History Series / Eyewitness

* TropeOverdosed: The series not only touches on the scientific aspects of a topic but also its impact in human society and culture.

* StockFootage: The series utilizes footage from documentaries, old movies, and cartoons.

A series of nature and science documentaries by the BBC and Dorling Kindersley between 1994 and 1998, based on the books of the same name. The series attempts to capture the minimalistic, hyperrealistic essence of the books through the use of a [[WhiteVoidRoom plain white background]], [[MishmashMuseum the "Eyewitness Museum"]], created using computer animation combined with stock footage, filmed sets, and live animals; in the series itself occasionally uses realistic elaborate sets, live (and animated) and stock footage of relevant content shown as windows and depressions in the wall.

* CockroachesWillRuleTheEarth: ''Prehistoric Life'' alludes to the cockroach's ability to survive as the key to its long-running success since the Carboniferous. [[note]]Fossil cockroaches have exclusively been found in the Cretaceous, but their distant ancestors were around during the Carboniferous.[[/note]]

* CallBack: A possible one. Episode 3 of Series 1, "Cat", has one to the previous episode, "Bird". The narrator in "Cat" makes a mention of how cats are ready to respond to anything, and the corresponding footage shows a cat reacting to a raven, one of the last birds to be focused on in the eponymous second episode.

* {{Leitmotif}}: A snippet of the main theme is remixed within every episode to match the soundtrack, which usually reflects the culture associated with the subject. For instance, "Jungle" has a soundtrack based on Latin music, "Cat" has one based on scat and jazz, etc.
** ShoutOut: Part of ''Dinosaur'''s {{Leitmotif}} sounds reminiscent of the bombastic themes used in ''Jurassic Park''; the other half sounds vaguely Victorian or Edwardian, a reference to the initial wave of dinosaur discoveries in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

* PalatialSandcastle: "Seashore" features shots of a somewhat ordinary-looking sandcastle throughout its runtime, but [[https://youtu.be/lDYw76dUD6k?t=27m5s in the end sequence]], we get to travel through the castle's gate and see that it actually contains many twisting passageways that extend below the water level and ultimately lead to a room full of [[PirateBooty buried treasures]]. (The "Making Of" feature for the episode shows that the "castle" was really multiple sets, not one structure.)

* FarSideIsland: Shown in the third series intro and the main character of a

** ''Weather'' has a weathervane chicken, which comes to life when [[LightningCanDoAnything Zeus strikes it with lightning]]. [[note]]This was, in the show, meant as a reference to lightning's supposed role in the origins of life.[[/note]]

** ''Tree'' had an oak tree (a scaled-down model specifically made for the series) that bursts explosively from the ground
** ''Weather'' has a weathervane chicken, which comes to life when [[LightningCanDoAnything Zeus strikes it with lightning]] [[note]]This was, in the show, meant as a reference to lightning's supposed role in the origins of life.[[/note]] .

** ''Natural Disasters'' has a rabbit.

* MishmashMuseum: The museum where the series takes place. Not only does it have animals running around it, but it also has paintings that show stock footage. As shown by the intro sequence, it also has an airplane, car, prism, and a pool with a little island in it, among others.

** ''Weather'' has a weathervane chicken, which comes to life when Zeus strikes it with lightning.

** ''Mammal'' focused on the development of 6 mammalian embryos: baby mice, [[CuteKitten kittens]], a baby girl, a kangaroo joey, a baby elephant, and a dolphin.

** ''Weather'' has a weathervane chicken.

** ''Mammal'' focused on the development of 6 mammalian embryos: baby mice, [[CuteKitten kittens]], a baby girl, a kangaroo joey, a baby elephant, and [[ConspicuousCGI a dolphin]].

** ''Tree'' had an Oak Tree (a scaled-down model specifically made for the series) that bursts explosively from the ground

** ''Mammal'' focused on the development of 6 mammalian embryos: baby mice, [[CuteKitten kittens]], a baby girl, a kangaroo joey, a baby elephant, and a dolphin.

The series was hosted by Andrew Sachs in the UK release; the US dub was hosted by Martin Sheen for the first two seasons. The video releases include a "The Making of Eyewitness" which show how the series was created.

** ''Dinosaur'' had a {{claymation}} [[TyrannosaurusRex T. rex]].

* ConspicuousCGI: Its CGI was fair for its day, but rather limiting.

* LeitMotif: A snippet of the main theme is remixed within every episode to match the soundtrack, which usually reflects the culture associated with the subject. For instance, "Jungle" has a soundtrack based on Latin music, "Cat" has one based on scat and jazz, etc.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The museum itself. The first theme has levels transitioning laterally, which is kind of trippy, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnqiaquCiKY if the intro is to be believed.]]

* NightmareFuel: In addition to horror movie clips, the series has plenty of examples of these that are original.
** Season 1, Episode 1, Amphibian, discusses the association of toads with witches. It starts with a beautiful princess kissing a toad (like in the fairy tale of the Frog Prince), but after she does that she turns into an ugly, cackling witch.
** Season 1, Episode 5, Dog, shows the transformation of a man into a werewolf.
** Season 1, Episode 11, Reptile, shows a python stalking a lizard, and it looks like the snake ate it, but only its tail. The lizard managed to escape.
** Season 1, Episode 13, Skeleton, shows the skeleton hero getting scared by a literal skeleton in a closet. A similar scene occurs in Season 3, Episode 3, Human Machine, where the mime is freaked out by possibly the same skeleton.
** Season 3, Episode 6, Monster, has perhaps the most nightmare fuel, as its title implies. When it discusses monsters from Greek mythology, it shows Medusa as one of them. At first her eyes are closed but then she opens them, causing stone statues to shudder in fear. Later, a scorpion chases a spider into a crack in the wall. A similar scene occurs when a hyena chases a lizard, after which darkness surrounds the hyena and its eyes glow. When the episode explains that dinosaurs inspired dragons, a T.rex breathes fire, causing a lizard nearby to run away.
** Season 3, Episode 10, Planets, shows a werewolf and a witch since they are both associated with the moon.

** "Seashore" had a crab.

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* StockFootage: The series utilizes footage from documentaries, old movies, and cartoons.