Walking With Cavemen

When the BBC made Walking With Dinosaurs back in 2000, it was widely hailed as a breathtaking example of special effects mixed with scientific findings and speculations. It was followed by Walking With Beasts, which examined the rise of mammals, and although popular and entertaining, it failed to have quite the same impact. Now we have the logical progression from these, being Walking With Cavemen.

Like the previous Walking With… efforts, there are excellent special effects mixed with plenty of research and supposition. The makeup is essentially very good, and although actors play our ancestors, there are still a few examples of CGI creations, that are mostly believable.

"Ugh!"

The four 30-minute episodes each look at a particular era in our evolution, and spend time following the lives of various groups such as Australopithecus Afarensis, Paranthropus Boisei, Homo Habilis, Homo Ergaster, Homo Heidelbergensus and Homo Neanderthal.

In each, the presenter, Robert Winston, is right there in the thick of the action, much like David Attenborough, sitting off to the side watching and occasionally addressing the camera. There is the occasional humorous interaction between presenter and caveman for a bit of comic relief, but largely we, and the presenter, are observers.

Also similar to the previous Walking With… series is the presentation of the subjects in a kind of storybook, dramatic fashion. The ‘cavemen’ are presented in real situations such as giving birth, hunting, gathering, fighting and dying. We are almost introduced to the various ‘cavemen’, and presented with excerpts of their life stories. This is quite effective in drawing the viewer in and adding an extra level of interest.

The emphasis, however, is on studying and understanding the various skills and traits possessed by our various ancestors that we still have today. Skills such as tool making, diet versatility, imagination, planning and effective communication are all present at some time in our past, and in some way all contributed to making us the species we are today.

The quality of this series is a match for the earlier series', and if you have enjoyed either of the first two Walking With… efforts, then this too will be an enjoyable experience.

This is a quality 1.78:1 aspect ratio presentation that is 16:9 enhanced. It is a visual treat, with excellent sharpness and detail, plus strong, bold, yet natural colours. Makeup is crucial to the success of this sort of presentation, and the quality of the transfer does not let that effort down.

Black levels are fine and there are no issues with shadow detail. There is only one instance of some edge enhancement in the very last scene in Episode Four. There are no noticeable examples of aliasing and shimmer is not present, and there are no artefacts such as dirt or specks, nor any issues with noise. The layer change is hidden between episodes.

The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio is rather good, though mastered slightly louder than usual. There is some evidence of separation, but this is largely unnecessary. There is good clarity, and all dialogue from the presenter is loud and clear. There are no problems with audio synch.

The music and the occasional hunting scenes highlight the low-level sounds that are solid and rich. There are also excellent high-frequency sounds and dynamic midlevels.

There are a few extras that will appeal mostly to the technically minded. As you would expect of a program of this nature, a lot goes into the production and the crew is keen to explain what they do and how they do it.

Production Interviews: This collection of interviews includes the series producer, Peter Georgi, and executive producer and director, Richard Dale, who talk about the complications of filming such a series, production values, inspiration, the melding of science and drama and the preparation required to get a project such as this off the ground. There is an interesting but short interview with actor David Rubin, who plays many different roles in the series. He talks about the challenges of makeup, the difficulties involved in wearing an ‘ape-suit’, and the actors’ initial reluctance to working nude (few ‘cavemen’ actually wore skins). Finally we hear from the director of animators, Ben Palmer, who explains how he came to work in this field, the challenges and satisfaction in what he does and the difficulties in achieving a believable end result

On Location: This is a collection of shorter interviews with several other cast and crew. We meet a couple of made-up extras trying to eat lunch, the movement director about training the actors to look the part, and crew members who work on set.

Storyboard to Animatics: For the technically minded or those interested in special effects, this will be of more interest. The screen is divided into three sections showing the storyboard sketches, the animatic, and the end product of two scenes from Episode Four, The Kill and Mammoth Task.

Animatics: Just in case you missed the previous extra, the animatic is reproduced in full screen, and muted.

Storyboard: And again, the same two excerpts are presented in just their storyboard interpretation.

Original Score : If it is the music that interests you then you are in luck, for you can choose this extra to hear eight pieces in isolation. None of the music is accompanied by visuals.

Fact Files: For the budding anthropologist, these fact files will be of value. Each of the ‘cavemen' encountered in the series is presented in a series of screen texts that tell you all you could ever want to know about our various ancestors.

Photo Gallery: Naturally, a photo gallery was going to be the most obvious inclusion and this one is standard fare of about two dozen shots in no apparent order.

If you missed this series on television recently, or are looking to complete your Walking With… collection, then this single disc DVD will do that without breaking the bank. It is interesting viewing as always, but suffers a little in comparison with the original Walking With Dinosaurs, which had the advantage of being the first and setting a new benchmark. Subsequent releases could never hope to match its impact and ability to capture our imagination, but Walking With Cavemen is still recommended viewing.