
One man who kept asking questions was Gideon Mantell, the amateur paleontologist who, in the early 19th century, fought to get the British scientific establishment to accept Britain had been inhabited by dinosaurs. As this dramatised documentary shows, Mantell had an uphill battle in a time when the biblical account of creation was considered literal truth and authorities such as the Reverend William Buckland were determined that science remain "the handmaid of religion".

as Gideon Mantell

as Leney

as Caroline Owen

as Richard Owen

as Walter Mantell (Aged 14-18)

as Narrator (voice)

as Mary Anning

as Charles Lyell

as William Buckland

as Mary Mantell

as Removal Man (uncredited)