Chasing Darwin

Chasing Darwin retraces that voyage across the landscapes, islands and wildernesses that shaped his thinking. From the rainforests of Brazil and the plains of Patagonia to the Galápagos, Australia and the remote islands of the Pacific, the series follows the observations, encounters and discoveries that gradually transformed Darwin’s understanding of the natural world. Woven through the journey is the story of the decades that followed, as those experiences evolved into the ideas that would ultimately change science forever.

Nearly two centuries later, naturalist and explorer Stewart McPherson follows Darwin’s route aboard the historic tall ship Oosterschelde, returning to the same places and seeing them through a very different world. Drawing on Darwin’s journals, letters and notebooks, and supported by exclusive 4K footage from the DARWIN200 Global Voyage, the series brings past and present together through spectacular wildlife, extraordinary landscapes and insights from scientists, conservationists, local experts and Indigenous communities. Along the way, it reveals not only how Darwin changed our understanding of the planet, but how profoundly the planet itself has changed since his time.

Chasing Darwin will be available in two versions: a presenter led edition hosted by Stewart McPherson, whose modern expedition forms part of the story, and a presenter less edition offering the same journey through a fully authored narrative.