Human BBC: who is the presenter - and what is Ella Al-Shamahi known for?
Human is a five-part series that is airing on BBC Two 📺
- Human charts “our incredible story across 300,000 years”.
- The show examines how we went from being just one of many types of human to the dominant form of life on the planet.
- But who is the presenter and where have you seen her before?
The curtain is being lifted on the epic story of humanity in a brand new BBC series. It charts our species first emergence through to becoming the sole humans on earth across 300,000 years.
Based on breakthroughs in DNA technology and remarkable fossil evidence, the show explains how the lives of our ancestors shaped who we are today. It also explores the stories of the other human species - like Neanderthals - and the role we played in their demise.
Human continues with another brand new episode tonight (July 21) at 9pm on BBC Two. The full series is also available to watch on iPlayer right now.
Who presents Human on BBC?
The five-part documentary series is presented by paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi. The academic is also described as an explorer and has worked as a writer as well as a stand-up comic.
Speaking about Human, Ella said: “I hope they see how absolutely remarkable and unlikely our story is – it boggles my mind and it takes my breath away and I hope they feel the same way.
“I hope they feel something too – we went to the ends of the Earth to tell this story, we wanted to walk in our ancestors’ footprints and honestly the ancients sometimes made that easy for us. At one point we went to one of the most exciting sites in the Americas – the actual footprints of what is likely a mother and child, in New Mexico.
“They are probably amongst the very first Americans – you can see from the pressure in the footprints that at times she picks the child up, sometimes on the right hip, sometimes on the left. To get to see snapshots in time like this it’s so emotive… and human.”
What has Human’s presenter done before?
Ella Al-Shamahi might not yet be the kind of household name that someone like David Attenborough or Brain Cox are - but she has had plenty of presenting experience prior to Human. She was the host of Neanderthals - Meet Your Ancestors in 2018.
Prior to this BBC Two series, Ella’s most recent presenting gig was with Channel 4’s What Killed the Whale? It explored why whales wash up and die on UK beaches every year.
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