Human
Series 1
“The most extraordinary story of all... Our own.”
Created by:
Network: BBC Two
Season aired: 2025-07-14
Overview
Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi reveals humanity's incredible story across 300,000 years of human evolution – and how the story is stranger and more surprising than ever imagined.
About This Season
Stranger and more dramatic than we ever imagined - these are our untold origins. With stunning visuals and cutting-edge science, Ella Al-Shamahi reveals the story of our species.
Episodes · 5
The First of Us
The extraordinary story of how the human species, Homo sapiens, first emerged, where the discoveries of recent years are revolutionising the understanding of humanity's origin story.
Into the Unknown
Following early Homo sapiens's ancestors as they step out of Africa and venture into the wider world, heading into areas inhabited by other human species.
Last Humans Standing
Shocking new insights into the demise of modern humans' sister species, the Neanderthals, Homo sapiens's possible role in their downfall and how it become the last human species on Earth.
Discovering the Americas
During the height of the Ice Age, one of the coldest times humanity has ever known, Homo sapiens steps into the last habitable continents on the planet: the Americas.
A Great Gamble
Around 12,000 years ago, as the Ice Age finally thaws, humanity makes a dramatic shift - abandoning nomadic life for permanent settlements.
