Chat Ed : Welcome to this evening's BIG MONSTER DIG chat with Lucy Taylor (presenter), Dave Martill (Palaeontologist) and John Howell (Sedimentologist)! In the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees, the Big Monster Dig team was put on the trail of a very unusual puzzle: mounds of mud in a disused limestone quarry that were full of bones. To add to the mystery, most of the bones were from big, sabre tooth cats.
Lucy Taylor : Hi there, I'm Lucy Taylor, I've just watched the show and I hope lots of other people have too and I hope you enjoyed it!
Dave Martill : Hi all you fossil lovers, Dave here and I hope you are all enjoying the Big Monster Dig.
John Howell : Hi it's John here, I didn't see the show because I'm at home in Norway but I hope you enjoyed watching it as much as we enjoyed making it.
Wilma : Did you all get a bulk discount on the hats? Working in Spain not quite sun bathing weather?
Lucy Taylor laughs
Dave Martill : There will be a ceremonious cutting off of the bobble on my hat! I've got loads of emails about it!
yourfriendmike : Dave always wears silly hats
Lorna : Hi Dave, I know I should be working, but what the hell!
John Howell : The lime green teletubby outfit certainly has promoted a response.
Dave Martill : Lorna get on with your PhD!
Bri : How did you all get involved in making this series?
Lucy Taylor : It's a bit of a strange one really...RDF had seen me in the pilot that Channel 4 had commissioned about jousting which was a kind of a mixture between extreme sports and history. RDF knew about me because of that pilot and decided to test me out for the Big Monster Dig.
John Howell : I was eventually invited, after almost everybody else I know (!), to go for a screen test and when I proved that I could interrupt a fully flowing Martill they gave me the job.
Dave Martill laughs
Dave Martill : For me one of the producers at RDF had seen a programme with me in it and asked me to come up to London for a chat - we chatted a little bit and then I went for a screen test at a nature reserve at the back of St Pancras station in London. Then I did a couple more screen tests with Lucy and John and then it was just a process of elimination really.
Lucy Taylor : I think that Channel 4 thought you were a bit Indiana Jones, Dave!
Dave Martill laughs
yourfriendmike : Did you find the rest of the cat after the dig?
Dave Martill : No, sadly. They had another go this Summer - I don't know what the results of that dig were though. We'll get an update in November when they come over here though That jaw was in such good condition that I can't imagine the rest isn't lying around there somewhere.
Lucy Taylor : What they actually found was pretty amazing anyway.
Imenti : What was the new species of Pterosaur called that you excavated at the Isle of Wight?
Lucy Taylor : That's still a secret!
Dave Martill : Yes, until the scientific paper comes out in the middle of next year.
wav : You can trust us! We won't say
Lucy Taylor : We've waited a few thousand years as it is, a while longer won't hurt!
Liam 22 : You must be pleased with the time the programme is on, do you think that this series benefits from the good works done by things like time team and the big dig?
Peter : Do they think they can be as popular as Time Time?
John Howell : Yes, definitely.
Lucy Taylor : I think so, they are 2 very successful formats. The fact that they have done so well for so long proves that there is a lot of interest still.
Dave Martill : I'd love it to be, Peter!
John Howell : I'd like to think so too. I think people are interested if the motivation is there.
Graeme : Why do you think there is such an appetite for these types of historical investigation type shows?
John Howell : I think people are genuinely interested in science if it's put across in the right way.
Lucy Taylor : I've always thought that it would be fantastic if you could talk to the trees or the rocks because they can tell you extraordinary stories, but if you have Dave and John and Sarah there to tell you then you can hear those stories through them. That's the romantic answer.
Dave Martill : So, Lucy...they let you out of your straight jacket for the night then?
Lucy Taylor laughs
Matt : Why is it that you are only allowed two days. Does research continue after you have gone. How did you choose what projects to film for the programme?
Dave Martill : With some of the projects there is a lot of ongoing research because the discoveries are so important. Angel Gelobart is going to be excavating for many years to come because there are so many exciting discoveries there. One of the programmes is on one of my own sites and I will be continuing the research on that for another year or so but you will see that programme in a couple of weeks time.
roger : if you had a chance to go back to one of the times you were excavating...would you go?
Lucy Taylor : Absolutely!
John Howell : Definitely, I'd go back to the Jurassic.
Dave Martill : Where would you go back to Lucy?
Lucy Taylor : I'd go back to the 60s!
Dave Martill laughs
Maria : Where is the best place you've ever been to investigate fossils?
Ancient : What's the most exciting dig anyone one of you have been? and why
John Howell : Namibia - I spent 5 months in the desert - looking at fossilised sand dunes that were buried under lava.
Lucy Taylor : My only real experience of going on real digs has been on the show, but out of the 7 the ones in the Pyrenees were the most amazing.
Dave Martill : My most exciting trip was working in the Atacama Desert working in the Andes part of it, looking for Pterosaur eggs.
Face Man : I think the different hypotheses each member of the team has really makes the show exciting. What do you think?
John Howell : Science is all about having ideas and then testing them, so you need lots of different ideas to get to the truth.
Dave Martill : We don't mind if our hypotheses are wrong because, like John said, what we are after is finding the truth.
Lucy Taylor : It's fascinating watching all three of them battle it out.
Caz : So, who's theory is most often correct (or best fits the evidence:)?
Lucy Taylor : It's always Dave. He's always right.
Dave Martill : I was right once, I think it was a Tuesday, a long time ago!
Lucy Taylor : No, to be fair, it changes all the time.
Dave Martill : A single hypothesis is not correct, parts of each of ours are often correct though.
rose : how did you first get into palaeontology
Smaug : how did u get into the career of palaeontology and do you have any advice for future fossil hunters?
Dave Martill : Go out and find some fossils! That starts you off. Then go to the local museum, talk to the curator, find out if there is a local geological society you can join and if you are a young person still at school and would like to do this as a profession, then study the sciences and go to university and get a degree.
Jessica : Hi John, Lucy, and Dave. My question is, do you ever feel a big rush of excitement when you find something?
Will : What was your most exciting moment on the show? (keep it clean!)
Lucy Taylor : I do, every time! When we were digging in Latton Quarry in Wiltshire, I thought we'd found the biggest and most exciting bone ever, but it turned out just to be....
Dave Martill : a Kentucky Fried Chicken!
Lucy Taylor laughs, no, it was an ox bone I think! It was so exciting and then instantly disappointing.
John Howell : On our last show, without giving too much away, we found quite a lot of stuff and for somebody that doesn't do dead things, it was good to get one over on Dave :)
Dave Martill : Making the series the most exciting was on tonight's show when we found the jaw of the sabre tooth cat. I've never really excavated any big, fierce mammals (I'm a reptile man!) so to find this really was a thrill.
Chat Ed : Our half hour is almost up, so last questions now...
digitalskittles : Is there a book to accompany the series?
Smaug : there seems to be a shortage of books on palaeontology, how can we find out more?
Dave Martill : There's lots and lots of books on dinosaurs but not many on Palaeontology, but when you do find them they are usually very expensive. I did write one of the Walking With Dinosaurs books called The Evidence but I'm not sure if that's still in print now.
Lucy Taylor : I hope there will be a book published about the series, I'd buy it.
Ancient : Do you think Ross from friends gives the right image of a palaeontologist? ;-P
Dave Martill laughs
Lucy Taylor : I think so, I think he's gorgeous!
Dave Martill : We all model ourselves on him!
Peter : Ross doesn’t drink enough
Lucy Taylor : No Dave you model yourself on Harrison Ford! Or he models himself on you!
John Howell : I think he's a geek, so yes!
Chat Ed : That's it! Thanks for coming and talking to us Lucy, Dave and John!
Face Man : Are you saying you are all geeks?
Matt : Thanks for making Monday evening interesting.
Copperhead : Seeya!!!
Liam 22 : by xx
Bri : Thanks for chatting. bye!
Peter : Tell John he was one of my favourite lecturers.
Clo : do u like chickens?
yourfriendmike : bye dave see ya soon
Lorna : bye
digitalskittles : Bye guys xx
Lucy Taylor : Please watch next week's show it's much more interesting than Ground Force ; )
Dave Martill : Thanks for watching, I'm glad you're enjoying it and if you're going to go fossil hunting good luck! And if you find anything exciting then tell us about it!
Lucy Taylor : Ditto!
John Howell : Thanks for watching, enjoy the rest of the series and just go out and do it!
Lucy Taylor : Does that sound a bit rude?
Lucy Taylor chuckles
Lucy Taylor leaves the room
Dave Martill leaves the room
John Howell leaves the room
