BBC Dinos 24/7

Alastair Sooke explores the sumptuous treasures of the Golden Age of Egyptian art, starting with troubling psychological portraits of tyrant king Senwosret III, and ending with the golden mask of boy-king Tutankhamun.

Alastair Sooke looks at how, despite political decline, the final era of the Egyptian Empire saw its art enjoy revival and rebirth. From the colossal statues of Rameses II that proclaimed the pharaoh's power to the final flourishes under Queen Cleopatra, Sooke discovers that the subsequent invasions by foreign rulers, from the Nubians and Alexander the Great to the Romans, produced a new hybrid ar

Exploring fresh archaeological excavations that shed new light on the lives of those who worked tirelessly on the pyramids.

In a brutal world where nature is both friend and foe, the ancient powers are just beginning. They must use all their skill and ingenuity to shape their territory and establish their cultures.

In an unpredictable world, the ancient powers must lay down the foundations of their societies to show their strength, protect their people and ultimately build their way to glory.

To pay for armies and other costs, the ancient powers had to tax territories and monetise their assets. But in this world of commerce, ancient societies stored their wealth in different ways.

In a world where enemies watch for weakness, the ancient powers must use all their strength and cunning to defend their people, conquer new lands, and rise to the challenge of the battlefield.

In an unruly world, the ancient powers must lead their people, create ways to govern and keep rebellion at bay. To achieve this, they may invent caste systems, organise gladiatorial games or turn to gods.

Though the ancient powers have endured for centuries, their destruction is close at hand. However, some will leave lasting legacies that will continue to shape the world long after their downfall.

A journey to discover the legendary lost city of Piramesse, a magnificent ancient capital built 3,000 years ago by the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses the Great. When it was finally rediscovered by early archaeologists, it opened up a bizarre puzzle because it was in the wrong place.

In the Lambayeque valley in northern Peru lies a strange lost world, the forgotten ruins of 250 mysterious pyramids, including some of the biggest on the planet, colossal structures made out of mud bricks.

This is the story of the formidable Hittites and their long-lost capital, Hattusha, which has recently been rediscovered. Buried in this lost city is one of the greatest libraries of the ancient world, and all the secrets of this mysterious civilisation were written in two codes - one a unique form of hieroglyphs with which we can recreate the lost world of the Hittites.

Special effects-filled documentary beginning 49 million years ago. The world is heavily forested and birds rule the planet, preying on small mammals. Whales have not yet evolved, and their ancestors walk on the land.

A pregnant basilosaurus, an 18-metre, carnivorous whale which lives in the Tethys Sea, is forced to kill the young of a smaller whale to ensure the survival of her unborn calf.

Going back 25 million years to the time of the indricothere, which was the largest mammal ever to live on dry land, being seven metres high and weighing 15 tons! The only threat to an adult would have been the hyaenodon which was the size of a rhino and had jaws that could crush a rock.

The beginnings of mankind can be traced back 3.2 million years to Ethiopia and the advent of Australopithecus, a type of ape which, like humans, was bipedal. These early members of the human family faced many dangers, including the sabre-toothed cat, malaria, and the 14-tonne delnotherium.

Revealing the exotic, oversized creatures that inhabited South America one million years ago, such as the deadly smilodon, the largest of all sabre tooth cats.

Looking at the depths of the Ice Age, following a group of mammoths who have been forced to travel south with the advent of winter. On a dangerous journey across the Alps, many become trapped in bogs or fall victim to predators. However, their most formidable enemies are waiting for them on their return journey - Neanderthals.

Part 1/3. As life starts evolving in the oceans, our bizarre earliest ancestors battle against 3m long sea scorpions and giant carnivorous fish. Their ability to survive will determine the shape of life on Earth and whether humans will exist at all. As our amphibian ancestors struggle onto land the monsters they face are even more deadly.

Part 2/3. Millions of years before the dinosaurs, a world full of giant sabretooth reptiles and huge armoured herbivores was obliterated when global temperatures soared and vast deserts blanketed the land. As the environment recovered, populations of one species of tough reptile exploded until it alone dominated the planet, but its reign was short-lived.

Part 3/3. The struggle for survival moves onto land in the shape of early reptiles such as Petrolacosaurus. In the Carboniferous swamps, insects and arthropods have taken over and grown into giants, from the giant spider Mesothelae to millipede-like monsters. As the swamps dry up, the world becomes dominated by the first ever giant reptiles - the huge, sail-backed Edaphosaurus.

The life of the first reptilian carnivores on Earth, told through computer animation.

This programme travels 152 million years into the past to a planet dominated by mighty, long-necked sauropods - the largest animals ever to walk the earth. There were no birds, flowers or grass, and the land was carpeted by fern prairies and coniferous forests.

A look at the world as it was 149 million years ago - in the late Jurassic Period. The old continents have broken up and much of the land is under water. Huge shallow seas have supported a revolution in marine life.

A mind-expanding trip back through time to look at how the skies of 127 million years ago were dominated by huge flying reptiles, some as large as aeroplanes. The programme also follows the extraordinary journey of the pterosaur, which flew for thousands of miles in order to reach its breeding site. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

This programme looks at the Cretaceous period, 106 million years ago. Volcanic activity forces the continents apart, and dinosaurs diversify into a range of species to cope with environmental extremes. The landmass that will become Australia and Antarctica is in sunlight for half of the year, and in frozen darkness for the rest.

Looking at the closing chapters of the Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago, when the world is poisoned by massive volcanic activity. Among the fields of burning ash, the dinosaurs struggle for survival, oblivious to the Earth's impending collision with a giant comet.

In a time when monstrous creatures ruled the earth, South America was the land of the giants. Nigel Marven walks among these gigantic creatures, on a quest to witness the largest predator bringing down the largest prey.

Nigel Marven journeys back to the sand dunes of Mesozoic Mongolia to track the owner of the largest claws of all time, the Therizinosaurus. His adventure yields a series of surprising clues, a nest, footprints, dung, and more.

Scientists study the perfectly preserved remains of an adolescent allosaurus they call Big Al.

This scientific detective story traces the evidence for Big Al the allosaur's existence, using clues from climate change studies, forensics, and fossil records to bring him back to life.

Featured species are the coelophysis and the diplodocus.

Featured species are the ophthalmosaurus and the ornithocheirus.

Featured species are the Leaellynasaura and the Tyrannosaurus.

This episode explains how the 120-million-year reign of the dinosaurs ended when mammals became the fastest and fiercest creatures on the planet.

A look at the science that has proved Darwin's idea that intelligent, sophisticated humans have an ancestral connection with the ape.

Animatronics, computer animation and science re-create the dinosaurs' world.

Special effects-filled documentary beginning 49 million years ago. The world is heavily forested and birds rule the planet, preying on small mammals. Whales have not yet evolved, and their ancestors walk on the land.

A pregnant basilosaurus, an 18-metre, carnivorous whale which lives in the Tethys Sea, is forced to kill the young of a smaller whale to ensure the survival of her unborn calf.

Going back 25 million years to the time of the indricothere, which was the largest mammal ever to live on dry land, being seven metres high and weighing 15 tons! The only threat to an adult would have been the hyaenodon which was the size of a rhino and had jaws that could crush a rock.

The beginnings of mankind can be traced back 3.2 million years to Ethiopia and the advent of Australopithecus, a type of ape which, like humans, was bipedal. These early members of the human family faced many dangers, including the sabre-toothed cat, malaria, and the 14-tonne delnotherium.

Revealing the exotic, oversized creatures that inhabited South America one million years ago, such as the deadly smilodon, the largest of all sabre tooth cats.

Looking at the depths of the Ice Age, following a group of mammoths who have been forced to travel south with the advent of winter. On a dangerous journey across the Alps, many become trapped in bogs or fall victim to predators. However, their most formidable enemies are waiting for them on their return journey - Neanderthals.

Part 1/3. As life starts evolving in the oceans, our bizarre earliest ancestors battle against 3m long sea scorpions and giant carnivorous fish. Their ability to survive will determine the shape of life on Earth and whether humans will exist at all. As our amphibian ancestors struggle onto land the monsters they face are even more deadly.

Part 2/3. Millions of years before the dinosaurs, a world full of giant sabretooth reptiles and huge armoured herbivores was obliterated when global temperatures soared and vast deserts blanketed the land. As the environment recovered, populations of one species of tough reptile exploded until it alone dominated the planet, but its reign was short-lived.

Part 3/3. The struggle for survival moves onto land in the shape of early reptiles such as Petrolacosaurus. In the Carboniferous swamps, insects and arthropods have taken over and grown into giants, from the giant spider Mesothelae to millipede-like monsters. As the swamps dry up, the world becomes dominated by the first ever giant reptiles - the huge, sail-backed Edaphosaurus.

The life of the first reptilian carnivores on Earth, told through computer animation.

This programme travels 152 million years into the past to a planet dominated by mighty, long-necked sauropods - the largest animals ever to walk the earth. There were no birds, flowers or grass, and the land was carpeted by fern prairies and coniferous forests.

A look at the world as it was 149 million years ago - in the late Jurassic Period. The old continents have broken up and much of the land is under water. Huge shallow seas have supported a revolution in marine life.

A mind-expanding trip back through time to look at how the skies of 127 million years ago were dominated by huge flying reptiles, some as large as aeroplanes. The programme also follows the extraordinary journey of the pterosaur, which flew for thousands of miles in order to reach its breeding site. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

This programme looks at the Cretaceous period, 106 million years ago. Volcanic activity forces the continents apart, and dinosaurs diversify into a range of species to cope with environmental extremes. The landmass that will become Australia and Antarctica is in sunlight for half of the year, and in frozen darkness for the rest.

Looking at the closing chapters of the Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago, when the world is poisoned by massive volcanic activity. Among the fields of burning ash, the dinosaurs struggle for survival, oblivious to the Earth's impending collision with a giant comet.

In a time when monstrous creatures ruled the earth, South America was the land of the giants. Nigel Marven walks among these gigantic creatures, on a quest to witness the largest predator bringing down the largest prey.

Nigel Marven journeys back to the sand dunes of Mesozoic Mongolia to track the owner of the largest claws of all time, the Therizinosaurus. His adventure yields a series of surprising clues, a nest, footprints, dung, and more.

Scientists study the perfectly preserved remains of an adolescent allosaurus they call Big Al.