Autumn in Atka Bay, Antarctica.

Just a few weeks ago, this was open sea.

Now, a new frozen landscape is forming.

This new world appears devoid of life.

Well, almost.

An emperor penguin.

And he is not alone.

Thousands of emperors are coming to this frozen bay.

They are here because the new ice provides the safest place for them to breed.

The ice will last nine months, before melting away next summer.

And they will need every day of those nine months to raise the next generation of this great emperor dynasty.

But to do so, they will have to survive the coming winter.

The coldest and the cruellest on earth.

Emperors pair up anew every year, And although winter is fast approaching, the process of finding the perfect partner cannot be hurried.

New couples perform a graceful ritual that will cement their commitment to each other.

Moving together in synchrony is the key to creating a powerful bond.

And this bond needs to be one of the strongest in nature, Because the survival of every family here, and therefore the survival of this dynasty, depends upon it.

A penguin is beautifully designed for many things, But mating is not one of them.

Unfortunately, not all the penguins have been able to find the perfect partner.

And, with time fast running out, this female forgoes the formalities.

But this couple has already bonded too tightly to be split apart by an interloper.

Penguins unlucky in love head back to spend the winter feeding at sea, because there’s no food out here on the ice.

The couples now face weeks of waiting while their eggs develop.

But one pair appears to have got ahead of schedule.

A bulge on a penguin’s belly is normally the sign of a parent keeping an egg warm on its feet.

But she seems to be trying to keep a snowball warm.

They appear to be getting in some practice for the real thing.

The days are becoming shorter and colder, Until finally, the sun sets for the last time for two months.

It won’t rise again until the spring.

Now, they live in a twilight world, under the bright Antarctic moon.

For this couple, the long wait for their egg is almost over.

The female senses it.

Her contractions have begun.

The next generation of emperors is on its way.

Producing an egg takes a huge amount of energy, such that the females lose a quarter of their body weight.

She hasn’t eaten for over a month and needs to return to the ocean to feed.

She can’t take her precious egg with her, so she must pass it to her partner to care for.

He has a special brood pouch to keep it warm, close to his skin.

If he doesn’t get the egg off the ice quickly, it will freeze.

Now, she is free to go.

But she does seem rather reluctant to leave.

He will now have sole responsibility for their egg all through the long, harsh winter.

He won’t see his partner again until the egg has hatched.

Over the next few days, every female in the colony hurries away on the same 15-mile march to the sea.

A freezing wind blowing in from the heart of the continent drives the temperature down.

To keep themselves and their eggs warm, the males now perform one of the most spectacular demonstrations of cooperation in nature.

One by one, they lock themselves into a huddle, Creating a giant incubator made up of over 4,000 male penguins.

Each individual constantly tries to push into the best possible position to keep himself and his egg warm.

As a result, the entire huddle is forever on the move.

Storm force winds now drive the temperature down to -60 Celsius.

For the emperors on the outside, facing the wind, the conditions become unbearable.

They have no choice but to break off and try to get round to the sheltered side.

He must get back on his feet, but without letting go of his egg.

If he fails, the embryo inside will rapidly freeze and die.

Once they arrive on the sheltered side of the huddle, they get some relief from the wind.

When a blizzard sets in here, it rages for days on end.

Now, the casualties are revealed.

Battered, starving and exhausted, there is still no relief for the survivors.

The storm has driven them nearly a mile from the safest path of the ice.

It’s a weary march back to where they started from.

Now, they re-form their huddle, to be ready for the next storm, ..Which will come, inevitably.

Only after two months of brutal weather does the polar night finally come to an end.

And with it comes a hint of warmth.

The return of the sun coincides with the appearance of the newest members of the colony.

In a matter of days, there are thousands of hungry mouths, all demanding food.

Their fathers haven’t eaten anything for nearly four months.

Yet they have kept back a vital reserve, a kind of thick penguin milk, just for this moment.

But it’s only enough to keep the chick alive for a few days.

The females must return soon with food.

For some, it’s already too late.

The first of the females are returning.

Fat and well fed, more arrive, all with food for the chicks.

And not a moment too soon for the waiting fathers.

A mother’s first sight of her young chick.

With their bond reaffirmed, the whole family celebrates.

Now at last, he can hand over his precious chick to its mother.

But there are less fortunate females here, whose chicks have died.

Yet their parenting instinct is still strong.

The sight of a youngster being handed over is irresistible.

More chickless females join in the melee.

The chick appears to be safe, But it is no longer with its true parents.

The prospects for a kidnapped chick are never good.

Despite their immense efforts over the last three months, this couple have nothing to show for it.

For those couples that have been successful, it’s the father’s turn to head back to sea to get a much-needed meal for himself, ..And to take his turn collecting food for the chick.

The mother is now able to bond with her new baby, ..And, urgently, to feed it.

Its first taste of sea food.

But the times of hardship are not over.

Another storm, and another white-out.

For some, this is a catastrophe.

They have tumbled into a ravine in the ice, ..With steep, slippery walls.

Chicks are now a deadly burden.

Mothers carrying young cannot grip the ice.

If she doesn’t get out, they will both die.

This mother has had to make a terrible choice.

To save herself, she has abandoned her chick.

One mother, at least, is not prepared to give up on her chick.

Mother and chick are safe.

There is, occasionally, a respite from the brutality of Antarctica.

Clear skies, gentle winds, ..And a particularly spectacular display of the Southern Lights.

The Aurora Australis.

As the sun climbs higher every day, it warms the ice.

Soon, the emperors’ frozen world will start to melt away.

For the last few weeks, the mother and father have taken it in turn to feed their offspring.

But its growing appetite will soon force both parents to go away fishing at the same time.

Now it’s time to encourage the month-old chicks to stand on their own two feet.

Sometimes, it takes a well-timed kick.

Now, both parents can head off to sea to go fishing.

For the first time, the chicks will have to face the elements without a parent to protect them.

Other adults certainly won’t look after them.

So, lone chicks gather together for comfort.

As the temperature drops to -25, the chicks instinctively create their own mini-huddle, just as their fathers do.

This is no time for a youngster to be alone.

If they’re lucky, some chicks may still have the protection of a parent taking a break from fishing.

But for the majority, the huddle is their only shelter.

Even in this weather, adults must still head back and forth to the sea to bring back food.

The instinct to follow adults is still strong.

But in a blizzard, that is a bad idea.

The adults’ disappearance leaves the chicks in confusion.

Lost and alone, his only hope is that this adult is heading back to the colony, and not away from it, across the frozen wastes.

With the last of the big storms over, summer has arrived.

The ice that has been the penguins’ home is melting.

These chicks are almost fully grown, and approaching independence.

Before they leave for the sea, all emperors - adults and their chicks, must moult.

For the youngsters, this marks the arrival of adulthood.

Against all the odds, two thirds have survived.

But the annual disappearance of their ice world is a reminder that they face an uncertain future.

Ocean temperatures are expected to rise year-on-year.

This Antarctic sea ice on which all emperor penguins rely may not freeze for long enough each year for them to complete their extraordinary life cycle.

But, as the whole colony prepares to leave Atka Bay, These parents have successfully raised the next generation in this emperors’ dynasty.