Overview
Exploring the world in person isn't on anyone's agenda at present, but that doesn't mean you can't improvise from your couch. After hitting up online tours of the planet's best museums and landmarks, then checking out a heap of travel live-streams, you can now journey around the globe via a heap of Netflix documentaries screening for free on YouTube.
Viewers can watch all eight episodes of 2019 nature series Our Planet, which is narrated by Sir David Attenborough — and ventures to 50 countries to explore the huge array of different habitats present across the earth. Or, you can feast your eyes on documentary feature Chasing Coral as it follows a team's efforts to invent the first time-lapse camera that's capable of recording coral bleaching events as they happen.
In total, ten different Netflix titles have made the leap to YouTube — meaning that, even if you don't have an account with the streaming platform, you can still watch. The move is part of the company's efforts to help teachers and parents find informative and educational options for children; however viewers of all ages can take advantage of the free material.
Other freebies include Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated documentary 13th, which explores race relations in America; Knock Down the House, about the campaigns of four women — all progressive Democrats — running for US congress; and the first season of Abstract: The Art of Design, featuring profiles of illustrators, architects, shoe designers, photographers, stage designers and more.
Or, you can check out select episodes of Explained, spanning topics such as music, the world's water crisis and cricket, and Babies, which covers the obvious subject — or view three short films, including Academy Award-winner Period. End of Sentence., about access to sanitary products in India; The White Helmets, following volunteer rescue workers in Aleppo, Syria and Turkey; and Zion, about Zion Clark, a wrestler born without legs.
To view Netflix's free selection of documentaries on YouTube, visit the streaming platform's YouTube channel.
Top images: Our Planet, Netflix.