Natural History Museum: World of Wonder

Every year over 5 million visitors come to see its incredible collection: from extraordinary dinosaurs to giant whales, rare fossils to space rocks as old as the solar system itself, all looked after by its passionate staff. But visitors see only a fraction of the staggering 80 million items in the collection. Now our cameras have been allowed not just front of house but also behind the scenes, to capture the incredible specimens, witness the ground-breaking scientific research and to reveal the unique and rare pieces too valuable to exhibit.

Natural History Museum: World of Wonder Season 1 release dates →

1. E4

   4. Episode 4

   Finale 5 years ago

   Leading experts examine a rock in a crate of finds from an archaeological dig in Africa, which could contain a very rare 200-million-year-old dinosaur skull. The museum staff prepares for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards. Other artefacts from the museum featured in this episode include meteorite fragments that are older than the solar system and the oldest complete beetle specimens ever found in the UK.

2. E3

   3. Episode 3

   5 years ago

   World-leading dinosaur expert Susie Maidment is in the museum basement trying to piece together the skeleton of the first Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered. It’s a priceless specimen but somehow the bones have got muddled up with another dinosaur and it’s up to Susie to work out if any of the bits are missing. The experts inspect Guy the gorilla, who was a London Zoo favourite for decades and now sits fully preserved in his own glass case, and the museum launches an ambitious project to capture a sample of every living bug in the UK today.

3. E2

   2. Episode 2

   5 years ago

   The museum's dinosaur experts Susie Maidment and Paul Barrett follow up an exciting tip-off about some possible dino footprints in Wales. Meanwhile, the world's most famous dinosaur - Dippy the Diplodocus - is on a road trip around the country and needs an up-close inspection to make sure it's safe.

4. E1

   1. Episode 1

   5 years ago

   Every year, five million people visit London's Natural History Museum to see its incredible collection, from extraordinary dinosaurs to giant whales, and rare fossils to space rocks said to be as old as the solar system itself. But only a fraction of the staggering 80 million items in the collection are on display. Here cameras capture some of these incredible specimens, revealing the unique and rare pieces too valuable to exhibit.

We meet the teams keeping it up and running and the scientists working behind the scenes uncovering incredible discoveries about our natural world; from billion-year-old meteorites and dinosaur fossils from Antarctica to the wildlife in the Museum’s own garden. They’re on a mission to save our planet and travel the world from Morocco to Scotland and even the banks of the Thames to learn more about the natural world in all its glory.

Natural History Museum: World of Wonder Season 2 release dates →

1. E4

   4. Episode 4

   Finale 5 months ago

   Cameras follow dinosaur expert Susie on a dig in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco in search of new dinosaur fossils. Back in London, researcher Lauren and her colleague Paul are on a mission to track down invasive species which are bad news for British wildlife, and Theo, one of the Urban Project youth leaders, explores the Museum's own wildlife in its garden.

2. E3

   3. Episode 3

   5 months ago

   Tori the ancient mammal expert meets artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg who brings different depictions of endangered rhinos for the Museum's latest exhibition, The Lost Rhino. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Patrick Vallance pays a visit to the museum's 40,000 bat specimens and discovers how a strain of Coronavirus has been detected in some bat specimens which are hundreds of years old. Andrea, curator of a new Challenger exhibition, prepares some of the records and photographs taken over 150 years ago on the sea expedition. Meteorite expert Natasha presents the museum's micrometeorites.

3. E2

   2. Episode 2

   Mid-season finale 3 years ago

   The museum hosts the world's biggest wildlife photography competition, the garden is transformed as part of the museum's Urban Nature Project, and a 67-million-year-old triceratops fossil needs repairing.

4. E1

   1. Episode 1

   3 years ago

   Meeting the people behind the scenes at one of the world's greatest museums. While dinosaur researcher Cassius scans a giant Gorgosaurus jawbone, space expert Ashley studies the Winchcombe meteorite.