"Eight years ago there was an incredible breakthrough: The Neanderthal genome was first decoded. The greatest surprise was that most modern humans have inherited Neanderthal DNA and there is around two percent of their DNA inside everyone from outside sub-Saharan Africa. These genes have helped shape modern humans into what we are today and continue to affect us. So what kind of people were our ancient ancestors? This two-part series investigates what they looked like and what would have happened when we met them. Our guide is paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi who enlists the skills of Andy Serkis to create a scientifically accurate 3D working avatar of a real Neanderthal. Ella also gathers evidence by pursuing leads across the globe, meeting leading experts in their labs and at significant sites of Neanderthal discovery, from Iraqi Kurdistan to Gibraltar. Across the two shows, the scientists reveal ground-breaking discoveries about Neanderthal appearance, anatomy, movement, brain function, child development, diet, health and culture"--PBS.