Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? was a British television panel show which originally ran from 23 October 1952 to 18 March 1959.[1] In the show, a panel of archaeologists, art historians, and natural history experts were asked to identify interesting objects or artefacts from museums from Britain and abroad, and other faculties, including university collections.[2]

For the use of the question in parlor games, see Twenty questions § Popular variants.
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?
GenrePanel show
Created byNora Wood
Presented byLionel Hale (1952)
Glyn Daniel (1952–59)
Barry Cunliffe (1971)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series7 (BBC-tv)
1 (BBC2)
No. of episodes116 (BBC-tv)
14 (BBC2)
Production
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC Television Service (1952–59)
BBC2 (1971)
Original release23 October 1952 (1952-10-23) –
29 August 1971 (1971-08-29)

The quiz show was presented by the BBC, 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".[3]

History

The UK television show was modelled on an American TV show called What in the World? that was developed by Froelich Rainey.[4] The first episode of Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? was broadcast on 23 October 1952[5] and was hosted by Lionel Hale and produced by Paul Johnstone.[2][6] Hale soon stood down as chairman, after an early episode in which he was challenged by Thomas Bodkin about the age of one of the objects shown, in favour of the archaeologist Glyn Daniel, who continued as the regular chairman and scorer for the next seven years.[7]

The most frequent member of the discussion panel was the renowned archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who was voted TV personality of the year in 1954, providing the world of archaeology with its first media star.[8] Daniel won the award the following year.[9]

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.[7] It was briefly revived as A.V.M? in 1971, directed by Bob Toner, with Barry Cunliffe as the chairman.[10]

Programme information

The person responsible for choosing the artefact for each episode was Sir David Attenborough,[11] who was also the camera director. However, on the Christmas special in 1956, Glyn Daniel and Sir Mortimer Wheeler 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'[11] or fake Crown Derby ware.[2] On one occasion, Sir Julian Huxley was unable to identify a modern mock-up of a stuffed great auk as a fake,[12] and on another Huxley lost a £1 bet after failing to recognise the egg of the African giant snail.[7] 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.[13]

Transmissions

BBC Television Service
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
123 October 1952[14]23 July 1953[15]20
215 October 1953[16]10 June 1954[17]18
314 October 1954[18]28 July 1955[19]19
422 September 1955[20]28 June 1956[21]21
54 October 1956[22]27 June 1957[23]20
617 October 1957[24]27 December 1957[25]6
71 October 1958[26]18 March 1959[27]12

BBC2
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
130 May 1971[28]29 August 1971[29]14

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.[30] 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.[7]

In 1957, an episode was broadcast in which the panel were asked to identify the ethnic origins of a selection of human volunteers.[31][32] The anthropologist Margaret Mead disrupted the episode by repeatedly claiming that examples of each ethnic group could be seen at Grand Central Station in New York City. Mead was not invited to take part in the show again.[7]

On one occasion, a BBC spokesman stated that Glyn Daniel presented the show while suffering from influenza, as during a discussion about a sheaf of poisoned arrows from the Sarawak State Museum he said on air that "there are a few million people I would like to kill – mostly viewers".[33][34] Attenborough explained in his autobiography that Daniel had presented the programme while drunk.[35] On another occasion, Leigh Ashton, the Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, also appeared while drunk, and fell asleep after incorrectly stating the first three objects shown to be fakes.[7]

On one of the show's overseas visits, an episode had to be re-located to the Musée de l'Homme in Paris after the National Archaeological Museum refused permission to film.[7]

Legacy

The show was the forerunner of other popular BBC archaeology programmes, such as Buried Treasure and Chronicle.[5] 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, Sir Ian Jacob, as stating that "the two most popular things on television seemed to be archaeology and show-jumping".[36] 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.[37]

Its format was 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 resulting in totally wrong conclusions or, in At Last the 1948 Show, in the items getting destroyed.[38] Even in the 21st century, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? was still referenced in the second episode of The Armstrong & Miller Show: Its simple set-up was parodied with a fictional black & white program called "How many hats?".[39]

In September 2011, University College London performed a one-off revival of Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?. 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.[40]

References
  1. Clack, Timothy; Brittain, Marcus (2007). Archaeology and the Media. Left Coast Press. p. 18.
  2. Glyn Daniel (21 April 1955). "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?". The Spectator. p. 11.
  3. C.A. Lejeune (18 January 1953). "Television Notes". The Observer.
  4. Forsythe, Pamela J. (8 October 2017). "'What in the World' brought archaeology home". BroadStreetReview.com. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  5. Daniel, Glyn E. (1954). "Archaeology on Television". Antiquity. 28 (112): 201–205. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00021608. S2CID 162725007.
  6. "Obituary: Mr Paul Johnstone". The Times. 17 March 1976.
  7. Daniel, Glyn (1986). Some Small Harvest. London: Thames and Huston. ISBN 9780500013878.
  8. Henson, Don (2005). "Television Archaeology: Education or Entertainment?" (PDF). History in British Education. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  9. Dr David R. Howell (20 October 2015). "Welsh History Month: Glyn Daniel, a famous face from Carmarthen who brought archaeology to the world". Wales Online. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  10. Barry Norman (31 May 1971). "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral". The Times.
  11. Attenborough, David (27 April 2010). "Personal Histories, 12th of October 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  12. Catling, Chris (August 2010). "Freudian dating parties; Glamorous heritage; Archaeologist Sienna Miller?; The heritage buffs' anthem; Early Animal, Vegetable, Mineral". Current Archaeology. No. 245. pp. 48–49.
  13. "Desert Island Discs: Professor Glyn Daniel". BBC Radio 4 – Desert Island Discs. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  14. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 23 October 1952". BBC Genome Project. 23 October 1952. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  15. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 23 July 1953". BBC Genome Project. 23 July 1953. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  16. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 15 October 1953". BBC Genome Project. 15 October 1953. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  17. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 10 June 1954". BBC Genome Project. 10 June 1954. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  18. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 14 October 1954". BBC Genome Project. 14 October 1954. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  19. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 28 July 1955". BBC Genome Project. 28 July 1955. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  20. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 22 September 1955". BBC Genome Project. 22 September 1955. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  21. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 28 June 1956". BBC Genome Project. 28 June 1956. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  22. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 4 October 1956". BBC Genome Project. 4 October 1956. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  23. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 27 June 1957". BBC Genome Project. 27 June 1957. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  24. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 17 October 1957". BBC Genome Project. 17 October 1957. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  25. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 27 December 1957". BBC Genome Project. 27 December 1957. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  26. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 1 October 1958". BBC Genome Project. October 1958. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  27. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Television - 18 March 1959". BBC Genome Project. 18 March 1959. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  28. "A.V.M? Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Two England - 30 May 1971". BBC Genome Project. 30 May 1971. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  29. "A.V.M? Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? - BBC Two England - 29 August 1971". BBC Genome Project. 29 August 1971. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  30. Bahn, Paul (1989). The Bluffer's Guide to Archaeology. London. p. 59.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  31. "BBC Genome: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?: All Manner of Men". 7 February 1957.
  32. "A Spectator's Notebook". The Spectator. 15 February 1957. p. 7.
  33. "Panel Chairman's Influenza: Viewers' Concern". The Manchester Guardian. 13 January 1956.
  34. Maurice Richardson (15 January 1956). "Fantasies of 'Flu". The Observer.
  35. David Attenborough, Life on Air (2009) p20-21.
  36. Daniel, Glyn; Renfrew, Colin (1988). The Idea of Prehistory. Edinburgh University Press. p. 137. ISBN 0852245327.
  37. Johnstone, Paul (September 1956). "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?" (PDF). The UNESCO Courier: 29–30.
  38. "At Last The 1948 Show, episode 1". One Media iP – official youtube channel. One Media iP. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  39. "Armstrong and Miller Show, How many hats?". Hat Trick – official youtube channel. Hat Trick. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  40. "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? Mystery Object Panel Game" (PDF). Retrieved 7 May 2017.
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