​Throughout the past two decades, thanks primarily to the advent of high-definition television, the BBC Natural History Unit has made must-see documentaries that offer some of the most hypnotic pieces of 21st-century filmmaking. Though some of these documentaries present an unflinching depiction of survival of the fittest, the soothing, professorial voice of Sir David Attenborough sets a tone of matter-of-fact calm that counterbalances even the most tense animal attack. Now that you can access them all in one place, and you may be in need of a less, shall we say, stressful depiction of life’s struggles, let’s highlight the 12 best nature docs to stream on Discovery+.

​The Blue Planet (2001)

​Though the BBC Natural History Unit had a long filmography prior to the 21st century, it was with The Blue Planet that it approached another level of exploration of the natural world. With the iconic Attenborough as the calm and steady narrator, The Blue Planet goes underwater to highlight the denizens of the deep, with creatures from dolphins to sardines to blue whales getting a turn in the spotlight. The one major difference between The Blue Planet and all of the other titles on this list is technological: the eight-episode docuseries was filmed in standard definition, limiting the grandeur of what’s detailed.