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Colourful Planet

Earth from Space Series 1
Episode 3 of 4

From space, Earth is a kaleidoscope. Turquoise plankton blooms trigger a feeding frenzy, China turns yellow with rapeseed flowers, and mysterious green lights appear in the ocean.

We think of the Earth as a blue planet, but satellite cameras reveal it to be a kaleidoscope. The astonishing colours of the aurora are towering vertical streaks, hundreds of kilometres high, phytoplankton blooms turn the ocean into works of art, triggering a feeding frenzy, and for a few weeks a year China's Yunnan province is carpeted in yellow as millions of rapeseed flowers bloom.

This is our home, as we’ve never seen it before.

Available now

58 minutes

Last on

Tue 29 Oct 2024 02:00
BBC Four

More episodes

Previous

Patterned PlanetSeries 1

Next

Changing PlanetSeries 1

See all episodes from Earth from Space

Clips

See all clips from Colourful Planet (4)

Music Played

  • Pieter de Graaf

    Rise and Shine

Credits

Narrator Chiwetel Ejiofor
Executive Producer Jo Shinner
Series Producer Chloe Sarosh
Producer Justin Anderson

Broadcasts

  • Wed 1 May 2019 21:00
    BBC One except Scotland & Scotland HD
  • Wed 1 May 2019 23:05
    BBC One Scotland & Scotland HD only
  • Fri 17 May 2019 00:15
    BBC Two
  • Mon 21 Oct 2019 20:00
    BBC Scotland
  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 19:00
    BBC Scotland
  • Mon 18 Nov 2019 23:15
    BBC One except Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland HD, Scotland, Scotland HD, Wales & 1 more
  • Mon 18 Nov 2019 23:45
    BBC One Wales & Wales HD only
  • Tue 19 Nov 2019 00:25
    BBC One Northern Ireland HD & Northern Ireland only
  • Tue 19 Nov 2019 00:35
    BBC One Scotland & Scotland HD only
  • Thu 28 May 2020 21:00
    BBC Four
  • Fri 29 May 2020 02:50
    BBC Four
  • Mon 24 May 2021 20:00
    BBC Scotland
  • Tue 25 May 2021 19:00
    BBC Scotland
  • Mon 31 May 2021 14:30
    BBC Scotland
  • Wed 11 Aug 2021 20:00
    BBC Four
  • Thu 12 Aug 2021 01:50
    BBC Four
  • Mon 23 May 2022 20:00
    BBC Four
  • Tue 24 May 2022 01:30
    BBC Four
  • Sun 23 Jul 2023 18:35
    BBC Persian TV
  • Mon 24 Jul 2023 08:30
    BBC Persian TV
  • Wed 26 Jul 2023 16:05
    BBC Persian TV
  • Thu 27 Jul 2023 06:30
    BBC Persian TV
  • Thu 27 Jul 2023 13:30
    BBC Persian TV
  • Fri 28 Jul 2023 03:30
    BBC Persian TV
  • Sat 29 Jul 2023 12:00
    BBC Persian TV
  • Wed 6 Dec 2023 20:00
    BBC Four
  • Thu 7 Dec 2023 02:20
    BBC Four
  • Mon 28 Oct 2024 23:00
    BBC Four
  • Tue 29 Oct 2024 02:00
    BBC Four

Download your FREE Open University poster and find out more about our dynamic Earth from space

Download your FREE Open University poster and find out more about our dynamic Earth from space

Visit OpenLearn and find out more about our incredible planet.

Capturing Earth from Space - Read 'behind the scenes' articles and watch web exclusive clips from location.

Capturing Earth from Space - Read 'behind the scenes' articles and watch web exclusive clips from location.

Look further into the making of Earth from Space