His epic exploration starts with the mystery of the African elephant. Plus: top prankster Oobah Butler takes on the housing crisis. Here’s what to watch this evening
9pm, BBC Two
Chris Packham begins his wondrous five-part series next to a Kenyan watering hole, laughing with pleasurable astonishment at the awesome creation that is the African elephant. Nobody would design an animal like that, so how did it evolve? The answer is an epic 4bn-year-old story of hunger, conflict and Earth-shaking natural disasters, all of which made the survivors stronger. Jack Seale