Eyewitness (British TV series)

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Eyewitness is a nature and science television series produced by BBC and DK Vision.^[1] The show is based on the bestselling series of Eyewitness Books by Dorling Kindersley. Guy Michelmore composed the series` opening and ending themes, as well as the score for each individual episode of Season 1, with Guy Dagul writing the score for each individual episode of Seasons 2 and 3, respectively. ^[2]

Format[]

Eyewitness is a documentary series. Each half-hour episode focuses on a single subject in the field of natural science, such as the Solar System or the various functions of the human body, similar in form to the book series on which it was based. The information is presented in the "Eyewitness Museum", a CGI science museum made to replicate the white and empty style of the books. Various areas of the museum are shown, and stock footage is usually seen through large windows or other depressions in the wall. The book series and the accompanying television series share a striking visual style making notable use of the color white. In addition, almost every episode features a "Hero". The Hero is a character or object which drives the action of the episode and is continually referred back to. These include the weathervane rooster from Weather, Legs the claymation Tyrannosaurus from Dinosaur, the paper boat from Pond and River, the hyena from Monster, the salmon from Fish, the crab from Seashore, the cockroach from Prehistoric Life, the robotic human mime artist from Human Machine, Smedley the living skeleton from Skeleton, Connell from Dog and the husky and the penguin from Arctic and Antarctic.

The original British version of the series was narrated by the late Andrew Sachs for its entire run, while the US version was narrated by Martin Sheen for the first two seasons. However, Sachs took over narrating both versions (with separate accents provided for the countries)for the third and final season. The series producer was Bill Butt for the first season, Briget Sneyd and sometimes Richard Thomson whenever Sneyd had to serve as editor for the second season, and Martin Mortimore for the third season.

When the series was released on VHS, the US version of episodes from the first two seasons featured brief behind-the-scenes clips after the main program, with the UK version having this feature for episodes of the third and final season. In 2003 and 2004, eight episodes of the program were released onto "interactive DVDs" that featured interactive links to brief clips from other episodes of the series during the main program. The UK narration was kept in the American releases of these interactive DVDs. A few years later, continuing well into the early 2010`s, a larger number of episodes were released onto DVD in the US. The US narration was included on these releases, as well as the first special as a bonus feature.

There are also four Eyewitness Virtual Reality software based on the show: "Cat", "Bird", "Dinosaur Hunter", and "Earth Quest". One of these, "Shark", although seen on the elevator console, was never made.

Eyewitness has also been dubbed into other languages, including Spanish, French, German, Russian, Indonesian, and Finnish, among others.

Episodes[]

Season 1 (1994)[]

Season 2 (1996)[]

Series 3 (1997)[]

Specials[]

1. The Making of Eyewitness-November 7,1994(US only)
2. The Making of Eyewitness 2-July 15,1996(US only)
3. The Making of Eyewitness 3-December 15, 1997(UK only)

Reception[]

It has won several awards:

• 1994 Parent's Choice Award (for Jungle)
• 1996 NEA Award
• 1996 1997 and 1998 Golden Gate Awards
• Chicago International Children's Film Festival Excellence in Children's Media

References[]

External links[]

• Eyewitness at IMDb
• Eyewitness's channel on YouTube
• Eyewitness DVD from Schlessinger Media, a division of Library Video Company (US version)