''Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?'' was a British television

panel show A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on '' The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

which originally ran from 23 October 1952 to 18 March 1959. In the show, a panel of

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

art historians The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

, and

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

experts were asked to identify interesting objects or artefacts from

museums A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

from Britain and abroad, and other faculties, including university collections. The quiz show was presented by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, continuing a long history of bringing contributors to archaeology into the media limelight. Writing in 1953, the critic C.A. Lejeune described the show as having "a sound, full-bodied, vintage flavour".

History

The UK television show was modelled on an American TV show called '' What in the World?'' that was developed by Froelich Rainey. The first episode of ''Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?'' was broadcast on 23 October 1952 and was hosted by

Lionel Hale Lionel Ramsay Hale (26 October 1909 – 1 January 1977) was an English critic, broadcaster and playwright. Life Hale was born in Beckenham, Kent. In the 1940s, Hale presented the radio quiz ''Round Britain Quiz, Transatlantic Quiz'' and a ...

and produced by Paul Johnstone. Hale soon stood down as chairman, after an early episode in which he was challenged by

Thomas Bodkin Professor Thomas Patrick Bodkin (21 July 1887 – 24 April 1961) was an Irish barrister and art collector who became an art historian and curator. Bodkin was Director of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin from 1927 to 1935 and foundi ...

about the age of one of the objects shown, in favour of the archaeologist

Glyn Daniel Glyn Edmund Daniel (23 April 1914 – 13 December 1986) was a Welsh scientist and archaeologist who taught at Cambridge University, where he specialised in the European Neolithic period. He was appointed Disney Professor of Archaeology in ...

, who continued as the regular chairman and scorer for the next seven years. The most frequent member of the discussion panel was the renowned archaeologist

Sir Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales an ...

, who was voted TV personality of the year in 1954, providing the world of archaeology with its first media star. Daniel won the award the following year. The last episode of original series was broadcast on 18 March 1959, after which the programme was cancelled, partly because of Daniel's association with

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

. It was briefly revived as ''A.V.M?'' in 1971, directed by Bob Toner, with

Barry Cunliffe Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe (born 10 December 1939), usually known as Sir Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been ...

as the chairman.

Programme information

The person responsible for choosing the artefact for each episode was

Sir David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...

, who was also the camera director. However, on the Christmas special in 1956,

and

selected items for Attenborough and other production staff to examine. Inauthentic items were occasionally included: for example, a stone axe made by the forger 'Flint Jack' or fake

Crown Derby Royal Crown Derby is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer (disputed by Royal Worcester, which claims 1751 as its year of establishment). Based in Derby, England, the company is particularly noted for its high-qua ...

ware. On one occasion,

Sir Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth-century modern synthesis. ...

was unable to identify a modern mock-up of a stuffed

great auk The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis''), also known as the penguin or garefowl, is an Extinction, extinct species of flightless bird, flightless auk, alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and Bird extinction, became extinct in the ...

as a fake, and on another Huxley lost a £1 bet after failing to recognise the egg of the African giant snail. Occasionally the presenter would try to fool the panel with a corroded modern artefact e.g. a part of a pram or a bicycle. The signature music for the series was the prelude to Partita No. 3 in E major by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

Transmissions

BBC Television Service

BBC2

Controversies

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. Nevertheless, Wheeler once stormed off set after taking offence when a junior producer offered to show him the planned items before an episode was filmed. In 1957, an episode was broadcast in which the panel were asked to identify the ethnic origins of a selection of human volunteers. The anthropologist

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...

disrupted the episode by repeatedly claiming that examples of each ethnic group could be seen at

Grand Central Station Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Mead was not invited to take part in the show again. On one occasion, a BBC spokesman stated that Glyn Daniel presented the show while suffering from

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

, as during a discussion about a sheaf of poisoned arrows from the

Sarawak State Museum The Sarawak State Museum () is the oldest museum in Borneo. It was founded in 1888 and opened in 1891 in a purpose-built building in Kuching, Sarawak. History It has been said that naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace encouraged Charles Brooke, ...

he said on air that "there are a few million people I would like to kill – mostly viewers". Attenborough explained in his autobiography that Daniel had presented the programme while drunk. On another occasion, Leigh Ashton, the Director of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, also appeared while drunk, and fell asleep after incorrectly stating the first three objects shown to be fakes. On one of the show's overseas visits, an episode had to be re-located to the

Musée de l'Homme The Musée de l'Homme (; literally "Museum of Mankind" or "Museum of Humanity") is an anthropology museum in Paris, France. It was established in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moder ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

after the National Archaeological Museum refused permission to film.

Legacy

The show was the forerunner of other popular BBC archaeology programmes, such as ''Buried Treasure'' and ''

Chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

''. It was credited with contributing to the rise in popularity of archaeology in Britain in the 1950s, which resulted in increased museum attendance and library use. Daniel reported the

Director-General of the BBC The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief of the BBC. The post-holder was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC (for the period 1927 to 2007) and then the ...

, Sir Ian Jacob, as stating that "the two most popular things on television seemed to be archaeology and show-jumping". On several occasions the show caused museums' identifications of objects to be amended based on information provided by the panel or by the viewing public. Its format was often referenced in comedy shows: '' Not Only...But Also,

At Last the 1948 Show ''At Last the 1948 Show'' is a satirical television show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions (although it was not credited on the programmes), in association with Rediffusion London. Transmitted on Britain's ITV network in 196 ...

Do Not Adjust Your Set ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' is a British television series produced originally by Rediffusion, London, and then by the fledgling Thames Television for British commercial television channel ITV from 26 December 1967 to 14 May 1969. The show took ...

'' and ''

The Complete and Utter History of Britain ''The Complete and Utter History of Britain'' is a 1969 television comedy sketch show. It was created and written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones between the two series of ''Do Not Adjust Your Set''. It was produced for and broadcast by London ...

'' each contained sketches with experts analyzing a "mystery object", often resulting in totally wrong conclusions or, in ''At Last the 1948 Show'', in the items getting destroyed. Even in the 21st century, ''Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?'' was still referenced in the second episode of ''

The Armstrong & Miller Show ''The Armstrong & Miller Show'' is a British sketch comedy television show produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC One. It features the double act Armstrong and Miller and a number of notable scriptwriters including Andy Hamilton, co-creator ...

'': Its simple set-up was parodied with a fictional black & white program called "How many hats?". In September 2011,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

performed a one-off revival of ''Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?''. The panel of experts included Claire Thomson (

Scandinavian Studies Scandinavian studies or ''Scandinavistics'' is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultura ...

), Ryan Nichol (

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

), Tom Stern (

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

) and Sam Turvey (

Institute of Zoology The Institute of Zoology (IoZ) is the research division of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in England. It is a government-funded research institute specialising in scientific issues relevant to the conservation of animal species and their ha ...

). It was hosted by Joe Flatman ( Institute of Archaeology) and consisted of a visit to the UCL museum.

Episodes

Only four episodes exist in the BBC's archives, three of which are available to watch from the BBC iPlayer. The fourth one is mute, because its audio track has been lost. Some (incomplete) episode information follows:

Cast and crew

A partial cast list is available.

References

External links

* * *{{UKGameshow, Animal,_Vegetable,_Mineral 1952 British television series debuts 1971 British television series endings 1950s British game shows 1970s British game shows BBC television game shows British panel games British television series revived after cancellation British English-language television shows Lost BBC episodes