ORIGIN story

ELLA AL-SHAMAHI on exploring the evolution of mankind

- 

How did Homo sapiens become the most dominant species on Earth? This is the question explored in BBC2's new five-part docuseries Human, which sees palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi visit archaeological sites across the world to showcase cutting-edge DNA and fossil discoveries that shed fresh light on our evolution.

Ella's journey begins in Morocco with a skull fossil that suggests we first emerged 300,000 years ago – 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. She also examines how we lived alongside several other human species that eventually died out, and how our ability to adapt and share knowledge helped us to thrive and withstand crises such as climate change.

TV Times caught up with Ella to find out more...

What was the thinking behind the series, Ella?