Planet Earth 2, deserts: Lion chase scene and locust swarm are highlights of episode four

Sunday night's show offered a look at one of the most extreme environments on Earth

Planet Earth's fourth episode of the second series aired last night and there were plenty of highlights, but one of the best has to be a dramatic chase in the Namib desert starring a determined pride of lions and an even-more determined giraffe.

After that now-famous footage of an iguana out-running dozens of racer snakes in the Galapagos islands and shocking footage of a jaguar getting its jaws around a caiman, viewers were wondering how episode four of the BBC documentary would compare.

Sunday night's show offered a look at one of the most extreme environments on Earth as a pride of lions desperately tried to find food in an area the size of Switzerland.

Attempting to take down a giraffe by forcing it into a trap ended in failure as the lead lioness was thrown to the ground and then dealt a nasty kick to the head for good measure as the giraffe ran to safety.

Also in this episode was a shoot that involved the team driving hundreds of miles trying to track down a huge swarm of locusts.

(BBC (BBC)

Using a helicopter, they managed to capture rare footage of a plague of several billion locusts flying through the air.

Researcher Toby Nowland told The Mirror: "The sound was incredible and so unexpected – the sound of a billion locust wings clattering - a gentle roar that built and eventually sounded like a giant wave pushing overhead.

"After all of the problems and everything we went through, to have ended the shoot in such an epic way felt euphoric."