Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives

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Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives DVD cover. © BBC
Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives DVD cover. © BBC

Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives is a four-part BBC documentary series concerning the discovery of fossils. It is written and presented by David Attenborough, produced by Mike Salisbury, and was originally broadcast in April 1989.

It was made in between the second and third instalments of Attenborough's "Life" series: The Living Planet and The Trials of Life, respectively.

The study of rocks and their ancient secrets was something of a boyhood passion for David Attenborough. In these programmes, his enthusiasm for the subject is undiminished. With the help of expert palaeontologists, fossil hunters and (for the time) modern animation techniques, Attenborough attempts to show how life evolved in Earth's distant past. To do so, he travels the globe to visit the world's most famous fossil sites.

Contents

[edit] Programmes

[edit] 1. "Magic in the Rocks"

A picture of prehistoric life emerges, as Attenborough unearths several major clues in the form of fossilised remains that were undiscovered for millennia.

[edit] 2. "Putting Flesh on Bone"

Using the latest evidence, scientists reconstruct a pterodactyl in the form of a model aircraft — to see if such a beast could indeed have flown.

[edit] 3. "Dinosaur"

Attenborough visits several museums of natural history. With the aid of dinosaur skeletons, he demonstrates how they existed in real life, and speculates about the reasons for their sudden demise.

[edit] 4. "The Rare Glimpses"

Four famous locations that have the most suitable conditions for fossilisation are explored. Not only are common animals preserved, but also plants and other, seldom-seen creatures.

[edit] DVD

The complete series was released on DVD (BBCDVD1466) on 27 September 2004.

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David Attenborough: Major television series
The Life series
Life on Earth | The Living Planet | The Trials of Life | Life in the Freezer | The Private Life of Plants
The Life of Birds | The Life of Mammals | Life in the Undergrowth | Life in Cold Blood


Other work and narrated:
Zoo Quest | The First Eden | Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives | State of the Planet | The Blue Planet | Planet Earth
Are We Changing Planet Earth?