Episode 1
Iain Stewart visits places that gave birth to the earth's oil riches, discovers the people who fought over its control and explores how the need for oil is changing the planet.
From the moment we first drilled for oil, we opened a Pandora's box that changed the world forever. It transformed the way we lived our lives, spawned foreign wars and turned a simple natural resource into the most powerful political weapon the world has ever known. But when exactly did geology turn into such a high-stakes game?
In this series, Professor Iain Stewart visits the places that gave birth to the earth's oil riches, discovers the people who fought over its control and supply, and explores how our insatiable thirst for oil is changing the very planet on which we depend.
It's a journey that will help us answer a fundamental question - how did we become so addicted to oil in little more than one human lifetime?
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Clips
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What it’s like to take a bath in oil
Duration: 00:55
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Living in an age of oil
Duration: 00:52
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Fiery mud volcanoes
Duration: 01:02
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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00:3459 Times the Pain
Turn at 25th
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Iain Stewart |
| Series Producer | Richard Downes |
| Producer | Russell Leven |
Broadcasts
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Extraordinary Earth
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Planet Oil
Documentary series exploring how we've become so reliant on oil.
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Planet Oil: The Treasure that Conquered the World
Documentary series exploring just how reliant we've become on oil.
What happens if we run out of oil?
Douglas Fraser takes an in-depth look.
When did planet Earth become Planet Oil?
Prof Iain Stewart looks into our addiction to oil and how it changed the world