The BBC has unveiled a reimagining of one of the most iconic brands in television history – Walking With Dinosaurs. 25 years on since they first stomped across our screens to critical and audience acclaim, this new series will showcase the lives of six incredible dinosaurs like never before.
From the mountainous forests in Alberta to the red rock canyons of Utah; viewers can anticipate a unique journey back through time, witnessing the incredible life stories of these long-lost giants. Across the six episodes we will meet a range of spectacular dinosaur species in an array of prehistoric landscapes. These include a Spinosaurus – the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever to walk the earth – roaming the rivers of ancient Morocco; a youthful Triceratops battling a ravenous T. rex in North America; and a lonely giant Lusotitan risking it all for a love in Portugal.
According to the BBC, thanks to cutting-edge science, experts can reveal how these prehistoric creatures lived, hunted, fought and died more accurately than ever before. As the dinosaurs’ bones emerge from the ground, the series will bring these prehistoric stories to life with state-of-the-art visual effects – making each episode a gripping dinosaur drama based on the very latest evidence.
The series, produced by BBC Studios Science Unit in collaboration with ZDF and France Télévisions, features a range of dinosaur species, each with its own unique story. In episode one, we meet Clover, an orphaned baby Triceratops. Alone and vulnerable without a herd for protection, she’s stalked by the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex.
BBC Factual presents a reimagining of one of the most iconic brands in television history – Walking With Dinosaurs. The new series showcases the lives of six incredible dinosaurs like never before. The series is based on real finds from unique dig sites. In the case of Clover, finding the bones of a very young Triceratops is rare in itself as so many ended up as lunch for the many predators roaming north America in the late Cretaceous.
Helen Thomas, Executive Producer, said: “The story of Clover is so fascinating because, like the whole series, it is based on the real finds from a unique dig site. In the case of Clover, finding the bones of a very young Triceratops is rare in itself as so many ended up as lunch for the many predators roaming north America in the late Cretaceous. But Clover’s story was something even more special – close to her dig site the team found remains of the most infamous predator of them all – T. rex. Unearthing the bones of predator and prey so close together enabled us to reveal the latest science of these iconic species and tell their extraordinary stories”.
The series also features a Spinosaurus, Sobek, who lives on the banks of a nursery pool with his young family. The BBC reports that Sobek and his family live in a vast river system that is now the Moroccan Sahara.
Dr Nizar Ibrahim, Anatomist & Palaeontologist at the University of Portsmouth who features in this episode, said: “Spinosaurus is the most enigmatic and exciting dinosaur in the world right now, and we just have one skeleton of this spectacular, sail-backed, crocodile-snouted, and largely aquatic predator, hailing from an under-explored corner of the world: the Sahara. Resurrecting this dragon from deep time for an iconic series like Walking With Dinosaurs, was obviously a very special experience for my research team – unearthing this animal has been an incredible decade-long team effort, piecing together 100-million-year-old fossils, harnessing the power of digital anatomy, and braving sandstorms, snakes, scorpions and much more. Most people are somewhat familiar with the dinosaurs we all grew up with – but in this spectacular Saharan adventure they are going to come face-to-face with a very different giant – longer than T. rex – and a reminder that there is a lot we don’t actually know about dinosaurs and that these creatures were a lot more diverse and adaptable than we previously gave them credit for.”
The six-part series, Walking With Dinosaurs, is set to air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The show is a collaboration between BBC Studios, ZDF, and France Télévisions.
Kirsty Wilson, Series Showrunner, said: “The story of Clover is so fascinating because, like the whole series, it is based on the real finds from a unique dig site. In the case of Clover, finding the bones of a very young Triceratops is rare in itself as so many ended up as lunch for the many predators roaming north America in the late Cretaceous.”
The series features state-of-the-art visual effects and real dinosaur digs. According to BBC Factual, each episode focuses not on a species in general but tells the tale of a single lead character dinosaur at one of the most dramatic points in their life.
Palaeontology is an ever-evolving discipline, and new incredible things are being discovered about dinosaurs all the time. When the original Walking With Dinosaurs came out, we didn’t know that dinosaurs had feathers or that they could have certain brightly coloured patterns. This series reflects the very latest findings, and the team have worked tirelessly to reflect as accurately as possible these cutting-edge discoveries.
The latest filming techniques and VFX methodologies were totally key to the approach. The team used a huge range of the very best equipment, moving cranes through the Sahara Desert, or trekking hundreds of pounds of kit to the top of a mountain.
Advances in science and technology have informed the series. The non-avian dinosaurs ruled the Earth for a whopping 140 million years. In fact, they ruled for so long, that the time gap between our oldest featured species, Lusotitan, and our youngest featured species, Triceratops, is over 80 million years – a full 14 million years longer than the gap between Triceratops and us.
BBC Factual and PBS confirm award-winning actor Bertie Carvel as narrator for the new series.
Walking With Dinosaurs, a 6×50, was commissioned for BBC One and BBC iPlayer by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. Bill Gardner is Editorial Consultant for PBS. Diana El-Osta is the Executive in Charge for PBS. It is a BBC Studios Science Unit Production co-produced with ZDF and France Télévisions for BBC and PBS. The Executive Producers are Andrew Cohen and Helen Thomas; the Showrunner is Kirsty Wilson; the Producer/Directors are Stephen Cooter; Tom Hewitson and Owen Gower; and the Line Producers are Max Brunold and Libby Hand. The BBC Commissioning Editor is Tom Coveney. BBC Studios is handling global sales, in addition to negotiating the co-production deals with PBS, ZDF, and France Télévisions.
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