Tuesday 24 May 2022 07:10 AM CHRISTOPHER STEVENS on TV: Sir David and his dinosaurs take TV wizardry into a ... trends now
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Prehistoric Planet
Rating: 
Silent Witness
Rating: 
When Sir David Attenborough first saw the tyrannosaurs and triceratops of Prehistoric Planet, he marvelled: 'It's like watching them through binoculars.'
This five-part Apple TV+ series, with a new episode every day this week, superimposes animated digital dinosaurs onto real-world landscapes. The driving force behind the show is a big beast from the BBC's Natural History Unit, Mike Gunton — producer of major wildlife documentaries such as Planet Earth II and Dynasties.
His influence not only secured Sir David as the narrator, but persuaded LA producer Jon Favreau to bring a team of Hollywood computer graphics wizards.
The results are astounding. In a vivid recreation of the world 66 million years ago, baby T. Rexes hunt turtles on the coastline of a vanished ocean.
Alex Bull walks past Tyrannosaurus rex footprints that have been recreated in the sand to launch Prehistoric Planet
Pterosaur hatchlings throw themselves from a cliff on their first flight, only to be snapped up by sabre-billed predators. Those familiar Attenborough tones help quell our disbelief as we see monster lizards diving to hunt on coral reefs or ammonites erupting in neon courtship displays underwater.
Apple refuses to divulge the show's budget but only a tech company with the financial resources of a medium-sized nation could achieve this. It's TV in a new league.
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