Season 1 • Episode 7
LatestProfessor Robert Winston explores the processes our bodies go through when we die. He discovers what it is that determines when we are dead, and hears from people who have been through heart attacks and near-death experiences. And to shed light on the human side of dying, cameras accompany Herbie as he slowly succumbs to cancer and shows that it is possible to die without pain and fear.
The Human Body is a seven-part documentary series that looks at the mechanics and emotions of the human body from birth to death.
Production
Pioneering endoscopic footage—camera literally inside bodies.
Acting
Robert Winston: charming uncle explaining your inevitable decay.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'inside the womb' footage required revolutionary fiber-optic cameras so small they hadn't existed five years prior.
This BBC series pioneered the 'presenter-as-enthusiastic-guide' format later copied by every nature documentary—before this, science docs were dry narrations only.
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