The Human Body

Details

Release year: 1998

Storyline

The BBC explores the human body from the inside out as never before.

Top credits

Awards

3 wins & 3 nominations

Did you know

• This mini-series took two years to produce and some camera techniques were invented specifically for it. That includes crude motion capture before Robert Zemeckis made it a trademark in the 2000's.

• What is arguably the most famous part of the miniseries was also (somewhat ironically) its most complicated, in which the crew got over 100 people to go to a forest and take their clothes off. The line of age, which opens the series, was filmed in a Surrey, England forest. Each member of the line-up is separated by just one year. The line goes from 0 to over 100. In almost all cases, penises, vulvas and breasts are clear and visible. One has to realize that this is being presented in an anthropological manner and not a sexual one. Series producer Richard Dale said people's barriers were broken down very quickly and there was a sense of camaraderie once the camera started panning across the line.

• One of the series' most memorable sequences showed Robert Winston swimming with babies to demonstrate their natural buoyancy. The filming took 12 hours and 30 people. In the end, the babies were filmed separately from Professor Winston and then superimposed over him. Technicians blotted out the babies' mothers who were in the water with them and made the swimming pool look larger.

Episodes

7 episodes – 1 seasons

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Technical specs

Color

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