From actor to fighter -- Idris Elba: Fighter on Discovery Channel

This 2017, a Discovery Channel programme follows Idris Elba in his brand new journey as he learns the art and science of kickboxing. In the second season of Idris Elba: No Limits, hear from Idris Elba himself as he tells his own story on what made him decide to get into the ring and learn the trainings and techniques for the said martial arts form from various fighting veterans. Idris Elba: Fighter premieres on January 29, 8:10pm on Discovery Channel.

A September with a Twist on Discovery Channel

Press release

Who says science is boring? Discovery Channel will strike ‘boring’ out of your vocabulary this month with high-standard factual entertainment and programs which will definitely give you some good laughs.

September on Discovery Channel kicks off with a show that is designed to tackle basically…everything. The first season of HOW TO BUILD EVERYTHING will take audiences through how to build a state-of-the-art laser-guided cow milking machine, to the designs behind a 20-story cruise ship, to the transition of a tandem vibratory roller aka steam roller aka a cartoon bunny-flattening machine, and a ton of other mind-blowing engineering marvels. All these, plus a couple of witty commentaries inserted here and there, are rolled into one show.

The new series features a cast of whip-smart and hilarious personalities including: comedian and former airplane mechanic Alonzo Bodden, science communicator and bug expert Alie Ward, real-life doctor and Jane the Virgin’s Keller Wortham, Nerdist science editor Kyle Hill, tech expert and futurist Veronica Belmont, mad inventor Eric Gradman, astronaut Leland Melvin, and so many more.

Augmented with CGI, the brilliant commentators will take the viewers through each build, while a retro-style test lab demonstrates scientific concepts.

Do not miss out on How To Build Everything as it premieres September 7, and airs every Sunday thereafter at 9pm.

From the lab, Discovery Channel goes over the internet to hunt for the world’s top 20 YouTube videos featuring home-made science stunts and experiments. In each episode of the fourth season of YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, a fast-paced countdown of the cleverest, funniest, most daring, or just downright bizarre clips, is sure to come.

 

Photos courtesy of Discovery Channel

Each episode revolves around a theme, along with an explanation and breakdown from some of the world’s best science experts. With the help of amazing storytelling graphics, the expert panel explains the what, how and why of the science that made these clips possible.

What outrageous footage can viewers expect? Visualize a Brazilian man who can hold his breath for more than 20 minutes, or tiny helicopters that can lift a woman in Germany, or maybe the Finnish man who can fly with his own rocket boots. That is the kind of clever and daring that is expected to happen as You Have Been Warned premieres September 14, and airs Wednesdays at 8.10pmonly on Discovery Channel.

ED STAFFORD MAROONED IN PALAWAN IN SECOND INSTALLMENT OF UNMISSABLE HIT SERIES

Press release

August 15, 2016 – Adventurer and survivalist Ed Stafford is back, pushing his survival skills to the limit and pitting himself once again versus Mother Nature in the brand new second season of MAROONED, premiering August 30, 8:10pm on Discovery Channel.Watch as Ed tackles six new challenges in which he is left high and dry in some of the most inhospitable and extreme environments – equipped with nothing but an emergency phone, medical kit and his camera to record his adventures.

Shot in remote locations ranging from the arid and rocky Gobi Desert in Mongolia to the tropical jungles of Guatemala and the Namibian bushveld, each location presents a unique and deadly test as Ed strives to not just survive, but thrive in some of the world’s toughest environments.

Having become the first man to walk the length of the Amazon in an incredible 860 day feat featured in Discovery Channel series WALKING THE AMAZON, and having spent 60 days alone with just a camera on a desert island for NAKED AND MAROONED,Ed is back again, putting his life in danger as he proves to himself that he can devise a plan to survive in any environment.

Helen Hawken, Vice President Production & Development at Discovery Networks International, commented: “This new season captures Ed doing what he does best – pushing his survival skills to the limits in his true inimitable style. Despite crossing the Amazon and spending 60 days alone on a deserted island, Ed still manages to prove that he can survive and even thrive in even more inhospitable terrains than ever before.”

MAROONED is produced for Discovery Networks International by Tigress Productions. For Discovery Networks International, Helen Hawken is commissioning editor and Tom Gorham is executive producer. For Tigress Productions, Dick Colthurst is executive producer and Tim Walker is series producer.

Marooned With Ed Stafford 2 – SeriesDescription

On the back of his incredible 860-day feat traversing the jungle featured in Discovery Channel series Walking the Amazon and 60 days spent alone with just a camera on a desert island for Naked and Marooned, Ed Stafford faced eight of the world’s toughest environments in Marooned and is now back with this all-new second installment of the series.

In each self-contained episode of Marooned, Ed goes into isolation for approximately 10 days in a remote and potentially deadly location. He’s completely on his own – unless extreme circumstances take hold. All he’s got is a camera to capture his adventure and his survival know-how.

There are critical things every survivor must master in their first few days, starting with water, shelter, food and fire. Ed must rapidly assess his situation and draw up a survival plan that takes him beyond the basics to being in control of himself and his environment. No two episodes are the same as Ed confronts challenges unique to each environment that require him to use every survival trick in the book.

Each location – Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, Guatemala and Namibia – arid rocky desert, tropical jungle, and unique African forest – is difficult and dangerous in a different way and requires Ed to adopt different strategies in each place.

Hellos and Goodbyes in Discovery Channel’s April lineup

With a series of hellos and goodbyes following the graduation season, Discovery Channel also brings in a new series, a one-off, and the final season of one of its most-followed programs.

This month, one of Formula 1’s top mechanics seeks a fresh challenge after nearly 10 immensely successful years in the motorsports industry. Marc “Elvis” Priestley, who was an integral part of Lewis Hamilton’s championship-winning pitstop crew in 2008, embarked on a journey to find the planet’s most fascinating amateur motorsports and the result is the show GEARS, GREASE & GLORY.

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

With his F1 knowledge and experience, Elvis will be exploring the world’s most fascinating motorsport subcultures and working with amateur enthusiasts to create, build and customize one-of-a-kind vehicles which they will test in a racing environment. The new series Gears, Grease & Glory premieres April 7, Thursday, 8PM on Discovery Channel.

Returning for its new and final season are special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman in their multiple attempts to find out the truth. Using modern day science, they put everyday myths and urban legends to the test to determine what's busted and what's confirmed. This team is always ready to take it to the next level with explosive results!

Catch the final season of Mythbusters as it premieres April 13, Wednesday, 9 PM.

Meanwhile, witness how the Sherpa community united in grief and anger to reclaim the mountain following the deadly avalanche that struck on April 18, 2014, killing 16 of their members. From director Jennifer Peedom, the new one-off Sherpa is a powerful and moving viewing experience that brings the audience deep into the lives of the Sherpas who make Everest’s climbing culture possible.

The story behind the locals of Nepal and the climbing industry of the world’s highest peak unfolds in Sherpa, as it premieres April 24, Sunday, 8PM.

New Shows on Discovery Channel This March

Press release

Start your March with Discovery Channel’s fresh lineup that is guaranteed to thrill!

Men, Women, Wild is a 6-part series that features three couples placed in three of the harshest environments in the world – the high desert mountains of Morocco, the frozen snow-covered fjords of Norway, and the thick, unforgiving jungle of southern Mexico.  For three weeks they will have to live off of the land, navigate the vast, unknown terrain and find their way back to civilization - but only if they can survive the wild and each other. Throughout each journey, the couples will share their experience and lead viewers through their triumphs and setbacks as they attempt to survive.  In the process, they will be faced with the same tough question: Do they truly have each other’s back, and when the going gets tough, are they stronger together or better off apart?

The new series Men, Women, Wild premieres March 8, airing Tuesdays, 9PM.

Killing Fields is a true-crime documentary series following homicide detectives as they reopen the case of a young woman found in the Louisiana swamplands, a body dumpsite, where the forces of nature often erase evidence of a crime. Tormented by an unfulfilled promise to solve the 1997 homicide investigation, Detective Rodie Sanchez comes out of retirement to rework the case that has haunted him for the past 18 years. Armed with cutting- edge investigative technologies, and a new team of driven detectives, the Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office is determined to finally close their department's most infamous cold case.

Photos courtesy of Discovery Channel

Find out what clues they’ll uncover on the new series Killing Fields, premieres March 17, airing Thursdays at 10PM.

Discovery Channel February Lineup

Press release

Josh James is a hardcore hunter from the backwoods of New Zealand and Matt Tebbutt is a British chef who lives for fine food and loves foraging for wild ingredients.

Photo courtesy of Discovery

They couldn’t be more different, but these two unlikely buddies have set themselves an ambitious goal – to travel to some of the toughest environments on earth and prove in just seven days that they can make incredible food from the most unlikely of ingredients.

They’ll be travelling to some of the most remote regions of earth, from the river valleys and cloud forests of Mexico, to the ancient forests and arctic wastes of Europe. And to make their quest even more of a challenge, they’ll be trying to hunt and forage for everything they need to survive with the barest minimum of equipment.

But will the struggle to tame the wild push them and their skills to the limit? Follow them on Kings Of The Wild airing February 9, Tuesdays, at 8 PM.

Follow adventurers Eric Larsen and Ryan Waters as they attempt an epic ski expedition to the North Pole. Over the course of their journey, they contend with dangerous storms, hungry polar bears, fuel and food shortages, injury, and rapidly thinning ice.

They do this all unaided and unsupported, meaning they must pull everything needed to survive in two 300-pound sleds with only their own manpower. Less than 250 people have ever traversed the Arctic from land to the geographic North Pole and of that small fraternity, only 50 have done it unsupported and unaided.

With global warming pushing the summer thaw earlier into the spring, the trip must end by May 5th. Wherever they find themselves on then is where they end their journey, North Pole or not. This sense of urgency parallels another reason for doing this trip right now. Catch the new one off Melting: Last Race To The Pole as it premieres February 28, Sunday at 8 PM.

DISCOVERY CHANNEL TO AIR RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS SPECIAL FEATURING PRESIDENT OBAMA, ACROSS ASIA PACIFIC

Press release

11 December, 2015 – Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific today announced it will be airing RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS featuring President Barack Obama.  This special, acquired from Electus International and Bear Grylls Ventures, features President Obama trekking through the Alaskan wilderness with Bear Grylls while on a visit to observe the effects of climate change on the area.  It is scheduled to air on Discovery Channel across Asia Pacific from 18 December at 10pm, immediately after its premiere in the US on the evening of 17 December.

Discovery Channel will also be premiering the second season of RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS on 5 January 2016, at 9pm(PH).  This season follows Bear Grylls as he takes Hollywood’s biggest celebrities – including stars such as Kate Winslet, Kate Hudson, Michelle Rodriguez, Ed Helms, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Michael B. Jordan, James Marsden and Drew Brees – on a one-on-one adventure that tests their survival skills and pushes their mental and physical boundaries. From the Nevada Desert to the Italian Alps to the Panama Jungle, Grylls and each celebrity push both their minds and bodies to the limit in these extreme environments to successfully complete their journey.

Learn about Plane Crashes and Super Systems on Discovery Science this October

Press release

This October, Discovery Science examines how some of mankind’s best inventions work - and malfunction. 

Photo courtesy of Discovery

In the new season of Why Planes Crash, pilots and passengers relive the rare and horrifying occasions in which malice, human error or technical faults turn routine flights into nightmares! The search takes viewers inside some of the most terrifying situations imaginable with the aid of shocking archive footage and dramatic animated reconstructions. What brought troubles to these planes?

The answers are on the way as Why Planes Crash airs Thursdays, 9:50 pm.

The most complex systems help make our world a better and more livable place. In a new season on Discovery Science, Super Systems returns and pulls back the curtain on some of the incredible people and machines that keep the planet ticking.

Curious on what made the list? Catch the new season of Super Systems as it premieres on October 20, Tuesday, 8.10pm.

Feed your curious minds this August on Discovery Channel

Press release

Discovery Channel answers some of your burning questions - from the origins of human beings to the modern way of living - this August. See how far we have come from the beginning of time to today’s fast paced society with two new shows and the return of Discovery Channel favorites.

Tawi-Tawi, Philippines is home to Santarawi, one of the last Badjao breath-hold divers who serve as modern models of our ancestors. THE GREAT HUMAN ODYSSEY follows Anthropologist Niobe Thompson as he takes us on a journey of discovery in the footsteps of our human ancestors, and unlocks the mystery of our unlikely survival and miraculous emergence as the world's only global species, meeting Santarawi along the way. We evolved during the most volatile era since the extinction of the dinosaurs. Like the many other kinds of humans who once shared our world, Homo sapiens should have died away. Instead, our species survived to populate every corner of the planet. Why are we the last of our kind? How did we do it?

Marvel at the wonders of human adaptability in THE GREAT HUMAN ODYSSEY premiering August 2, airing Sundays, 8PM.

Every great invention has to start with a great idea. HOW WE GOT HERE tells the stories of iconic Americans whose entrepreneurial genius radically changed their worlds and ours, creating new ideas and industries that transformed our nation in ways so profound, we often take them for granted today. Each episode will dramatize that moment, exploring both how the future unfolded as a result of that precise moment in time, and also how fundamentally different our world would have been had things happened differently.

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

Find out how America made a name for itself and paved for exponential impact in HOW WE GOT HERE premiering August 6, airing Thursdays, 9PM.

It’s another season of testing myths, proving or disproving what is real and what is urban legend as MYTHBUSTERS returns with some wacky ideas planned. Can you really use a whip to swing your way to safety across a deadly chasm? Find out if driving while talking hands-free is really as bad as holding the phone. Catch special episodes that will tackle myths from TV shows like The Simpsons and epic movies such as Star Wars.

Join the witty MYTHBUSTERS duo Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage in another season of fun mythbusting returning August 12, airing Wednesdays, 8PM.

It’s the dawn of the technological age and life should be getting easier by the second. GADGET MAN is back for another season and Richard Ayoade still isn't finding life any easier. Cooking, shopping, moving house, going out or even staying in are among the activities that involve far too much effort for Ayoade's liking. This is why he continues his crusade to find gadgets that can ease his pain.

Discover life hacks with the latest innovations in GADGET MAN returning August 28, airing Fridays, 9PM.

THE BADJAOS FEATURED ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL’S THE GREAT HUMAN ODYSSEY

Press release

Anthropologist Dr. Niobe Thompson journeys around the world to reveal the mysteries of our survival

How did humans overcome near extinction in an African super-drought and find a place to rebuild? How did we master the Arctic and cross the oceans to populate every corner of the planet? When and how did the Homo sapiens emerge as the world's only global species?

Unlock the mysteries of our very existence as anthropologist Dr. Niobe Thompson reveals groundbreaking scientific research and traces the footsteps of our human ancestors across five continents – including the tip of the Philippine archipelago, Tawi-Tawi – on THE GREAT HUMAN ODYSSEY, premiering August 2, airing Sundays at 8 p.m.

Throughout the three-part series, Dr. Thompson provides a never-before-seen glimpse into our species’ past through expeditions to some of the world’s most remote cultures. With the Philippines being the only area left with an intact freediving culture, the crew of The Great Human Odyssey was motivated to visit the Badjao - the master hunters of the sea floor and the world’s last traditional divers.

Dr. Thompson met with 63-year-old Santarawi, one of the last great Badjao divers with the amazing ability for breath-hold diving, able to endure up to five minutes under water. As filming took place on Santarawi’s war-torn homeland of Tawi-Tawi, safety was of prime importance. On top of the protection provided by the Philippine Marines, Santarawi assured the crew both of protection and friendship. “It took us almost a year of work with partners from the Philippines before we felt that we could work safely on the ground. Seeing the film’s success made us so happy that we went there.  The Philippines is my favorite location amongst all in this film,” Dr. Thompson shared.

Apart from the Badjaos, The Great Human Odyssey features the Crocodile People of Papua New Guinea, Bushmen of the Kalahari, and the reindeer-herders of the Russian Artic. From surviving the Ice Age to the meeting of Neanderthals and modern humans; the birth of language and art; and how our ancestors found a way through the deserts out of Africa - The Great Human Odyssey will take us four million years back in time to reveal the frailty of human life and the miracle of our adaptable, imaginative, and curious nature. 

WHAT GOES THROUGH X-RAY: MEGA AIRPORT

Press release

A NEW DISCOVERY CHANNEL SERIES

Every day, twenty million people all over the world pass through airports. In fact, airports are one of the most engineered environments one will ever step into.

Photo courtesy of Discovery

Witness for the first time how this epicentre of engineering works in a new five-part series on Discovery Channel, X-RAY: MEGA AIRPORT, premiering June 24, Wednesday, 9:00 p.m.

Using cutting edge camerawork and computer-generated imagery (CGI), the series reveal the inner workings of one of the busiest hubs in the world: Frankfurt’s mega airport. Each 60-minute episode provides an insider look on the state-of-the-art equipment and security in the airport, its round-the-clock deadlines, its role in the international air network and the quick decisions that make-or-break the exhibition of flights through unparalleled imaging technology.   

In unprecedented detail, X-RAY: MEGA AIRPORT crunches the raw data captured by laser scans to track flows of people, machinery and money, exposing elements invisible to our naked eye and giving an x-ray overview of Frankfurt’s Mega Airport.

Episodes:

·         Race Against the Clock. Discover how every action at a mega-airport is planned to the hour, the minute, and the second. Keeping to such a regimented schedule requires thousands of engineers to race against the clock, twenty-four hours a day.

·         Total Control. Using advanced equipment to x-ray scan the airport, find out how every action is precisely and predictably controlled, including that of the passengers as they enter the terminal, one of the most highly-controlled environments on Earth.

·         The Airport Never Sleeps. Head behind the scenes at one of Europe’s busiest hubs, and discover how an operation the size of Frankfurt never enjoys down-time.

·         Crossroads of the World. Head into the heart of this global mega-airport and explore its vital role in the world’s vast international air network. Flights from five continents land at Germany’s biggest airport every day - a feat only possible due to specialists from seventy countries working together to welcome passengers to the Frankfurt hub.

·         Failure Is Not An Option. The airport’s engineering teams are under pressure, managing specialist technology that they cannot risk to fail. Witness an engine change on an A380 airliner, before finding out the precautions involved in pumping tens of thousands of litres of highly flammable aviation fuel.

X-RAY: MEGA AIRPORT exposes what it takes to be involved in airport operations – the extreme time pressure, the massive numbers and the small but vital systems designed to keep processes under control – all for the sole reason of providing people with a quality travel experience. Marvel at this epicentre of engineering this June on Discovery Channel.

Jawsome July Returns With Shark Week On Discovery

Press release

- 2014’s Shark Week set ratings high in Singapore and the Philippines 

among viewers aged 25 to 54 

SHARK WEEK, one of the longest running and most anticipated television events, returns to Discovery Channel on Monday, July 13 at 9pm (PH).

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

Last year’s Shark Week netted record high ratings in the Philippines since 2009, and the highest viewership in Singapore over the last ten years since 2005, among viewers aged 25 to 54. From Return of the Great White Serial Killer, to Bride of Jaws and Ninja Sharks, SHARK WEEK is set to be even more jawsome this year!

DISCOVERY CHANNEL APRIL 2015 HIGHLIGHTS

Press release

Discovery Channel is available nationwide in the Philippines on every major cable, DTH, and local provincial operators

THE RIDDLE OF THE CRUCIFIXION

Premieres on Friday at 8:00 p.m. on April 3.

Encores on Friday at 11:00 p.m., Saturday at 11:00 a.m., Sunday at 8:00 p.m. and Monday at 1:00 p.m.

The image of Jesus on the cross is one of the most iconic in the world but to this day, his death contains a fundamental mystery. In THE RIDDLE OF THE CRUCIFIXION, forensic pathologist Dr Michael Hunter gathers a team of archaeologists, physiologists, and medical practitioners in order to determine for the first time, Jesus’ precise cause of death. Traditional explanations vary wildly from blood loss caused by a soldier’s spear, to suffocation brought on from his extended arms, to exhaustion caused by the elements. In this eye-opening film, the team will reveal that that is not the case, delivering an autopsy report that would hold up even in today’s courtrooms.

THE ISLAND WITH BEAR GRYLLS

Premieres every Tuesday at 10:00 p.m., starting April 14.

Encores every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday at 11:00 p.m.

  

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

There are likely very few people who would choose to be put through one of the toughest survival shows on television but that’s exactly what 13 men have done. On THE ISLAND WITH BEAR GRYLLS, a group of ordinary men are taken to a remote, uninhabited Pacific island, where they are left completely alone with only the clothes on their backs and some basic tools. Experience the intensity of hunger, thirst, consistent 30-degree heat, humidity and raw emotion in this exciting new series, hosted by adventurer Bear Grylls.

ALASKA: BATTLE ON THE BAY

Premieres every Monday at 10:00 p.m., starting April 20. Encores every Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. and Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

  

In the desolate outreaches of Bristol Bay, Alaska, the most competitive fishing season on Earth is about to take place over four short weeks. 1,800 captains and their crews will draw the battle lines to help save Alaska's ecosystem by reeling in a massive sockeye salmon payday. ALASKA: BATTLE ON THE BAY follows five fishing boats as the captains prepare to battle the unforgiving bay, going to extremes to jockey for position. Each person has their own reasons for doing this – from gaining bragging rights to paying off debts. With potential fortune swimming just below the surface, tempers are short and every decision is the difference between netting the prize and settling for pennies.

MAN V EXPERT

Premieres every Wednesday at 9:00 p.m., starting April 22. Encores every Thursday at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday at 11:00 p.m.

  

Is it ever possible to shortcut your way to the top? Find out on MAN V EXPERT as professional actor, gambler and magician Alexis Conran takes on three intense challenges against world class experts each week to see if he can find a way to beat them at their own game – without going through years of training. In any normal head-to-head contest, Alexis wouldn’t stand a chance, but his ultra-competitive nature and desire to win at all costs means he won’t give up until he figures out a way to be victorious. He will travel all over, even looking into science and technology to see if he can overcome the odds. Whether it’s a professor, a sporting champion or the world’s strongest man, MAN V EXPERT will equip you with the techniques and tricks to beat the experts at their own game.