Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives

Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives

Box cover for the 2004 DVD release

2004 DVD box cover by 2 Entertain
Also known as Kadonneen elämän jäljillä (Finland)
Genre Documentary television
Written by David Attenborough
Presented by David Attenborough
Theme music composer Terry Oldfield
Composer(s) Terry Oldfield
Country of origin England
Original language(s) English, Spanish
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 4
Production
Executive producer(s) Mike Salisbury
Editor(s) Colin Cradock
Cinematography Graham Frake
Camera setup Stephen Bolwell, Jim Harris
Production company(s) BBC Bristol, TBS
Distributor BBC (TV), 2 Entertain (DVD)
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Two
Original run 23 April 1989 – 14 May 1989
Chronology
Preceded by The First Eden (1987)
Followed by The Trials of Life (1990)
External links
BBC Two Programmes Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives

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.

Release

2 Entertain published the series on DVD (catalog number BBCDVD1466) on 27 September 2004.

List of episodes

No. Title Original air date
1"Magic in the Rocks"23 April 1989

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

2"Putting Flesh on Bone"30 April 1989

Attenborough explores vanished lives of prehistoric creatures and 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.

Animals
Ichthyosaurs
Arthropleura (identifided as giant millipede)
Trilobites
Pterosaurs
Pteranodon
Quetzalcoatlus
3"Dinosaur"7 May 1989

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.

4"The Rare Glimpses"14 May 1989

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.

Locations
Burgess Shale
Solnhofen Limestone
Messel Pit
La Brea Tar Pits
Animals
Trilobite
Anomolocaris
Archaeopteryx
Propalaeotherium
Leptictidium
Pholidocercus
Columbian Mammoth
Hagerman Horse
Paramylodon
Smilodon
Dire Wolf
Steppe Bison
American Lion

External links