4 nature doccies to entertain and educate kids

Screen time doesn’t have to mean downtime for kids’ brains. These nature doccies will take the whole family around the world and beyond with quality viewing presented by the likes of legend David Attenborough.

Update February 2021: Please note that these documentaries are no longer on Showmax. Find your next binge here.

The Planets

Across five one-hour episodes, Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto explores the dramatic history of the eight planetary siblings in our solar system, as it unfolded over 4.5billion years. Using extensive computer-generated imagery and footage from space missions, including NASA’s Cassini–Huygens mission and the New Horizons probe, the series reveals the spectacular landscapes, apocalyptic weather systems and unbelievable science (on Saturn, it rains diamonds) of our neighbouring worlds.

Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild

Attenborough looks back on his impressive career, which has spanned six decades. He looks at how much things have changed in that time – from new camera technology (including 3D and micro-cameras) to the science, as well as how the field of natural history itself has changed.

This series will give you a better understanding of just how much an impact humans have had on the world in such a short period of time. Attenborough travels back to Borneo, where the contrast between the pristine, orangutan-filled jungles of a few decades ago and today’s palm oil plantations puts conservation efforts in perspective.

Attenborough and the Sea Dragon

What’s better than an Attenborough doccie? A murder mystery with Attenborough acting as lead detective. Oh, and it’s prehistoric.

It doesn’t get much cooler than this. Attenborough is a master storyteller, putting together bits of a fossil of an ichthyosaurus from an actual dig. He pieces together how this prehistoric dragon would have behaved by comparing it to sharks, crocodiles and dolphins in a delightful way that only Attenborough can do.

Spy in the Wild

Narrated by another British living legend named David – this one’s surname is Tennant, of Doctor Who fame – this fascinating BBC series infiltrates the animal world using robots and disguised hidden cameras to show what really goes on when humans aren’t present.

There are only four episodes and two of them have been finalists for Jackson Wild, the Emmys of nature documentaries, and the series as a whole was nominated for an actual Emmy, for Outstanding Cinematography.