Eyewitness (British TV series)

Did You Know?

• Each half-hour episode focuses on a single subject in natural science, similar to the book series.
• Some episode titles, such as Planets and Natural Disaster, started as episodes and were made into books years later.

Format

The series takes place in the fictional Eyewitness Museum, a CGI science museum that replicates and expands upon the white, empty visual style of the books. Combining fact with fiction, the museum's galleries change with each season and episode, and stock footage is often shown through large windows or depressions in the walls. Almost every episode features a Hero—an animal, character, or object that drives the action and is continually referenced.

Examples include the rooster-shaped weathervane from Weather, Legs the claymation Tyrannosaurus from Dinosaur, the shape-shifting 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 human skeleton from Skeleton, Connell from Dog, and the husky and king penguin from Arctic and Antarctic. The original British version was narrated by Andrew Sachs for its entire run, while the American dub had Martin Sheen for the first two seasons; Sachs took over both versions for the third season, with his voice dubbed into American English.

Episodes

In the UK, Disney Channel aired the first two seasons of Eyewitness, occasionally before the US broadcast. Former DK executive Christopher Davis said the BBC placed the series in a poor time slot. Some VHS releases included a short making-of segment per episode. Compilations for each season were briefly on the official, now-defunct Eyewitness YouTube channel.