Documentaries about Antarctica

So far, 2016 has been the year of documentaries. There’s just something about sitting on the couch, avoiding everything I need to do, and watching 6 hours of nature programs. So, as a continuation of my Antarctica series, I thought I’d list all the documentaries that got my obsession started.

All of the documentaries listed below are available on Netflix. And I have watched them. Every single second of them. They are not ranked, as I think they are all interesting and informative. Enjoy, and do let me know if you watch them!

Antarctica: A Year on Ice.

This was the documentary that started it all (for me). Created by Anthony Powell, Antarctica: A Year On Ice is “a film that lets you experience what it is like to live in Antarctica for a full year, including winters isolated from the rest of the world, while enduring months of darkness in the harshest place on Earth.” The documentary took 10 years to film, and chronicles all aspect of life on Antarctica. Even featuring the wedding between Powell and his wife Christine.

Time: 1 hour and 32 min.

Frozen Planet Series

Filming the change of the seasons for both the South and North Pole, the Frozen Planet series is the most ambitious of the bunch. There are four different Frozen Planet programs on Netflix. Frozen Planet, Frozen Planet: An Epic Journey, Frozen Planet: On Thin Ice, and The Making of Frozen Planet. My favourites out of the bunch are the original Frozen Planet and The Making of Frozen Planet. The series is described by the BBC, “David Attenborough travels to the end of the earth, taking viewers on an extraordinary journey across the polar regions of our planet.”

Time: Too much.

Chasing Shackleton

This three part series made me want to strangle the men doing this. But, it is quite interesting. And I understand why they decided to undertake the dangerous voyage of Sir Ernest Shackleton. It’s still insane. There’s a reason no women joined their crew (probably because none were asked).
“The series follows a crew of five intrepid explorers led by renowned adventurer, scientist and author Tim Jarvis as they re-create Shackleton’s epic sea-and-land voyage in a replica of the original explorers’ boat, using only the tools and supplies his team used.”

Time: 3 hours (3 episodes, about an hour each.)

Chasing Ice

While it is not about Antarctica, it is about glaciers! And if you like any of the documentaries above, you’ll love this one.
“Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.” Chasing Ice is both beautiful, and bone-chilling, as you realize just how much of an impact we’ve had on such massive features of our planet.

Time: 1 hour 15 min.

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Have a favourite nature documentary? Let me know! I’d love to watch it!

*Featured Image by Liam Quinn