Winner 1998

The Human Body

BBC, The Learning Channel

The Human Body takes viewers on a voyage through the seven ages of existence using state-of-the-art photography and specially devised medical imaging to reveal how our bodies really work. Two years in the making, this extraordinary seven-part documentary series is presented by professor Robert Winston, Britain’s leading fertility expert. Each part of the series is illustrated with real stories, from a baby’s birth, to the gradual yet dignified decline and death of a man afflicted with inoperable stomach cancer. Executive producers Alan Bookbinder and Lorraine Heggessey, and series producer Richard Dale, blend stunning scientific images with the life experiences of actual people to bring this ambitious BBC/Learning Channel project to life. The innovative camera techniques, specially developed for the series, allow viewers to see inside the body in a unique way. Mr. Dale’s film also uses an innovative and arresting image: a Line of Age, which starts with a tiny baby lying in a sunlit forest and pans across a line of 100 people from all walks of life, each one a year older than the last, ending with a 102-year-old man. Never needlessly technical and always witty, energetic, and innovative, The Human Body takes us on an incredible voyage, and for so doing, is deserving of the Peabody Award.