History Series / TheLostWorld2001

* SnakesAreSinister: In an early scene before they even reach the plateau, Edward is menaced by venomous coral snakes.

* RefugeInAudacity: When [[spoiler:claiming that the plateau doesn't exist, Malone passes off the material he's submitted about the plateau so far as extracts from a novel he's writing]].

''The Lost World'' is a 2001 TV miniseries based on the novel ''Literature/{{The Lost World|1912}}'' by Creator/ArthurConanDoyle, and co-produced by A&E and the BBC. It stars Creator/BobHoskins as Literature/ProfessorChallenger and a variety of prehistoric creatures created by the team behind ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs''.

* PrehistoricMonster: The miniseries deconstructs a lot of the imperialistic thinking of its source material, showing the dinosaurs, and the much-maligned ape-men, to be well-adapted, often beautiful, and sometimes fairly intelligent creatures. That said, the ape-men are [[UncannyValley utterly hideous under that makeup]]. Notably, a major subplot (and one completely absent from the book), has Prof. Challenger preventing the natives of the plateau from exterminating the ape-men, but in doing so -- and [[MightyWhitey imposing his own values on them]] -- he inadvertently [[spoiler:brings disaster to the village when the vengeful ape-men summon a pair of ''Allosauruses'']], and the series ends with him and the other explorers deciding to [[spoiler:keep the plateau a secret]] in order to protect its inhabitants, while the book seems fairly cheerful about the possibility that they'll all go extinct, because they're monsters and that's what they deserve. This trope also shows up in-universe with Prof. Summerlee, who, representing the kind of paleontology [[ScienceMarchesOn contemporary to the 1911 setting]], refers to an ''Allosaurus'' in one scene as a "creature from Hell", and indeed, we see little of the Allosaurs beyond their hunger. There's a charming scene of Malone befriending a ''Hypsilophodon'' - though a moment later, Roxton refers to ''Hypsilophodon'' as an "ugly brute".

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: [[spoiler:Challenger successfully convinces the press that the prehistoric plateau is real before changing his mind when he realises how much damage mankind could do to it.]]

* AdaptedOut: Mrs. Challenger. This version of Challenger is explicitly unmarried (and somewhat lonely, though he's hesitant to admit it), in contrast to his AwfulWeddedLife in the book.

** Roxton and Maree's hunting method.

* DinosaursAreDragons: Challenger, as evidence of the validity of his theory about LivingDinosaurs, mentions that the sole survivor of a previous expedition to the Plateau was "raving about dragons" upon his return

* ScienceMarchesOn: InUniverse. In an early scene, Prof. Summerlee shows an early illustration of an ''Iguanodon'' as a quadruped, and comments that, although previously thought to be quadrupedal, it is now known to have walked on two legs, "somewhat in the manner of a kangaroo". Later on, when we actually see an ''Iguanodon'', it turns out to be a facultative biped (meaning it can switch between two and four legs, which happens to be the current scientific consensus).

The miniseries follows the plot of the novel, in which Professor Challenger leads an expedition to a remote South American plateau where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures have survived, but adds some deconstruction of the novel's attitudes, and a thread reflecting on the conflict between creationism and evolutionary science, with the former represented by a missionary who attempts to sabotage the expedition. His niece, Agnes, ends up joining the expedition.

* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Ned Malone is rejected by the girl he loves because he's never done anything adventurous, so he joins the Challenger expedition to prove himself, but discovers on his return that she's engaged to marry someone else. Which is okay, because in the mean time he's fallen in love with Agnes. (Agnes, to her and the writers' credit, is suspicious of how quickly he switches his attention to her, and accuses him of just being on the rebound.)

* AdaptedOut: Mrs. Challenger. This version of Challenger is explicitly unmarried (and somewhat lonely, though he's slow to admit it), in contrast to his AwfulWeddedLife in the book.

* FirstNameBasis: Challenger calls Professor Summerlee "Leo" at the initial lecture, but the two stick to "Professor Challenger" and "Professor Summerlee" for the journey to the plateau. Once they are in the plateau and face mortal danger numerous times, they wind up using "George" and "Leo".

* GreatWhiteHunter: Lord John Roxton. In a twist on this trope, he actually seems to have the best understanding of the plateau's natives and how vital it is not to try to force English values on them. Likewise, the natives admire his hunting skills.

* NamedByTheAdaptation: Prof. Summerlee had no first name in the book. Here, his name is given as Leo.

* NubileSavage: Maree, TheChiefsDaughter
** HandsomeHeroicCaveman: Her brother, Achille. Though he's a bit of a {{foil}} to the heroes and is the most outwardly suspicious of them throughout the story, he's still clearly a good dude

* PiranhaProblem. Defied.

** The Hypsolophodon that Malone befriends. He even gives it a name ("Figaro"), but it never appears or is mentioned again after that scene.

* AdaptedOut: Mrs. Challenger. This version of Challenger is explicitly unmarried (and somewhat lonely), in contrast to his AwfulWeddedLife in the book.

* {{Expy}}: Reverend Theo Kerr fills the role of the treacherous Gomez and his niece Agnes fills the role of Enid Challenger, who did not appear until "The Land of Mist", as Ned's love interest. The book also gives the party a large, slow-witted black man named Zambo who speaks in YouNoTakeCandle to carry their bags; the series wisely replaces him with a toned-down native South American man named Samuel, though even his role is pretty minimal.

* GentleGiantSauropod: The diplodocus on the plateau seem pretty chill, and Challenger is able to get very close to one of them in one scene

* InsufferableGenius \ JerkassHasAPoint: Summerlee is easily goaded into a debate with Kerr over the age of the Earth, and, by proxy, the validity of science over a literal reading of the Bible. Although he's frequently used as a mouthpiece for [[ScienceMarchesOn long-discredited ideas]], in this scene, the scientific facts are completely on Summerlee's side... but he doesn't need to be a dick about it, especially not to his host. Challenger later upbraids him for his lack of "humility".

* LostWorld: The high altitude and physical isolation of the plateau is the justification for why all kinds of weird things survive there. Challenger briefly talks about how weird it is that dinosaurs ''and'' more recent life forms like the ape-men and the natives are all able to coexist (though not always peacefully) up here.

* PrehistoricMonster: The miniseries deconstructs a lot of the imperialistic thinking of its source material, showing the dinosaurs, and the much-maligned ape-men, to be well-adapted, often beautiful, and sometimes fairly intelligent creatures. That said, the ape-men are [[UncannyValley utterly hideous under that makeup]]. Notably, a major subplot (and one completely absent from the book), has Prof. Challenger preventing the natives of the plateau from exterminating the ape-men, but in doing so -- and [[MightyWhitey imposing his own values on them]] -- he inadvertently [[spoiler:brings disaster to the village when the vengeful ape-men summon a pair of ''Allosauruses'']], and the series ends with him and the other explorers deciding to [[spoiler:keep the plateau a secret]] in order to protect its inhabitants, while the book seems fairly cheerful about the possibility that they'll all go extinct, because they're monsters and that's what they deserve. This trope also shows up in-universe with Prof. Summerlee, who, representing the kind of paleontology [[ScienceMarchesOn contemporary to the 1911 setting]], refers to an ''Allosaurus'' in one scene as a "creature from Hell", and indeed, we see little of the Allosaurs beyond their hunger. On the other hand, there's a charming scene of Malone befriending a ''Hypsilophodon''.

* ScienceMarchesOn: InUniverse. In an early scene, Prof. Summerlee shows an early illustration of an ''Iguanodon'' as a quadruped, and comments that, although previously thought to be quadrupedal, it is now known to have walked on two legs, "somewhat in the manner of a kangaroo". Later on, when we actually see an ''Iguanodon'', it turns out to be a facultative biped (meaning it can switch between two and four legs, which happens to be the current scientific consensus).
* ShoutOut: When they return to England, Edward's boss - a diminutive, white-haired Scotsman - says that [[Film/JurassicPark "no expense will be spared"]] in capitalizing on the discovery of the plateau.

* StayInTheKitchen: Discussed when Agnes first offers to accompany the expedition. This being 1911, Roxton, Summerlee, and Malone all initially object, though she quickly proves that she can pull her own weight, and never needs rescuing.

* {{Expy}}: Reverend Theo Kerr fills the role of the treacherous Gomez and his niece Agnes fills the role of Enid Challenger, who did not appear until "The Land of Mist", as Ned's love interest. The book also gives the party a large, slow-witted black man named Zambo who speaks in YouNoTakeCandle to carry their bags; the series wisely replaces him with a toned-down native South American man named Samuel, though even his role is pretty minimal.

** When a pterosaur steals their dinner, Kerr is convinced that it was simply a large vulture. [[spoiler:Malone uses the same lie to keep the plateau a secret.]]

** TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Of course, the Plateau ''does'' exist. Challenger is also occasionally shown to be more in line with modern values than most of the rest of the cast: see InsufferableGenius and StayInTheKitchen below.

** There's also a fairly explicit rebuke of the novel's ending with the escaped pteranodon. In the book, Roxton cheerfully suggests that, [[DumbDinos unsuited as it is to long-distance flight]], it will probably die before it gets as far as Dover (and [[PrehistoricMonster rightfully so!]]). The series shows it flying all the way back to the plateau.

* AdaptedOut: Mrs. Challenger. This version of Challenger is explicitly unmarried (and somewhat lonely), in contrast to his HappilyMarried status in the book.

* AdaptedOut: Mrs. Challenger. This version of Challenger is explicitly unmarried (and somewhat lonely), in contrast to his AwfulWeddedLife in the book.

* ScienceMarchesOn: InUniverse. In an early scene, Prof. Summerlee shows an early illustration of an ''Iguanodon'' as a quadruped, and comments that, although previously thought to be quadrupedal, it is now known to have walked on two legs, "somewhat in the manner of a kangaroo". Later on, when we actually see an ''Iguanodon'', it's back on all fours, as palaeontologists now believe them to have been after all.

* PteroSaurer: The first - and last - extinct animal we see is a pteranodon. A colony of them attack our heroes in one scene, although they seem mostly to be concerned about protecting their eggs.

** There's also a fairly explicit rebuke of the novel's ending with the escaped pteranodon. In the book, Roxton cheerfully suggests that, unadapted as it is to long-distance flight, it will probably die before it gets as far as Dover (and [[PrehistoricMonster rightfully so!]]). The series shows it flying all the way back to the plateau.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: An ''Allosaurus'' falling into a deep, spiky trap at the beginning of Episode 2.

* LostWorld: The high altitude and physical isolation of the plateau is the justification for why all kinds of weird things survive there.

* MisplacedWildlife: Invoked as a minor RunningGag, with Edward repeatedly correcting people on this ("But there ''are'' no elephants in Brazil!"), and then being told not to be so pedantic.

* PalatePropping: This is done to a rampaging ''Allosaurus''. It only incommodes it for a few moments, though, before it snaps the piece of wood between its jaws.

-->'''Agnes''': Oh, piranha aren't dangerous. That's a myth. It's [[SinisterSnake the snakes]] you have to watch.

* ScienceMarchesOn: InUniverse. In an early scene, Prof. Summerlee shows an early illustration of an ''Iguanodon'' as a quadruped, and comments that it is now known to have walked on two legs, "somewhat in the manner of a kangaroo". Later on, when we actually see an ''Iguanodon'', it's back on all fours, as palaeontologists now believe them to have been after all.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: The last episode ends with Challenger announcing that he's found a clue to the location of {{Atlantis}} and asking for volunteers for his next expedition.

* TheCameo: In a way, the Diplodocus and Entelodont, as their CGI models seem to be re-used from Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs and Series/WalkingWithBeasts respectively.

* {{Expy}}: Reverend Theo Kerr fills the role of the treacherous Gomez and his niece Agnes fills the role of Enid Challenger, who did not appear until "The Land of Mist", as Ned's love interest.

* GreatWhiteHunter: Lord John Roxton.

** Roxton gets a romance with one of the women of the native tribe that has made its home on the plateau. (In the book, none of the tribe members are individual characters.)

* GenreSavvy: The ape men know enough about their home to [[spoiler:successfully call allosaurs to the village and avoid casualties to themselves by keeping still and masking their scent with dung]].

* Expy: Reverend Theo Kerr fills the role of the treacherous Gomez and his niece Agnes fills the role of Enid Challenger, who did not appear until "The Land of Mist", as Ned's love interest.

* CanonForeigner: Agnes and her uncle have no counterparts in the novel.

* BringItBackAlive: A Pterodactyl is dramatically unveiled in London, proving that Challenger was right.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: An allosaurus falling into a deep, spiky trap at the beginning of Episode 2.

* MisplacedWildlife: Invoked as a minor RunningGag, with Edward Malone repeatedly correcting people on this ("But there ''are'' no elephants in Brazil!"), and then being told not to be so pedantic.

* PrehistoricMonster: The miniseries deconstructs a lot of the imperialistic thinking of its source material, showing the dinosaurs, and the much-maligned ape-men, to be well-adapted, often beautiful, and sometimes fairly intelligent creatures. That said, the ape-men are [[UncannyValley utterly hideous under that makeup]]. Notably, a major subplot (and one completely absent from the book), has Prof. Challenger preventing the natives of the plateau from exterminating the ape-men, but in doing so -- and [[MightyWhitey imposing his own values on them]] -- he inadvertently [[spoiler:brings disaster to the village when the vengeful ape-men summon a pair of Allosaurs]], and the series ends with him and the other explorers deciding to [[spoiler:keep the plateau a secret]] in order to protect its inhabitants, while the book seems fairly cheerful about the possibility that they'll all go extinct, because they're monsters and that's what they deserve. This trope also shows up in-universe with Prof. Summerlee, who, representing the kind of paleontology [[ScienceMarchesOn contemporary to the 1911 setting]], refers to an ''Allosaurus'' in one scene as a "creature from Hell", and indeed, we see little of the Allosaurs beyond their hunger. On the other hand, there's a charming scene of one of the heroes befriending a ''Hypsilophodon''.

The movie follows the plot of the novel, in which Professor Challenger leads an expedition to a remote South American plateau where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures have survived, but adds some deconstruction of the novel's attitudes, and a thread reflecting on the conflict between creationism and evolutionary science, with the former represented by a missionary who attempts to sabotage the expedition. His niece, Agnes, ends up joining the expedition.

!!This movie contains examples of:

* AndTheAdventureContinues: The movie ends with Challenger announcing that he's found a clue to the location of {{Atlantis}} and asking for volunteers for his next expedition.