Planet of the Apemen: Battle for Earth
2011 · BBC One · 60 min · 1 season
S01E02 · Neanderthal
Fri, 1 July, 5:00 am
This episode is set 35,000 years ago and depicts Homo sapiens's encounter with Homo neanderthalensis. As the ice caps retreated, the Neanderthal stronghold in Europe weakened, providing a window of opportunity to which modern humans owe their existence.
About
This two-part documentary explains how we, as Homo sapiens, populated the Earth only because we were successful in overwhelming two more advanced species: Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis, known today as Neanderthals. In the not-too-distant past, humans shared this planet with other species of hominid. This series tells how, against all the odds, Homo sapiens survived.
Episodes
- E01
Homo Erectus
Fri, 24 June· 60 minThis episode is set 75,000 years ago in India, following a catastrophic super-volcanic eruption which forced a showdown between our ancestors and a completely different species of human, Homo erectus, who up until that point had reigned supreme.
- E02
Neanderthal
Fri, 1 July· 60 minThis episode is set 35,000 years ago and depicts Homo sapiens's encounter with Homo neanderthalensis. As the ice caps retreated, the Neanderthal stronghold in Europe weakened, providing a window of opportunity to which modern humans owe their existence.
Cast
Geraldine James
Narrator