The Human Face is a four part BBC series that examines the science behind facial beauty, expression, and fame in an entertaining fashion. John Cleese, actor, comedian, visiting professor, and best-selling author on psychology, sets out on an odyssey to discover the mysteries of identity, perception, creativity and sexuality hidden behind the mask of life itself. This four-part series combines art, technology and deeply moving human interest stories to uncover the secrets of the human face. Paul Ekman served as scientific adviser.

In a world of six billion other faces, your face is unique. It reveals your personality, your genetic and cultural identity and it can be read like a book. Family resemblances, facial recognition and the purpose of the face and its features are all part of a story that begins in the oceans five hundred million years ago. We conclude with the multi-racial face of the future and the pioneering work of surgeons in Kentucky who are preparing for the world’s first facial transplant.

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