Not sure where to place this but anyway is anyone else watching the New BBC series about the evolution of Homo Sapiens.

There are 5 separate 1 hour programmes in the series, of which the first has already been shown on BBC2.

The presenter is a paleoanthropologist and interestingly a woman.
I say interestingly not in a disparaging way but because there is a noticeably softer approach from previous 'hard sicence' programmes with male presenters.

This programme is also bang up to date with much new material and hypotheses about the evolution of our species.

As such it may well be of interest to all those who have been arguing about this subject recently.

Your endorsement certainly piqued my interest. I have a bit of a pet peeve for terms like "untold stories", "mysteries" and "secrets" in documentaries but maybe it is worth getting the blurays once it gets out.

These are primarily entertainment programmes not educational. Attractive presenter, dramatic music, exotic locations, some cool tech and bingo.

I detested the Brian Cox stuff and Alice Roberts was even worse.

You could condense the programmes by two thirds and still get all the info across.

Sometimes they get it right, some of the Jim Al Kalili physics documentaries have been very good.

On the whole? Nice for kids but very light on the info.

This one could be okay though? Always hope!

I adore pretty much anything with Attenborough and even if the narrative can be weak at times, the wildlife footage is superb. The big issue is that it is is also extremely depressing, especially if you watch wildlife documentaries back in time.

Just now, pinball1970 said:

These are primarily entertainment programmes not educational. Attractive presenter, dramatic music, exotic locations, some cool tech and bingo.

I detested the Brian Cox stuff and Alice Roberts was even worse.

You could condense the programmes by two thirds and still get all the info across.

Sometimes they get it right, some of the Jim Al Kalili physics documentaries have been very good.

On the whole? Nice for kids but very light on the info.

This one could be okay though? Always hope!

Despite the social media hype the presneter, Ella Al-Shamahi, is not Lara Croft2.

She actually makes some very subtle points and questions.

It is also true that some of her explanations have alternatives, but the story she tells does hang together in the large.

Now that there have been 2 episodes that weave in lots of modern scientific analysis techniques, without baby explanations of radiological and other dating methods.

Actually the dataing method I found most interesting were the growth 'rings' in teeth, not one I had heard of.

Also interesting is the paleoclimatology evoked to explain why H Sap moved out of Africa and into Saudi and thence through S Asia to Indonesia and on to Australia.

But yes the episodes are overlong because of the money wasted on CGI and dramatic music and repetition of clips where something useful was said or shown.

Unfortunately that tendency is increasing and common to many programs these days.

However you are under no obligation to watch it or expose yourself to the danger that you might learn something.

Edited July 21Jul 21 by studiot

14 hours ago, CharonY said:

I adore pretty much anything with Attenborough and even if the narrative can be weak at times, the wildlife footage is superb. The big issue is that it is is also extremely depressing, especially if you watch wildlife documentaries back in time.

David Attenborough is a one a off and has a created a genre in documentary. You get information but because he primarily talks about extant life on earth, that is what you see, in action and it is superb.

I would put the Sky at night in the same bracket.

As for the others you can argue they will get kids interested because the presenters are a little rock and roll, sex up the science and do not just present the dry facts on black boards or in labs.

However, when you get to A level and uni that's what learning science is, guys in lab coats in the labs or at the black board/ using power point.

14 hours ago, studiot said:

expose yourself to the danger that you might learn something

My comment was not a slight on your judgement, I was giving an honest appraisal of how I see a lot of these type programmes going now, that's it.

your posts are generally of a high quality.

Just now, pinball1970 said:

However, when you get to A level and uni that's what learning science is, guys in lab coats in the labs or at the black board/ using power point.

Well I grew up a little bit before that.

In those days I really enjoyed Traveller's Tales and Hans and Lotti Haas - both in black and white.

We did have some full colour but it was cinefilm, made by Unilever on the subjects of Physics and Chemsitry. They were really good and came with some full colour magazines to back them up. I still have these.

Most of the lectures I gave at conferences and the like were on prepared slides, I only ever remember one definite ppoint, entitled 'Cracks', which I gave at the Concrete Society.

You should also acknowledge that much learning used to go on in industrial labs up and down the country.

Sadly many of these have disappeared and the rest are a pale shadow of their former selves.

Edited July 22Jul 22 by studiot

I'm like Pinball - the gushing commentary, the dramatic music, the paucity of much that is new or interesting to me (having some long running interest in human evolution, I've read a lot) combine to make these kinds of doco's far more irritating than enlightening. That I don't watch much TV/video at any time and generally prefer the written form when I am seeking 'informative' might be contributing cause for inability to keep on watching. My feet are the wrong size for these shoes.

I couldn't persist and we didn't get summary of the salient points so I don't know how well this one informs or inspires those starting from ignorance.

Can it be watched online for free? Any docu from BBC is worth it.

Edited July 27Jul 27 by Otto Kretschmer

On 7/23/2025 at 2:35 AM, Ken Fabian said:

I'm like Pinball - the gushing commentary, the dramatic music, the paucity of much that is new or interesting to me (having some long running interest in human evolution, I've read a lot) combine to make these kinds of doco's far more irritating than enlightening. That I don't watch much TV/video at any time and generally prefer the written form when I am seeking 'informative' might be contributing cause for inability to keep on watching. My feet are the wrong size for these shoes.

I couldn't persist and we didn't get summary of the salient points so I don't know how well this one informs or inspires those starting from ignorance.

I think for youngsters, lay people interested in science they are totally fine.

For me, getting all excited with a note book on my knee, waiting for Alice Roberts on human evolution was a disappointment.