Palaeocast

LOOP 4.2: We get down to details with Producer Barny Revill and analyse some of the different elements of episode 4: What were the challenges of working in such inhospitable environments? How do you recreate a flood of biblical proportions? How did...

LOOP 4.1: Against the odds, we’ve all made it through the PTME. It’s now time to focus on episode 4, with the reptiles and their adaptation to different environments. We touch upon biomechanics and crank up the VFX dial to 11. Life On Our Planet...

LOOP 3.4: With researcher Ida-May Jones, we explore the Venn diagram of academic and documentary research. She introduces us to the strawberry dart frogs and the extraordinary lengths that mothers will go to to care for their young. With such...

LOOP 3.3: Prof. Mike Benton, University of Bristol, gives us an overview of the major events in tetrapod evolution. He reveals some of the surprising traits that lobe-finned fishes ‘pre-possessed’ that were re-purposed for use on land. But were...

LOOP 3.2: Producer Sophie Lanfear gives us our first insights into how documentaries are shaped. She tells us about the enormous scope of episode three and the difficulty of trying to fit in so many significant events. We analyse her use of emotion...

LOOP 3.1: We introduce episode three of Life On Our Planet and discuss one of the most significant stories in the series. We’re in agreement that lichens are the unsung heroes of the whole series and that Arthropleura is the crunchiest animal to...

LOOP 2.4: Silverback researcher Edd Dyer joins us to introduce us to his part in the creation of the series. The title ‘researcher’ really doesn’t do justice to the incredible scope of his role which includes far more than just looking up facts....

LOOP 2.3: Hydrodynamicist Dr Tom Fletcher, Silverback Films, returns to explore the science behind Dunkleosteus. How much of the fossil is known? How does the model compare to the latest reconstruction of the animal? How much of the design is dictated...

LOOP 2.2: Prof. Christian Klug, University of Zurich, is our first academic guest. He introduces us to the Cambrian explosion, the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction. Christian is an expert on cephalopods...

LOOP 2.1: We introduce episode two of Life On Our Planet and discuss our roles in its creation. We’re down deep in the geological time with all the “crunchy and squishy” organisms. We talk about our favourite scenes, jellyfish reproduction and...