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All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 Adaptability

    • December 15, 2019
    • BBC Four

    Professor Ben Garrod explores the evolution of the body's largest organ, skin, starting with how the same basic structure has allowed vertebrates to conquer every corner of the planet.

  • S01E02 Moving

    • December 16, 2019
    • BBC Four

    Professor Ben Garrod explores how adaptations on and in the skin allow birds to fly, sharks to be built for speed and sugar gliders to take to the air.

  • S01E03 Protection

    • December 17, 2019
    • BBC Four

    Professor Ben Garrod reveals how skin protects vertebrates from extremes of temperature, the harmful effect of UV and a host of living organisms that want to get in.

  • S01E04 Communication

    • December 18, 2019
    • BBC Four

    Professor Ben Garrod explores how, while humans rely largely on speech to communicate, most other animals use their skin to send out messages and warning signals.

  • S01E05 Defence

    • December 19, 2019
    • BBC Four

    From quills to camouflage to deadly toxins, skin has evolved to defend animals against attack. Professor Ben Garrod explores the armour and weaponry that vertebrate skin has adapted.

  • S01E06 Sensing

    • December 20, 2019
    • BBC Four

    Professor Ben Garrod delves into the ways skin has adapted to allow animals to sense the world around them.