Hey all you blokes and chaps out there! I love this time of the year for television, especially on the BBC. Even though my beloved Top Gear isn’t on, James May and Richard Hammond have been basically taking turns for years releasing amazing science shows during these off-seasons. 2009 was pretty jam packed with these kind of shows; James had Drink to Britain, Toy Stories, and Moon Adventures while Richard did Blast Lab and the second season of Engineering Connections. Seeing how Top Gear will be back in less than 2 months, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting even half the amount of programs we did last year. As far as I can tell James is still slacking this year, but even with this short series, Richard has given us some amazing television.

I present to you Invisible Worlds. Yes, I see the problem in presenting something with invisible in the title, but I digress. This show is about things that are usually invisible to us, but it’s equally about all of the amazing technology we have that now allows us to see those things. Quite a lot of things, actually. Ever sat in a boring car ride and watched the power lines go by? Well I guarantee you’ve never seen the amount of static discharge that hovers around them. It looks like when Widmore put Desmond in that electromagnetic chamber. For you non-Losties, just imagine a Tesla coil, but invisible. And that’s just one example.

Even wonder how cats can jump/fall from so high up and still be okay? Well unless you’ve seen how their shoulder muscles work in slow-motion you really don’t have the full picture. And really, that’s what makes this show so great. It answers interesting questions with amazing visuals, and while it feels like pure entertainment, you’ll learn a lot of cool things. Even if learning anything at all sounds terrible to you, you can still watch segments of multiple camera angles on explosions in super slow-mo. That’s sure to keep you’re eyes on the TV for at least a hot minute.

While there are only three 48 minute episodes, they don’t all deal with slow motion cameras. A few times we’re taken into labs to see how truly microscopic we can get, and even that will shock you. We’ve probably all see that guy who can write names on a grain of rice, but only scientists can do it on a strand of hair. And that’s totally lame compared to all of the important breakthroughs we’re so close to thanks to some of the unbelievable cameras featured in this show.

Speaking of amazing technology, let’s face it, High Definition is easily the best thing that happened to the TV since it was invented. Alright, so it’s actually probably only the best thing since TiVo/DVR came out, but like those objects it’s really changed the way we use our TV. Like Planet Earth and Life, the BBC proves with this show that it’s basically a must watch in HD. It’s not that you won’t appreciate this show if you just watch it on DVD – if you even remotely like science I promise you’ll enjoy it. But this show is about how limited the average human eye is, and after watching it all, you’ll realize how little we actually get to see. Just don’t let your TV stand in the way of that already depressing fact.