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Wallace in Borneo

Episode 1 of 2

Bill Bailey retraces the steps of his hero, naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, to understand how he came up with the theory of evolution independently of Darwin.

Comedian Bill Bailey heads to the jungles of Indonesia in the footsteps of his hero, Victorian naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, to understand how he came up with the theory of evolution independently of Darwin.

Wallace was a brilliantly eccentric British explorer and, unlike Darwin, he came from a humble background and had to pay his own way by collecting animals. He survived months living in the jungle, man-eating tigers and headhunting tribes to scoop Darwin to the theory of evolution.

Wallace changed the way we see life on earth but has since been written out of history. In the first of this two-part series, Bill retraces Wallace's explorations from the jungles of Borneo to the exotic islands of Indonesia, encountering orangutans, flying frogs and extraordinary bugs, on a mission to understand how Wallace came up with the theory of evolution and to win him the recognition he deserves.

59 minutes

Last on

Sat 9 Oct 2021 16:00

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Filming Wallace’s flying frog

Filming Wallace’s flying frog
"These frogs are big – up to 10cm long – bright green, like a child would draw, with striking black and yellow webbing between their toes, and typical tree-frog toe pads to help them climb."

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Bill Bailey
Series Producer Tuppence Stone
Executive Producer Tim Martin

Broadcasts

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