otherwise excellent prosthetics but still considered the series an impressive effort "well worth the trip". The Australia-based British broadcaster Alan Saunders criticized the series for various events throughout being referred to as milestones on the path to Homo sapiens, which Saunders interpreted as veering close to suggesting that evolution was a process that would inevitably have led to modern humans. Popular response 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. The negative user responses outweighed the positive ones, with some users being concerned that much of the programme appeared to be conjecture and that Robert Winston, or the programme as a whole, were dumbing down the science or "patronising" viewers. Some viewers found the hominin suits to be unconvincing and drew unfavourable comparisons to the original Planet of the Apes films. Several users also criticized the programme for presenting evolution as fact instead of considering the (pseudoscientific) idea of intelligent design. In an interview, Robert Winston dismissed fears of dumbing down the science, stating that "We are making it exciting, we are bringing science alive, and I absolutely disagree with the notion of dumbing down." 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. Some users also praised the effects, including the hominin costumes, and the writing. In other media Companion book A companion book to the series, titled Walking with Cavemen: Stand Eye-to-Eye with your Ancestors, was co-authored by the photographer (and executive editor on the series) John Lynch and the professor of psychology and human evolution researcher Louise Barrett. The book is a coffee-table book which explores mankind's origins in a similar vein as the series, mixing imagined anecdotes and scientific fact together and using stills from the series to bring the ancient hominins to life. The book was reviewed positively in the book review magazine Publishers Weekly, which considered the book to have been "competently executed". Interactive version 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. After every episode, the evidence shown would be drawn together into a 10-minute exclusive extra documentary. Website An