Review: Lost Land of the Jaguar, BBC1

2:33pm Thursday 31st July 2008

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THERE are times when the Beeb just comes along and delivers the goods.

Last night’s Lost Land of the Jaguar was such an occasion – a stunning piece of TV if ever there was one.

With a combination of amazing camera work and a touch of the Indiana Jones thrown in courtesy of the team of boffins exploring the wilderness of Guyana, it was an hour-long treat.

If ever a series was made for high definition then this is it.

For such a large area, very little is known about what actually lives among the forests of Guyana – hence the expedition.

And so we came face to face with killer ants, massive spiders and a whole range of creatures that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Doctor Who.

Unlike dear old David Attenborough, our ‘expert’ companions were much more hardcore with action man biologist Steve Backshall abseiling down waterfalls and bug expert George taking on a colony or ants — and losing spectacularly.

But the whole thing would have worked without any presenters as the pictures were so stunning.

What a programe like this demonstrates is how little we know about the world in which we live.

For all our suppsed sophistication there remain large tracts of the planet largely unexplored and teeming with life we know nothing of. Quite humbling, really.