Fossil Detectives is a 2008 BBC Television documentary series in which presenter Hermione Cockburn travels across Great Britain exploring fossil sites and discovering the latest scientific developments in geology and palaeontology. The show is a spin-off of Coast.
Production
The series was produced by the BBC Natural History Unit for the Open University.
Reception
Chris Lambert writing in The Times introduced this, "entertaining new eight-part series", and commended guest, David Attenborough, "who, with trademark infectious enthusiasm, reveals his early passion for fossil hunting". Emily Ford said that, "Palaeontologists probably still curse Ross from Friends for giving their profession a reputation of such yawn-inducing dullness, but you don’t have to be a prehistory nut to enjoy fossils". "And you can see David Attenborough get all misty-eyed as he caresses the vertebrae of a long-lost Diplodocus."
Anna Lowman writing about episode two in The Guardian commended it as a "quirky documentary," and a "cosy Open University-produced programme," with the, "Fossil Detectives (apparently comprising just one very enthusiastic lady)". Nancy Banks-Smith went on to say, "there is nothing that would not be improved by the addition of a dinosaur", adding, "which is why David Attenborough said that he would like to be back in the time of the dinosaurs. 'To film it', he added, brightening visibly. Of course, his brother felt much the same way, but that ended rather badly." Sarah Dempster writing about episode three in the same publication commended this, "affable archaeology series," for telling us about, 'special soil and "evolutionary robotics', before showing us something beige that was once, apparently, a quite important dinosaur. Champion."
Episodes
Episode one: Central England
Dr. Philip Wilby of the British Geological Survey in Nottingham examines soft-tissue, preserved by the Medusa effect, from a recently re-excavated Victorian fossil discovery. Dr. Phil Manning compares a T-Rex with William Buckland's Megalosaurus (the first scientifically identified dinosaur and the inspiration for Charles Dickens’ opening paragraph in Bleak House). Dr. Derek Siveter of Oxford University Museum and Dr. Mark Sutton of Imperial College London demonstrate virtual dissection that produces computer-models of microfossils. Cockburn visits the Wren's Nest National Nature Reserve in Dudley in search of the Calymene blumenbachii trilobite nicknamed the Dudley Bug by local 18th century quarrymen and a symbol of the town. Sir David Attenborough talks about his early fossicking for Ammonites, Belemnites and Brachiopods with his father Frederick around his childhood home in Leicestershire. Susan Cook of the Charnia Research Group at Charnwood Museum examines Ediacaran fossils (the oldest known animals), discovered in the Precambrian rocks of Charnwood Forest by Roger Mason.
Episode two: London
Botanist James Wong compares surviving Ginkgo, Horsetails and Sequoia with their fossilised predecessors in the Evolution House at Kew Gardens in London and warns against habitat loss and population growth. Cockburn examines the Portland Roach limestone facades of the buildings along Old Bond Street in search of fossilised oysters, muscles and snails to show that the evidence of prehistoric life is all around. Cockburn contemplates the recently discovered fossilised evidence of London's prehistoric climate, which supported hippos, elephants and lions, from the summit of the BT Tower. Cockburn examines the inaccurate statues of Megalosaurus and Iguanodon constructed by scientist Richard Owen for the world's first theme park at Crystal Palace Park in 1854. Sir David Attenborough displays the selected highlights from his personal fossil collection, including a Devonian fish, a Sauropod vertebrate, and a Trilobite track, at his home in London.