our return to The Lost World.

During a recent binge marathon of "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World", one is again amazed that such a late-night gem of a series didn't garner more of the cult-like worship it so richly deserved. Dinosaurs, lizard men, supernatural beings, and ancient cultures all fill the narrative roster, along with just excellent writing, sewing it up into one grand package of adventure-filled goodness.

[The Untamed Beauty, The Journalist, The Visionary, The Botanist, The Hunter, and The Femme Fatale.]

Based on an unapologetic Victorian novella of Empire, the series extrapolates on the original's basic setting & characters, adding a mysterious femme fatale and pushing the time forward to just after World War I. Doyle intended Professor George Edward Challenger to be a popular replacement for a Sherlock he'd become sick of writing, but no such luck. This other intellectual hero only featured in five stories of varied quality, but The Lost World stands as a genre-making classic.

[The original serial published in 1912 issues of The Strand.] 

The program ran from 1999-2002, first broadcast on Pay-Per-View with minor nudity & longer scenes, shot in Australia, later airing edited versions in the United States, then syndicated, and put out in three fatty boom batty box sets. The rub is that season 3 ends on a sixfold cliffhanger with all the characters in mortal danger, with the only resolution being a fourth & fifth season treatment of what might've been, and even followed up by some enthusiastic fan conventions.

With all the spirit of science & exploration tropes in the show, the steampunk label fits nicely, and one would think that in the retrofitting & subcultural appropriation of anything with a balloon, pith helmet, and a travelling tea set, that the series would experience a fervor of renewed interest. We are in part writing this to draw deserved attention to one of our favourite, and most ambitious, series.

Our praise aside, there's no proof like actually watching the show, so we present what we feel in our heart is a brief & spoiler-free linked list of the five best episodes of this standout show in ascending order -- a hard task with 66 awesome episodes of dino-laden goodness, it's nearly impossible to go wrong with any of it, but here are the winners:

#5: Amazons
It's all the stuff you imagined Paradise Island might be. Queen Selene! One so wishes Season 4 had happened with an Amazons II sequel episode.

[Lost in a giant beehive!]

#4: London Calling
Given how much Malone was conked out as the helpless would-be boyfriend to Veronica's jungle-grrl alpha during the run, it was cool to see Ned as the would-be hero.

#3: Tapestry
The writers simply out-do themselves by prequelling the show, adding a noir aspect to all the characters' past and roles in the Great War, and examines the serendipities behind how they came together.

[A dino stole my clothes?!? No way!]

#2: The Secret
Oh Marguerite Crux, who are you? Here we find out the whys behind our favourite mystery lady.

#1: Stone Cold
The gothest episode produced! Watch as mysterious circumstances force your heroes into villainous tendencies and "Dangerous Liaison"-style costumes! Soooo juicy!



After watching the show, we've been left with the following burning questions (established fans or new compleatists, please answer in the comments should you know):

1. Has anyone's ever done a bullet count for the Challenger expedition? While the Laytons may have had ammo leftover at the Treehouse, and GEC has gunpowder in his lab, we never see any shell retrieval for reloading, and we fancy they couldn't have brought so much lead on that balloon.

2. Are the unedited/uncensored Pay-Per-View versions of the episodes and bonus features finally available together in a retail set or online anywhere?

3. Was there ever an original/reproduction Ouroboros made available?

4. What exactly is the device Shanghai Xan's agent receives from Mordren? Fusion chamber? Nuclear grenade? Alien technology?

5. We feel there should be a soundtrack released with such incidental themes as "Challenger Invents Trouble. Again.", "Roxton Shoots His Load", "Marguerite Lies!", "Plateau Blues", and "Don't Be a Trog". Does anyone have complete versions of the incidental music to play in our own adventurous lives?

[Stuck in a lizard-man's harem!]

Provocative, saurian-fraught, unexpected turns of fate, and a smart over-arcing megaplot show that "The Lost World" is worth spending your time getting lost in. You might just find yourself a priceless T-Rex egg to bring back from that magic plateau of wonder. 

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While a mostly happy bookstore fixture for over two decades, Guillermo Maytorena IV is currently willing to entertain your serious proposals for employment as a literary/cinema critic, goth journalist, castellan, airship pilot/crewperson, investigative mythologist, or assisting in a craft brewery. Should you be connected to any of the above or equally interesting endeavours, do contact him via LinkedIn or G+.