Size Matters

BBC Four

Original version

BBC Four HD

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Hannah Fry takes a spectacular look at the science of size.

Hannah Fry takes a spectacular look at the science of size by imagining a parallel world in which everything is made bigger or smaller.

Hannah Fry

Jasper James

Matthew Thompson

Cremer van Dango

Tyrel Meyer

Screen Glue Ltd

Size Matters: Series 1: Episode 1: Big Trouble

Big Trouble

Episode 1

Episode 1: Big Trouble

Series 1

BBC Four - Size Matters, Series 1, Big Trouble

Hannah Fry looks at the science of size, asking whether things could be bigger.

Hannah Fry takes a spectacular look at the science of size. Hannah starts by asking whether things could be bigger, including Earth and living things.

This two-part special presented by Hannah Fry shows that when it comes to the universe, size really does matter. Hannah takes the audience into a thought experiment where the size of everything can be changed to reveal why things are the size they are. 

Hannah starts her journey by asking whether everything could be bigger, finding out what life would be like on a bigger planet. As the Earth grows to outlandish proportions, gravity is the biggest challenge, and lying down becomes the new standing up. Flying in a Typhoon fighter jet with RAF flight lieutenant Mark Long, the programme discovers how higher G-force affects the human body, and how people could adapt to a high G-force world. But by the time Earth gets to the size of Jupiter, it's all over, as the moon would impact the planet and end life as we know it.

Next, Hannah tries to make living things bigger. The programme examines the gigantopithecus, the biggest ape to ever exist, creates a dog the size of a dinosaur and meets Sultan Kosen, the world's tallest man. Humans are then super-sized with the help of Professor Dean Falk to see what a human body would look like if we were 15m tall. 

The sun gets expanded, and Professor Volker Bromm looks back in time to find the largest stars that ever existed, before the sun explodes in perhaps the biggest explosion since the big bang.

Size Matters: Series 1

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Size Matters

Series 1

Episode 1: Big Trouble

Contributors

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Four HD

About BBC Four