Zingzing TV Guide

Secrets of Skin TV Guide

Upcoming episodes, programme details and where to watch over the next seven days. All times are UK time.

Upcoming airings

Series 1 · Moving

What makes sharks built for speed? How do snakes move without limbs? How do sugar gliders fly without feathers? The answer all lies in their skin. Professor Ben Garrod uncovers the secrets of how skin has evolved to enable animals to solve some of the most remarkable challenges on earth. To do this, Ben heads to the specialist flight centre at the Royal Veterinary College to analyse the way a sugar glider uses its skin flaps to stay aloft. He goes diving with sharks at the Blue Planet Aquarium and discovers that, far from being smooth, sharkskin is incredibly rough. It is covered with thousands of tiny teeth that make a shark hydrodynamic. Ben also finds out how the keratinised scales on snakes' bellies are the perfect configuration to allow them to move over virtually any surface they encounter.

Details for all showings

  • Factual science tech
  • Factual
  • News & Factual
  • Subtitles
Production year
2019
Original language
English
Broadcast language
English
Subtitle language
English
Aspect ratio
16:9

When to watch · 2 showings

  • BBC FourEngland London(30 minutes)
  • BBC FourEngland London(30 minutes)

Series 1 · Protection

How does a giraffe stay cool? What are different porcupine quills teaching us about medicine? What makes some people more likely to be bitten by mosquitoes than others? All the answers and more lie in the secrets of how skin protects us from a hostile world. When it comes to protecting our delicate insides, skin is like an external suit of armour. Animals have adapted ways of protecting themselves from everything a hostile planet has to throw at them. Hippos produce their own sunscreen to protect themselves against the dangers of UV rays from the sun. Only recently discovered by science, is the truth behind a giraffe’s spots, a network of blood vessels that they use to cool themselves down in the blazing heat of the African savannah. Professor Ben Garrod discovers how. He tests the limitations of human skin by plunging himself into a deep freezer to demonstrate how human skin just isn’t well insulated enough to cope with extreme cold. He discovers how human skin is an entire ecosystem for bugs and bacteria as he comes face to face with what is growing on his skin. And he gets bitten by mosquitoes and stable flies as he learns that disease-carrying insects have evolved to...

Details for all showings

  • Factual science tech
  • Factual
  • News & Factual
  • Subtitles
Production year
2019
Original language
English
Broadcast language
English
Subtitle language
English
Aspect ratio
16:9

When to watch · 2 showings

  • BBC FourEngland London(30 minutes)
  • BBC FourEngland London(30 minutes)