The Thornberrys, led by their naturalist filmmaker parents - the absurdly British Nigel, and the relatively normal Marianne - travel the world in their motorhome, making nature documentaries and generally going wherever the call of the wild takes them. Central character and younger daughter Eliza is a chip off the old block and can actually talk to animals. Older daughter Debbie is 16 and probably the most normal of the bunch, she holds no interest in the rest of her family's obsessions and would rather go shopping or listen to her walkman. Younger 'brother' Darwin is actually a 'wild child' they found in Borneo, and Darwin is... well a chimpanzee. Who can talk to Eliza, of course.