Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? was a popular television game show which ran from 1952 to 1959.[1] In the show, different archeologists, art historians, and natural history experts were asked to identify interesting objects or artifacts from museums and other faculties, including university collections.[2] The quiz show was presented by the BBC, continuing a long history of bringing contributors to archaeology into the media limelight.

History

The UK television show was modelled on an American TV show called What in the World? and included appearances by archaeologists such as Glyn Daniel and Sir Mortimer Wheeler. Wheeler was voted TV personality of the year in 1954, providing the world of archaeology with its first media star.[3]

Legacy

Sixty years later Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? is still concerned with events in archaeology. In September 2011, University College London announced that they were bringing back the popular 1950s show for one night. The panel of experts included Claire Thomson (Scandinavian Studies), Ryan Nichol (Physics and Astronomy), Tom Stern (Philosophy) and Sam Turvey (Institute of Zoology). It was hosted by Joe Flatman (Institute of Archaeology) and consisted of a visit to the UCL museum, where the experts tried to identify some of the objects there.[4]

The show and its format were also often referenced in comedy shows: Not Only...But Also, At Last the 1948 Show, Do Not Adjust Your Set and The Complete and Utter History of Britain each contained sketches with experts analyzing a "mystery object", often with totally wrong conclusions or, in at least the 1948 show, the items getting destroyed.

Episodes

Only four episodes exist in the BBC's archives,[5] three of which are available to watch from the BBC iPlayer.[6] The fourth one is mute, because its audio track has been lost.[7]

Some (incomplete) episode information follows:

Date Host Challenger Panel Notes
28 October 1954 Glyn Daniel, Froelich Rainey Manchester Museum Geoffrey Bushnell, Froelich Rainey, Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Glyn Daniel Daniel and Rainey swapped roles for part of the show. Final score 14/20.
11 November 1954 Glyn Daniel Sheffield City Museum Adrian Digby, Hugh Shortt, Edward Wenham
3 May 1956 Glyn Daniel National Museum of Prague V. Gordon Childe, Seán P. Ó Ríordáin, Sir Mortimer Wheeler Final score 22/20.
17 May 1956 John Betjeman The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City Stephen Bone, Sir Gerald Kelly, Dr. Mary Woodall
1 October 1958 Glyn Daniel Victoria & Albert Museum Thomas Bodkin, Hugh Shortt, Sir Mortimer Wheeler Final score 19/20.
15 October 1958 Glyn Daniel Imperial War Museum Lt.-Col. C. B. Appleby, Charles Thomas, Sir Mortimer Wheeler

Additional information

The person responsible for choosing the artefact for each episode was David Attenborough,[8] who was also the camera director. However, on the Christmas special, Glyn Daniel and Mortimer Wheeler selected the item for Attenborough to examine. Mortimer Wheeler often "cheated" by investigating beforehand which objects had been removed from their next location, and looking up the relevant information about the corresponding items in catalogues.[9] On one occasion, a fake item (a stone axe made by the forger 'Flint Jack') was presented to the panel.[8] The signature music for the series was Partita #3 in E by J S Bach.

Cast and crew

[10]

Name Appeared As Episodes
David Attenborough Producer Unknown Episodes
John Betjeman Panellist Unknown Episode[11]
Anthony Blunt Panellist One episode, 1956[11]
Thomas Bodkin Panellist Unknown episode
Geoffrey Bushnell Panellist Unknown episode
V. Gordon Childe Panellist Unknown episode
Norman Cook Panellist Unknown episode[12]
Glyn Daniel Chairman Unknown episode
Adrian Digby Panellist One episode, 1952[12]
Lionel Hale Panellist Episode 1, 1952
Jacquetta Hawkes Panellist Unknown episode
Julian Huxley Panellist Unknown episodes
Kathleen Kenyon Panellist One episode, November 1955[13]
James Laver Panellist One episode, 1952[12]
Seán P. Ó Ríordáin[14][15] Panellist Unknown episodes
Froelich Rainey Panellist Unknown episode
Hugh Shortt Panellist Unknown episode
John Summerson Panellist Unknown episode[11]
W.E. Swinton Panellist Unknown episode
Nancy Thomas Presenter Episode 1, 1952
Mortimer Wheeler Panellist Unknown episode

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Clack/Brittain. (2007). Archaeology and the Media . Left Coast Press.
  2. ↑ (http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Animal,_Vegetable,_Mineral)
  3. ↑ Henson, D. (n.d.). Television Archaeology: Education or Entertainment. Retrieved 21 March 2012, from Institute of Historical Research: http://www.history.ac.uk/resources/history-in-british-education/first-conference/henson-paper.
  4. ↑ Staff. (n.d.). Animal, Vegetable, Mineral . Retrieved March 2012, from UK Game Show: http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Animal,_Vegetable,_Mineral Staff. (2011, 11). UCL . Retrieved from Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? Mystery Object Panel Game: http://harngroup.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/avm.pdf
  5. ↑ "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral". ukgameshows.com.
  6. ↑ "BBC - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - Episode guide". BBC.
  7. ↑ "Lost Shows - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? (incomplete episode information)".
  8. 1 2 Sir David Attenborough, Personal Histories http://www2.arch.cam.ac.uk/personal-histories/attenborough/Site/Home_files/FinalAttenboroughTranscript.pdf
  9. ↑ Paul Bahn, The Bluffer's guide to archaeology (London 1989) 59.
  10. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247850/fullcredits#cast
  11. 1 2 3 Anthony Blunt: His Lives, Miranda Carter, p373
  12. 1 2 3 IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247850/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
  13. ↑ Miriam C. Davis, 2008, Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land, p. 135
  14. ↑ Professor Sean O Riordain: An Appreciation. Daniel, Glyn. University Review, 1960, Vol.2(1), pp.59-61
  15. ↑ University College Dublin profile http://www.ucd.ie/archaeology/schoolhistorydetails/professorseanporiordain/
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