A Year on Planet Earth

Stephen Fry examines how the season of summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere affect the natural world. He shows that wildlife must cope with extremes ranging from abundant food to scarcity, as well as fire and heavy rain.

The broadcast titled is a programme presented in the form of a single episode. It is listed under the genre “episode” and forms part of a series that examines seasonal phenomena. In this installment, Stephen Fry takes the viewer through the contrasting effects of the warm season in the northern hemisphere and the cold season in the southern hemisphere. He points out how the shift in climate creates very different conditions for animals, depending on where they live. The episode makes clear that wildlife must cope with a range of extremes. In some areas the change brings an abundance of food, while elsewhere it brings scarcity. At the same time, the same seasonal swing can trigger wildfires in one region and bring heavy, torrential rain in another, putting further pressure on animal populations. By juxtaposing the two halves of the globe, the programme shows how the same calendar period can mean both plenty and hardship for creatures across the planet. The focus remains on the tangible impacts—feast, famine, fire and deluge—that the alternating seasons impose on the natural world.