User reviews

This show owes as much to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as Seinfeld does to Dick Van Dyke. The set-up is the same as Doyle's story, but after that it breaks down into a series of episodes of supernatural adventures and predictable storylines. If this had been made as a single season 26 episode show, it could have been one of the classic TV shows of all time. But it gets a bit stale after season one and completely becomes farcical in season three. Then, of course, is the fact that the show got defunded after the third season, ending suddenly with a "To Be Continued" episode. The set-up is interesting and the interaction of the characters is excellent. Except for one major exception. The romance between Broxton and Margarite and between Veronica and Malone is completely unbelievable. Two couples stuck in a jungle paradise, madly in love with one another, yet never able to consummate any kind of love relationship is just maddening. The special effects are very good for its time, and Challenger's inventions deserve merit. But the plots are pretty much repeats of one another. The show deserved a better set of writers, and should have been condensed into a sterling series. Worth watching a few episodes to pass the time, but don't commit to the series or you will be sorely disappointed.

It is easy, perhaps TOO easy, to heap abuse on this series, very loosely adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fantasy novel. Certainly, Doyle would not have recognized much of it; then again, would he have recognized a majority of the 'Sherlock Holmes' features over the years? And what would he have made of Steven Spielberg's "borrowing" his title for the second "Jurassic Park" film? Ultimately, any production's success or failure shouldn't be judged solely by the fidelity to the original work, but whether or not audiences accept it. Many marvelous adaptations, from the theatrical WAR OF THE WORLDS to television's "The Third Man" have carried over little of the original source material, but have won a place in our hearts, nonetheless.

And this New Line-produced series, filmed in Australia, even at it's most absurd, was always an enjoyable thrill ride, with a very ingratiating cast!

A spin off of a 1998 TV-movie, the series follows the adventures of an early 20th century party of explorers, stranded on a mysterious plateau in South America where multi-dimensional 'rifts' have allowed animals and cultures from past and future to co-exist. Led by brilliant Professor George Challenger (the wonderful Peter McCauley), a bearded, wild-haired scientist who thrives on facing the unknown, the party consists of handsome big game hunter Lord John Roxton (Australian actor/model Will Snow), mysterious benefactress Marguerite Krux (beautiful Australian actress Rachel Blakely), American journalist Ned Malone (Canadian actor David Orth), and elderly scientist, Professor Arthur Summerlee (Michael Sinelnikoff, whose character would 'die' by season's end). The TV-movie introduced a new character to the mix, blond 'native girl', Veronica, whose scientist parents had disappeared eleven years earlier. Portrayed by "Beverly Hills 90210" alumni Jennifer O'Dell, the voluptuous 'savage', scantily dressed, raised the level of sex appeal for the program immediately, and quickly became a fan favorite.

Working out of Veronica's huge tree house (a split-level that Tarzan would have been envious of), the characters would, each week, encounter everything from dinosaurs (created through CGI, and, while not quite 'realistic', still vastly superior to the stop-motion models, puppets, or rear-screen projected lizards of previous "Lost World" adaptations), to sophisticated cultures practicing human sacrifice, to demons and wizards, to nearly any kind of bizarre civilization one might imagine. Glimpses of each character's past allowed the cast to 'grow', and become more interesting, each season, and provided enjoyable subplots; Lord Roxton falls in love with the greedy, but lovely Marguerite, but her past includes espionage and other unsavory activities, so she only gradually accepts his advances; Veronica, drawn to Ned, must deal with his moodiness (WWI had left him emotionally fragile) and his sense of wanderlust. It is a tribute to the writers and talented cast that the subplots never sank into mini-soap operas!

Australian tax laws nearly sabotaged the series' third season; Canadian Orth and American O'Dell were forced to limit their appearances because of their being non-Australians. So Ned Malone was often away on a 'identity-crisis'-fueled quest, and Veronica, whisked away by a runaway balloon, returned later in the season with a pendant her mother had left for her with a distant tribe, and new responsibilities as 'Protector' of the plateau. A new character was introduced, a wise-cracking girl named Finn, from a hundred years in the future, who was transported back to the plateau by a Challenger invention. Portrayed by 24-year old Australian actress Lara Cox, she was a survivor of a radiation-poisoned Earth, and was quickly 'adopted' by the scientist, who made it his mission to prevent her future world from happening.

Despite very respectable ratings, "The Lost World" was canceled after the third season (with a cliffhanger ending to end ALL cliffhanger endings!), because of spiraling production costs. The cast and crew have remained loyal to the series since cancellation, however, and there is still a slight, if dwindling, hope that the show may reappear, either in series format, or as TV-movies.

"The Lost World" may never please Doyle 'purists', but it was certainly a most enjoyable 'guilty pleasure'. I join with it's many other fans in hoping it will return!

I started to watch it when i was a child and i will never regret about this.Now i am 20 years old and it still helps me with my life.It is great TV show,which grows up with you.If you disagree with me,you should pay more attention to the characters( and excellent cast) and you will understand that it is great TV series about people ,which shows us that people can change(Challenger and his humanity),fist opinion can be wrong(miss Krux),when you truly love a human nothing cannot break this love(miss Krux and lord Roxton),the most valuable thing is the family(Veronika)Forget about special effects-they are not important,just watch it and learn the main sense of our lives and you will find it.

Early 20th century. A band of scientists and adventurers set out from England for an uncharted area of the Amazon basin. Their aim: to search for and explore a mythical lost world. After their hot air balloon crashes, they become more than observers of the world, they become participants in it.

Based on a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an entertaining TV series. Decent action and plenty of adventure. Also some interesting relationship-based drama.

The plots for each episode do get a bit ridiculous at times though. This is particularly so in Season 3. Season 3 also suffers from having Veronica / Jennifer O'Dell away for several episodes on end and she was always my main reason for watching...

When you get passed the horrible intro this series is quite nice... It has beautiful women and good action. The audio could be better and the special effects arent awesome though. Watching this in 2022 with aspect ratio 4:3 was a bit challenging, but i got use to it. If you are fed up with todays woke entertainment you should give this a try.

I kept looking for some indications that this was a joke, but I just can't find if. Must be my mistake. I am sure the writers loved those terrible adventure movies from the 60's but they didn't manage to convey any of that love to this series, which has a completely uninspired script and plot and musical score. The dialog if just idiotic, the scenery is no doubt borrowed from some old movie studio, who made Jules Verne stuff back in those days and the pace of the series is so off, it at times just seems like a trailer for something that shouldn't have been made. Watch and dispair at your own leisure.

I have watched this show right from season 1 to season 3 and I absolutely love the show. It's a one of a kind series and I can't think of anything I'd rather watch on TV than TLW. I think Conan Doyle would enjoy this adaption since it adds so much more to the plateau and the actors are all excellent. And another thing I am a frequent poster at the Lost World message board and it's my favourite place on the net because everyone is fantastic there and I am hoping that Season Four of the Lost World becomes a reality!

This show is often pretty cheesy, with iffy special effects, somewhat frequent eyeroll-worthy subplots or moments, & actors who can't keep their accents straight. That said, it's also pretty entertaining, and good if you want something light, interesting, and fun.

If you are looking for a show that is pure Sir Arthur Conan Doyle then this may *not* be the show for you. However, if you enjoy elements of ACD's "The Lost World" along with a wonderful, fresh new twist on the story you will love this series!

Many wonderful elements make up TLW. There is fantasy and adventure: dinosaurs, mysteries, exciting near escapes and heroics galore - but also comedic moments and dramatic elements that come from crisp scripts and clever direction.

What's more, there truly *are* a wonderful cast of characters -- some of which are the true "lost" of the plateau they are trapped on. Not only is the Challenger Expedition fighting the elements, strange occurrences and the general dangers of the world surrounding them but they are also learning, as the months pass, to live with one another and become a family.

Wonderful friendships and romances have developed over the last few years that are very appealing to both young and old alike.

Kudos to all cast members: Peter McCauly (Professor Challenger), Rachel Blakely (Marguerite Krux - a character not in the book but mysterious and lovely -- a favorite!), William Snow (Lord John Roxton), Jennifer O'Dell (Veronica - Another new character but a welcome addition), David Orth (Edward "Ned" Malone), Michael Sinelnikoff (Professor Summerlee - Season One) and Lara Cox (Finn- a young woman from our world's potential future - New character in season 3).

Sit back, watch a few episodes -- and become enthralled. It's great fun, holds your interests, and you will grow to the this show and its characters -- whether you want too or not (but you WILL want to!).

I was lucky enough to discover this series during a repeat episode from its third season. The writing was immensely improved in the second and third seasons compared to the sluggish, corny, and mostly humorless first one. The banter between the characters is much more natural in the later two seasons and O'Dell's acting improves dramatically - seriously, it's an instant improvement between the last episode of S1 and the first of S2. But by the time I finished watching the third season repeats, I didn't care either way. I now watch the first season with as much enjoyment as the others because the characters are so endearing. If you judged the series by an episode you saw from the first season, give it another shot with a later season's episode before throwing in the towel for good.

It's not for everyone but for sci-fi lovers like me who are willing to suspend reality in order to become immersed in a good story, it's quite enjoyable. Who cares if they fire too many bullets in a world where gunpowder is in short supply? Who cares if the dinosaurs look fake? Who cares if the land seems too vast for the amount of literal space it might take up geographically? It's a mystical plateau... with dinosaurs. I think you've pretty much steamrolled over the confines of reality right there. And, as a side note, if I saw a dinosaur coming at me, you can bet your a** I'd fire as many bullets as humanly possible - to hell with the rations.

Relax, free your over-analytical mind and enjoy the fun.

The trailers had me hooked before it came to The Horror Channel and has just left us on a real cliffhanger. Having been a viewer of Neighbours some time ago, Rachel Blakely was instantly recognisable and being joined by other cast members such as Alan Dale and Laura Vazquez, it made me feel it was going to be worth watching. I was right. From start to finish this has been a 'must watch' program. I can honestly say that this is one of my favourite programs ever. As important as each character is, not one takes over and gets all the airtime, though they struggle to truly survive without each other (the exception being Veronica).Is there more to come?

I just finished Season 1,2,& 3 . The last episode "Heart of the Storm" just ended with "to be continued". So where is the episode that concludes the story line. Shouldn't you have at least given one last episode to satisfy our curiosity. Shame on you! I enjoyed this series to much. It had all the makings of adventure and a fun loving cast that ended to abruptly. Just consider the time line and end this story line with just one more episode to satisfy the viewers. We need to know what happened to Summerlee if he ever came back. Did Malone ever make it out to London? Was Marguette killed? So many questions and so little answers.

Marion Steiman.

I actually enjoy this series. I was hesitant at first because, frankly it didn't seem like it would be any good. However I watched an episode and got hooked. It's a great mixture of humor, adventure and mystery. The show is a cross between Indiana Jones, Earth 2 and any show where the characters are trying to find a way home(too many to list). I think the actors do a good job at keeping the show light and there is the odd line that is pretty funny. All in all it's not bad and if you like Indiana Jones, and can put up with seeing a fake dinosaur once and a while then I recommend that you give it a chance.

It was a good show but disappointed the end of it.i hope it will continue because I would to see how it all ended. Just it's the way left off and it said would continue but it's just drops off and you never find out what happens or if they make it back or stay you don't know where it ends up it leaves so much that the journey doesn't and don't anything after that what happens to everyone did they go back to there time when left or stay together as a family. Did everyone went to the different place and you don't know if the live or die. So much left out.i would love to see what happens but the ending makes it not worth watching.

Is there anything this series DOESN'T offer- Drama, comedy, handsome heros, science, great looking jungle women, monsters, UFO's , cool effects, a fair amount of cheeziness ( I love a show that doesn't take itself too seriously) ,zombies, vortexes, time travel,gunplay, explosions, lots of that great hitting noises from the opening credits to the closing credits; I mean come on! Whats not to like? This show is like every Saturday morning cartoon I've ever seen rolled into 42 minutes. Only the bad guys get killed and the good guys never even bruise. Love, hate, that 'Moonlighting' relationship development between the characters. I could go on for hours.

This series is basically about a group of people who manage to get lost in a prehistoric land.It's based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The plot deviates from the original book ,but remains faithful in parts.

Love this TV series. It's full off excitement and adventure.You connect with the characters too.

If you love monsters and dinosaurs then this is for you.It has a similar feel to Jason and the Argonauts.It has most of the mythical beasts that these type of films have.

You can forgive the small errors of this series because it's still great fun to watch.

P.S NED MALONE(David Orth) MUST HAVE THE BEST SHAPED BACKSIDE IN HISTORY.THIS ALONE MAKES IT WORTHWHILE WATCHING THE WHOLE SERIES!!!

I have to admit when I first say this, I wasn't highly amused, however over time, and with new stories and action sequences and time, it grows on you and you start to enjoy the show and the characters. It has it's moments and then it doesn't, but isn't every show like that? But give it a chance, it's a good show with great potential.