Walking with Cavemen is a 2003 four-part nature documentary television miniseries produced by the BBC Science Unit,[4] the Discovery Channel and ProSieben.

[5] Walking with Cavemen explores human evolution, showcasing various extinct hominin species and their inferred behaviours and social dynamics.

In addition to the techniques also used in previous series, Walking with Cavemen uses actors to portray extinct hominins since it was deemed impossible to evoke convincing human expressions and emotions using just computer graphics.

The title was chosen to appeal to the outdated stereotype of human ancestors being cave-dwellers (the programme does not portray hominins in caves until the last episode) in order to turn viewer's expectations on their head and showcase that the past was not necessarily what they imagined it to be.

[1] During promotion of the series, the BBC did a publicity photoshoot with the actors David Rubin and Suzanne Cave, who among other roles portrayed elder male and female Homo ergaster, respectively.

In South Africa, Walking with Cavemen footage was filmed in the Southern Kalahari Desert, the Augrabies Falls National Park and the Orange River regions.

Though finding several details questionable, such as Neanderthals being described as lacking imagination and not wearing boots, Homo ergaster not being black-skinned, and monogamy being showcased as a norm rather than a more recent concept, Gamble also felt that such criticisms missed the point of the programme.

Gamble also enjoyed the inclusion of Robert Winston as presenter, referring to him as a "Dr Who of human evolution" who travelled through time and offered factoids and insight.

[5] Writing for the Archaeological Institute of America, the British archaeologist Paul Bahn also gave the series a positive review, praising the workmanship that went into creating the costumes and calling the landscapes featured "spectacular".

Bahn noted that most of what is shown in the series is pure speculation but considered Walking with Cavemen to be "well worth a look" and particularly praised how it made humanity's long dead ancestors feel "more real and alive".

Heffley noted that the narrative at times grew "a tad overheated" and that "stiftly moving mouths" could detract from the otherwise excellent prosthetics but still considered the series an impressive effort "well worth the trip".

[18] In 2003, BBC News hosted a debate section where viewers could share their views on Walking with Cavemen, which attracted both positive and negative user responses.

"[2] Positive user responses mentioned that the programme made otherwise obscure science more accessible to the masses and praised the series combining a scientific and humanistic approach.

[20] Using BBCi (BBC Interative Television), viewers could during the programme's original airing watch Walking with Cavemen with additional layers of factual evidence, such as facts about fossils and comprehensive summaries of the science behind every episode.

The website included fact files on every hominin, family trees, summaries of the episodes, behind-the-scenes information and a flash game, Ape to Man, in which players played through seven tasks, each representing a milestone in human evolution.