Rivers and Life

Explores the nature of man's relationship with the earth's amazing water systems. Flowing over 6,000km from source to sea, the Yangtze River is one of the most utilized and deadly water ways in the world.

For Hindus, Mother Ganga is a sacred spirit. It rises in an ice-cave in the Himalayas and empties into the Bay of Bengal. But the Ganges has become so badly polluted that it is dangerous to bathe in let alone to drink from it.

The Nile encapsulates the story of ancient civilisation - and the story of modern conflict and modern consumerism.

It's an inspiration and a thing of beauty in itself - but in addition the Rhine is also an industrial and economic force making it the busiest waterway in the world.

The Amazon is one of the world's most unadulterated rivers - the most wild, the most remote. Seeing life on its banks is like stepping back in time... but for how long?

The Mississippi - an iconic North American river, home to paddle-steamers, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, a key route in the story of slavery and Civil War, and of New Orleans and the devastating floods of 2005.