Wonders of the Monsoon

Wonders of the Monsoon (also known as Lands of the Monsoon)[1] is a BBC documentary series which ran for five episodes between 5 October 2014[2] and 2 November 2014, and aired on BBC Two. The series focus for a variety of locations around the world features including India, Australia and islands of the Pacific Ocean which are all the focus of the monsoon rains.

Wonders of the Monsoon
Also known as	Lands of the Monsoon
Genre	Nature documentary
Narrated by	Colin Salmon
Composer	Nitin Sawhney
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	Kathryn Jeffs Paul Bradshaw Chris Cole James Honeybourne
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	BBC Natural History Unit Discovery Channel
Release
Original network	BBC Two BBC Two HD
Picture format	16:9 576i (SDTV) 16:9 1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	SD: Stereo HD: Stereo
Original release	5 October – 2 November 2014
External links
Website

The series was composed by Nitin Sawhney[3] and narrated by Colin Salmon.[3]

Episodes

All original and international episode names were given from BBC website. All broadcast dates refer to the original UK transmission.

Episode	Original Title / International Title	Original air date
1	"Waiting for the Rains" "Bringer and Destroyer[4]"	5 October 2014[5]
Starting in the monsoon region of Northern Australia before moving onto Christmas Island where the rains trigger a migration of red crabs. In India, the Delhi stock exchange sees the price of rice rise every day the rains fail to appear.
2	"Deluge[6]"	12 October 2014[7]
Pre-monsoon showers arrive in Thailand as Assamese macaque play in the water and eat water snails. Four months of rain begin in India where male Indian common toads turn yellow-gold for one day in a chance to mate. The Mekong in Cambodia swells, forcing water back up its tributary to fill the Tonlé Sap Lake.
3	"The Drought" "Drought[8]"	19 October 2014[9]
The winds reverse as the monsoon doesn't bring rain but brings in dry air and drought in places. In Borneo, a bearded pig has worked out a strategy for surviving. Camels in the Rajasthan Desert provide vital transport while elephants gather in Sri Lanka for the appearance of fresh grass.
4	"Strange Castaways" "Isles of Plenty[10]"	26 October 2014[11]
The Black-crested macaque thrive in large troops on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi where they eat fruit. Soil erosion is a problem in rainswept Borneo, so plants have to compete for scarce nutrients and take to evolving some ingenious techniques to survive.
5	"People of the Monsoon" "Transformation[12]"	2 November 2014[13]
People of Palawan still hunt in forest and live in caves, and their existence relies on a respect for nature. The Bishnoi have also been known to lay their lives down for nature. With a minimal farmland that supports a high density of people, the group are under pressure.

Merchandise

A two-disc DVD[14] and two-disc Blu-ray set[15] for the series were released on 17 November 2014.

In Australia and New Zealand, DVD was released by ABC DVD/Village Roadshow on 21 October 2015.[16]

References

1. "BBC BBC Worldwide premieres Hugo Blick's The Honourable Woman with Maggie Gyllenhaal at MIPTV – Media Centre". BBC Media Centre.
2. "16 incredible pictures that will make you want to travel during monsoon season". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
3. "Wonders of the Monsoon, BBC2 – TV review: Someone give that sprinting lizard his own show". Independent UK.
4. "Lands of the Monsoon, Episode 1: Bringer and Destroyer". BBC Asia.
5. BBC Two – Wonders of the Monsoon, Waiting for the Rains
6. "Lands of the Monsoon, Episode 2: Deluge". BBC Asia.
7. BBC Two – Wonders of the Monsoon, Deluge
8. "Lands of the Monsoon, Episode 3: Drought". BBC Asia.
9. BBC Two – Wonders of the Monsoon, The Drought
10. "Lands of the Monsoon, Episode 4: Isles of Plenty". BBC Asia.
11. BBC Two – Wonders of the Monsoon, Strange Castaways
12. "Lands of the Monsoon, Episode 5: Transformation". BBC Asia.
13. BBC Two – Wonders of the Monsoon, People of the Monsoon
14. "Wonders of the Monsoon (DVD)". Amazon.com.
15. "Wonders of the Monsoon (Blu-ray)". Amazon.com.
16. "Lands of the Monsoon (DVD)". ABC Shop.

External links

• Wonders of the Monsoon at BBC Programmes
• Lands of the Monsoon at BBC Earth Asia
• Wonders of the Monsoon at IMDb