a 30-tonne cement mixer is also in trouble.
It's come off the road and is tilting precariously with its wheels in the air.
Recovery Op Lee Price has got to think on his feet, before the concrete sets causing the mixer to crash over into a ditch.
Death in Paradise 9
Channel: BritBox
TX Time: 00h01
Genre: Drama, Mystery
The murder mystery series returns for a ninth season, featuring more captivating mysteries and fiendishly clever murders against the backdrop of the exotic and picturesque Caribbean island of Saint Marie - with a brand-new detective at the helm.
The new fish-out-of-water is Detective Inspector Neville Parker (Ralf Little), who is reluctantly dispatched to Saint Marie to investigate the suspicious death of a woman from his hometown of Manchester.
Blending colourful Caribbean vibes and British humour, this season's murders will keep you guessing "whodunit" at every twist and turn...
In the Season 9 premiere: New Year's Eve celebrations are cut short when a masked man stabs a woman in her own home.
Jack and the team must uncover the identity of the mystery murderer before they strike again.