User Reviews

Rather confusingly, I have found this documentary has 3 differing titles in the uk: It's either called "Big Cat Britain Declassified", "Panthera Britannia" or "Panthera Britannia Declassified". Whenever I see "Declassified" in a title I am put off, as it smacks of one of the Discovery Channel's American over the top, sensationalist "documentaries" however, this was very different from that exaggerated style. I personally found the repetitive "Pirates of the Carribbean" type soundtrack REALLY annoying, esp as it repeats over and over 100s of times throughout the1 hour 20 minute run time! Also, I nearly gave up after the first 5-10 minutes, as it seemed like it was going down the "cryptozoology" path, and anyone who has lived 59 years in the uk, knows very well that the big cats that we have had in Britain for decades are very real. They are not the native species that we had 100s years ago, but are thought to be either escaped animals from zoos or previously privately owned ones from back in the days when people were allowed to keep them as pets, until a law came in that prohibited that.

The documentary really covered every aspect of big cats that have been sighted in Britain. It also dealt with the many physical tracks, scat, and hair samples that fit the profile perfectly, including DNA hair analysis. Analysis of puncture wounds found on dead livestock matches perfectly too. Many leading experts in this field were interviewed, and photos and videos were analysed too. No stone was left unturned, as it were.

I found it fascinating, and would highly recommend.