Michael Atkinson places himself in the historic predicament of two stranded German aviators in 1932 to see if the his skills as a survival instructor, pilot and adventurer will allow him to escape to the nearest civilisation.
Michael AtkinsonHimself
Warru, or black-footed rock-wallaby, is one of South Australia's most endangered mammals. In 2007, when numbers dropped below 200 in the APY Lands in the remote north-west of the State, the Warru Recovery Team was formed to help save the precious species from extinction. Bringing together contemporary science, practical on-ground threat management and traditional Anangu ecological knowledge, this unique decade-long program has celebrated the release of dozens of warru to the wild for the first time.
Cats are cuddly felines and lovely pets, but also highly evolved predators that hunt huge amounts of small mammals, birds and reptiles; perfect killing machines that threaten delicate ecosystems around the world.
A 19-year-old high school graduate travels through Australia as a backpacker and accompanies his adventure with a camera.
The Australian pelican is built for long distance travel. One of the largest pelicans in the pelican family, with a light skeleton and a wingspan of over eight feet, it can be airborne all day and deep into the night, riding far and high on rising thermals. When rare weather systems bring heavy rains, huge numbers of Australian pelicans abandon the sea and coastal waters and embark on a mass pilgrimage to a place a thousand miles inland. It’s the last place you would look for one of their kind, the Australian Outback, one of the driest, hottest places on the planet.
Nestled deep in the Australian Outback is the town of Larrimah and its 11 eccentric residents. When one of them mysteriously disappears into thin air, the remaining residents become suspects and a long history of infighting is unveiled.
An exploration into the early history of Australian herding
Australia’s El Dorado was found by Lewis Harold Bell Lasseter – if we believe his claims in the late 1800s to have discovered a vast gold deposit in central Australia. This mysterious place has never again been found, and many believe it doesn’t exist. But one thing is certain: Lasseter was a larger-than-life character. Seen by some as an eccentric conman, he was ridiculed for his extravagant assertions, which he held until his tragic end. But Lasseter remains the embodiment of the Australian folk hero, who lived a life full of incredible adventures, tall tales and outrageous claims – including a possible faked death and his insistence that he designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Fresh off the plane and in need of money, two Finnish backpackers find themselves the latest batch of “fresh meat” sent to work as barmaids at the only pub in a remote Australian mining town.
Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Australian desert and bushland, see life through the eyes of a very special Red Kangaroo as he struggles to survive drought, bush fires, dingoes and roo hunters.
A stunning documentary capturing a once in a generation event – the flooding of Lake Eyre and the dramatic transformation of the dead heart of Australia. ABC News mounted two filming expeditions by helicopter to follow the floodwaters from north Queensland down the great outback rivers to Lake Eyre and record the amazing cycle of life, as the deserts bloomed and birds descended from far and wide to capitalise on the short lived boom.
The Kimberley in West Australia is home to various Aboriginal communities, where today most is in transition causing limbo and distress. Some have given up; others choose to fight both past and present demons to bring a change for the better to their people. In 'Dreams from the Outback' best friends Gabriel and Peter try to keep the ancient cultural traditions alive, with almost no support from the rest of their community. Felicity struggles to keep her family together after years of drinking and neglect and teenagers Billy and Jordan are brothers who meet for the first time. The boys spend the days getting to know each other, exploring the outback and their culture.
Documentary about "The Coolbaroo Club", which was the only Aboriginal-run dance club in a city which practiced unofficial apartheid. During its lifetime, the Club attracted Black musicians and celebrities from all over Australia and occasionally from overseas. Although best-remembered for the hugely popular Coolbaroo dances attended by hundreds of Aborigines and their white supporters, the "Coolbaroo League", founded by Club members, ran a newspaper and became an effective political organization, speaking out on issues of the day affecting Aboriginal people.
RODEO ROAD explores the unique cowboy culture of Australia's remote north west in the pursuit of the rodeo dream - eight seconds of bull riding glory. Each year cowboys from across the Kimberley load up their saddles, chaps and wranglers and go rough-riding. Some are born and bred in the saddle, while others are young ringers from over east who come to muster through the dry season. Come rodeo time they are chasing the dream, gripped by the rodeo fever of the wild north west.
Meet Lanz Priestley, a charasmatic homeless man, who owns nothing but a phone and a Facebook page. When Lanz discovers taps have run dry in drought-stricken outback Australia, he raises the money to deliver drinking water himself.
Not only has she got pink extensions, painted on eyebrows, glitter stockings and superman hotpants, Starlady’s a youth worker in some of Australia’s most remote and challenging places. And she reckons that hairdressing can improve people’s lives. Like a real life Priscilla, Starlady takes us on a Queen of the Desert journey to Areyonga, an indigenous community in Central Australia, where she’ll work with a group of curious and cheeky young people.
Narrated by Indigenous elder Balang T E Lewis, this inspiring documentary will take you on an adventure to explore the culture and wildlife of Australia’s remote wild north. Far Northern Australia is a land of extremes, from bushfires to torrential floods. Explore the wildlife and meet the people in Australia’s wild top end, from the Kimberley coast through the mysterious Arnhem Land, and deep into the world’s oldest rainforest in Cape York.
Ray Martin goes on a grand quest to locate a mysterious outback rock formation he spotted and photographed from an airliner 37,000 feet in the air.
For millenniums, Aborigines used tracking to survive. Their ancient skills now help police capture murderers and save people's lives. Will modern technology replace an art based on the intimate bond between man and nature?
Robyn Davidson, famous for her solo expedition across the west Australian deserts by camel in the 1970s, presents this documentary telling the story of Australia's camels and the people who brought them here.