Walking with Beasts

Considering how many dinosaur documentaries have been made it is good to see the BBC filling the 65 Million year gap since the end of those big lizards.

Each episode is made in the form of a story as we follow a particular animal or group in its fight for survival. The science and behaviour of the animals is introduced as it intersects with the story.

I don't agree with one poster who commented that too much of the documentary is speculation. In fact if you check the BBC website, you can see that all claims are based on some evidence. Clearly it cannot claim to be completely accurate, and some compromises must be made. Many things, such as the colours and markings of the animals have to be guessed. However even then there are plenty of cases where there is good evidence such as cave paintings and fossilised skin. This includes Megaloceros and the Mammoth. We know so much more about mammals than dinosaurs that educated guesses about can be made using our knowledge of the appearance and behaviour of modern animals.

In most case the computer based rendering of the animals is utterly convincing. The filmmakers went to considerable trouble to integrate real locations with computer rendered animals. Real scenes with leaves rustling, splashes in the water and footprints in the snow were filmed leaving a space for the computer generated beasts afterwards. There are some less convincing ones such as the Australopithecines, which is a pity because the origin of mankind is one of the most important points on the timeline. One minor criticism is that occasionally the animals' movements look repetitive and unnatural. This is a small flaw and doesn't get in the way of the story.

Overall this is a highly enjoyable and well put together series.