In this spellbinding series Professor Brian Cox visits the most extreme locations on Earth to explain how the laws of physics carved natural wonders across the solar system.

1. Empire of the Sun
The first episode illustrates how formation and the behaviour of the Sun affects each planet in the Solar System. During this episode, Cox visits India to view and explain the workings of a total solar eclipse. The Aurora Borealis is also seen in Norway and an explanation of the power of the Sun occurs in Death Valley, California.

2. Order Out of Chaos
The second instalment focuses on the Rings of Saturn, and the geysers of Enceladus.

3. The Thin Blue Line
The third episode looks at the atmosphere of Earth and that of Titan.

4. Dead or Alive
The fourth episode looks at the size of planets, volcanoes, and the Jovian moon Io.

5. Aliens
The final installment covers life surviving in extreme environments, and how the search for life on other worlds follows the search for water, focusing on Mars, and on Jupiter's moon Europa.