Latest clips
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Behind the Scenes
Take a look behind the scenes with BBC series producer Nigel Paterson and Creative Director of Jellyfish Pictures, Phil Dobree.
Watch: Building a dinosaur -
Storytelling in Planet Dinosaur
Find out what the stories in Planet Dinosaur are based on and how the storytelling in this series differs from the iconic Walking with Dinosaurs.
Watch: Finding stories -
Narrated by John Hurt
With no talking heads or dialogue, the narration of Planet Dinosaur forms an exceptionally crucial part of the series. And the voice of John Hurt was just what was needed. "I am quite choosy which programmes I narrate", says John Hurt, "but I was intrigued by the remarkable dinosaur discoveries made in the last ten years."
And unlike Walking with Dinosaurs, Planet Dinosaur shows the fossil evidence that forms the basis of the stories. "The juxtaposition of the story and the scientific developments is very good, it’s really well done", says Hurt. But it also meant he had to read the lines in two slightly different manners – the storyline needed a bit of romanticism about it, whereas the scientific evidence had to be read in a more matter-of-fact way.
And of course there were the different dinosaur names to grapple with. "Some of the names were quite tricky", he says. Which were the most difficult tongue-twisters? Sinornithosaurus and Saurornithoides. -
Music by Ilan Eshkeri
Writing the score for Planet Dinosaur was a huge challenge. On the one hand, the music had to have an organic and natural feel to it. On the other hand, it also had to reflect the fact that the world of Planet Dinosaur isn’t real – so rather than big orchestral tunes Planet Dinosaur opted for more subtle often synthetic sounds.
Visit: Ilan Eshkeri's website
Composer Ilan Eshkeri was the ideal choice to take on this difficult task. Best known for his scores to Stardust, The Young Victoria and Kick-Ass, Ilan has been fascinated by dinosaurs from a really young age. “I wanted to take inspiration from the feeling of awe and wonderment I always had as a child”, he says about composing the score for Planet Dinosaur. But writing music for animation is difficult because the characters don’t have the same detail of emotional nuance that real living things have, and you have to add this depth of emotion with the music. “But having said that, the CGI animation in Planet Dinosaur is so skillfully and artfully made that my job wasn’t nearly as difficult as it could have been”, says Ilan.
He particularly loved writing music for Argentinosaurus because he adored these kinds of creatures as a child. “It was a real challenge to get the sense of weight but also majesty into the music”, he explains. And Ilan also really enjoyed writing the Predator X score as the underwater sound world is very distinct from the rest of the series: “And I got to play and record lots of unusual instruments like giant thumb pianos, a Hang drum and a Stroviol!” -
Dinosaur Season on the BBC
Learn more about dinosaurs, watch related clips from BBC programmes and read more in-depth articles about these prehistoric creatures.
Find out more about Dinosaurs on the BBC -
Meet the monsters
A decade of discovery has unearthed a new world of dinosaurs. Find out about a few of them.
Meet monsters from the series
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