The Lost World (TV series)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World is a syndicated television series loosely based on the 1912 novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World. The show premiered in the United States in the fall of 1999. It ran for three seasons, the final two of which aired in syndication in the United States, before it was cancelled in 2002 after funding for a fourth season fell through. The final episode ended with an unresolved cliffhanger. All three seasons were released in DVD box sets in 2004.
Plot
"At the dawn of the 20th century" a band of British adventurers, led by adventurer and scholar Professor George Challenger, embark on an expedition to prove the existence of an isolated lost world. The team, consisting of a mismatched group of enthusiasts with less than selfless reasons for making the journey, begin their trip under less than ideal conditions. The members are Challenger, Professor Arthur Summerlee, Marguerite Krux, Major Lord John Richard Roxton and Edward T. Malone.Their hot air balloon crashes in the Amazon rainforest on an uncharted plateau where prehistoric creatures survive. The group is assisted by a young jungle-savvy woman named Veronica Layton, whose parents disappeared eleven years before. Her family was part of a research group known to have vanished under mysterious circumstances. Together, the group fights to survive against carnivorous dinosaurs, vicious Neanderthals, a race of lizard men, and other perils as they search for a way to escape. Each episode detailed two separate, simultaneous adventures.
The later series established that the party became stranded in 1919.
Episodes
Proposed season 4
The producers of the show have revealed some details of the proposed fourth and even fifth seasons from 2002. If the subsequent season had been produced, fans would have learned that professor Arthur Summerlee was indeed alive, residing in Avalon. Avalon, near the border of the Plateau, is where Veronica's surviving mother Abigail Layton had become the Plateau's protector soon after her disappearance. She became the ruler of Avalon and had left behind a triangle artifact- the Trion, the Eye of Heaven- for her daughter Veronica to find. Veronica was to become the new Protector of the Plateau. Her tree-house dwelling was apparently the epicenter of the entire Plateau.The new season would have also revealed that Marguerite and Roxton were always meant to be together from the beginning. As Veronica is the new Protector of the Plateau, Marguerite is a descendant of Morrighan, her ancestor whom came from "the line of Mordren;" they are the opposing forces against the Protectors. Marguerite as the "third power" within the Trion forces, was a free will agent allowed to choose good or evil in the battle against power over the Plateau. Roxton, Marguerite's knight, protector, and future groom would have been her personal guide so that Marguerite would ultimately choose "good." Also, because of Marguerite's Celtic heritage within the line of Mordren whose presence is on the Plateau and Veronica's bloodline with the Protectors, Veronica and Marguerite are cousins genetically, but spiritually are sisters. Roxton's role as Marguerite's modern day knight originates with his childhood and ancestral home having close proximity to Avebury, nearly twenty miles from Stonehenge. Finn would have been revealed to be Malone's great great granddaughter, her grandmother being the Amazon Phoebe whom Malone had sex with in the episode "Amazons" The series would have been resolved with Malone and Veronica getting married and staying in Avalon, while Challenger uses his teleportation invention from the episode "Finn" to send himself, Roxton, Marguerite and Summerlee to London, but travels forward in time to the year 2005 where they are welcomely greeted by the zoological society due to Malone having sent them a letter explaining when they would arrive.
The fourth season would have featured guest appearances of two other Arthur Conan Doyle characters, Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty.
Characters
Overview
;NotesMain
- Professor George Edward Challenger — A scholar, visionary, and adventurer who is the leader of the expedition. He hopes to prove his claims to the skeptical London Zoological Society.
- Marguerite Krux — The selfish financier of the expedition and heiress to a forturne who goes along for her own reasons.
- Lord John Richard Roxton — The nobleman with vast hunting experience, who accidentally killed his brother while trying to save him from an ape. He serves as protector of the group.
- Edward "Ned" T. Malone — An American newspaper reporter, hoping to make a name for himself and impress his girl back home....if he survives the ordeal.
- Veronica Layton – A jungle girl whose parents disappeared eleven years prior to the series. While she originally wore sandals in the first season, later episodes had her wearing boots.
- Professor Arthur Summerlee — The elderly member of the band, a scientist, and a colleague to George Challenger, who initially does not believe Challenger's claims about a lost world. Although he is supposedly killed by Drakul and washed down the waterfall at the end of Season One, Edward revealed to the group that Arthur is in a state where he is neither dead or alive upon being lifted from the dried-up waterfall as seen in "Man of Vision". If there was a Season 4, he would have been confirmed as officially alive.
- Finn – A young woman from the year 2033 who debuts in the fifteenth of season 3.
Others
- Tribune - The leader of a tribe of lizard men. He had different encounters with Challenger's group and has developed some respect for them.
- Assai
Animals of the plateau
- Ankylosaurus - Ankylosaurus appear in Cave of Fear, Blood Lust, and Paradise Found.
- Brontosaurus
- Giant Bee
- Herrerasaurus – Herrerasaurus appear in "Blood Lust," "Out of Time," "The Beast Within," "Absolute Power," "Time After Time," "Prodigal Father," and "The Chosen One." They are incorrectly shown as having double crests on their heads just like Dilophosaurus.
- Pachycephalosaurus – This was seen only in the book page in the original pilot.
- Parasaurolophus
- Plesiosaurus
- Pteranodon
- Smilodon – Smilodon was originally supposed to have appeared as a recurring animal, but was cut from the finished program.
- Triceratops
- Troodon – Was to have debuted in Season 4, and with human-like intelligence.
- Tyrannosaurus – Tyrannosaurus are recurring predators in the series, where each one tries unsuccessfully to catch and eat the main characters.
- Velociraptor
Broadcast
Following the limited run on PPV, the first broadcast TV run of the series ran weekly in syndication on hundreds of stations in the United States, including the WB 100+ group stations, a joint Time Warner and Tribune Broadcasting entity. Because of syndex rules each episode aired one week later on WGN America, and on the Space TV network in Canada. The series continued to be rerun in daily strip form in the United States on the Time Warner owned TNT in the early morning hours Monday through Friday.
International
In addition to the English language broadcasts in North America and Europe, the series has aired around the globe in other languages. The series aired in Europe on the SciFi Channel Europe.During the original run the weekly syndicated primary and backup satellite wildfeed for the series utilized the Galaxy 26 satellite located at 93° West longitude.
DVD releases
The series was removed from the schedule after the DVD release in the United States after a third Time Warner company, New Line Television, sold the DVD region 1 distribution rights to Image Entertainment.The DVD region 2 distribution rights were sold to Liberation Entertainment.
Image Entertainment released all three seasons of The Lost World on DVD in Region 1 in NTSC. Liberation Entertainment released all three seasons on DVD in Region 2 in PAL.
The original 93 minute version pilot movie was released on DVD in 4:3 PAL under the title, The Lost World The Beginning by ILC Prime licensed by Fremantle Corporation.
Note: The pilot television movie was edited down into episodes 1 "The Journey Begins" & episode 2 "Stranded" for the TV series.
| Season | Ep # | Aspect Ratio | R1 Release Date | R2 Release Date |
| Pilot | 1–2 | 4:3 | 29 July 2002 | |
| 1 | 22 | 4:3 | 27 January 2004 | 15 October 2007 |
| 2 | 22 | 4:3 | 20 April 2004 | 19 November 2007 |
| 3 | 22 | 16:9 | 16 November 2004 | 3 March 2008 |