Global Navigation

Prehistoric Park [TV Series] (2006)

Member Rating:

First seen over Britain's ITV on July 22, 2006, the six-part educational miniseries Prehistoric Park was something of a "Jurrasic Park lite." The series, a heady combination of live action and CGI, starred archaeologist/naturalist Nigel Marvin, who'd achieved worldwide popularity on such previous "re-creation" efforts as Walking With Dinosaurs. In each hour-long episode, Marvin ostensibly stepped through a time portal and emerged somewhere in the distant past, for the purpose of rounding up prehistoric beasts in their natural habitats and relocating them to a modern-day nature park, fully staffed with keepers and vets (one of whom, Suzanne McNab, was as much a "star" of the show as Marvin). CGI-animated by the artisans at Framestore CFC, the various giant lizards, insects and mammals were depicted not in as evil predators or helpless victims in standard monster-movie fashion, but as normal, everyday beings who happened to hail from the distant past. Indeed, the show frequently "humanized" the beast by giving them cute pet names, such as "Martha the Mammoth." Narrated by David Jason and cunningly geared for children and adults alike, Prehistoric Planet made its first American appearance courtesy of cable's Animal Planet network on October 29, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi