The Guardian: urassic Park was released 30 years ago, but in those three decades our perception of dinosaurs has largely remained static. In the public consciousness, they were giant, scaly beasts with huge claws and teeth who spent their days chasing down victims and ripping them apart in brutal fashion. Think dinosaur and you will probably picture a primal, primitive force of unbelievable fury. And then along comes the new series of Prehistoric Planet (Apple TV+), which, in a single instant, undoes almost everything we thought we knew. The instant in question concerns the Hatzegopteryx: a vast, vicious-looking, giraffe-sized pterosaur.
Had the Hatzegopteryx been depicted on screen at any point until now, it would undoubtedly have been to swoop down like a monster and gobble up its prey. But Prehistoric Planet shows us something different. It shows us Hatzegopteryx’s mating ritual, which may qualify as one of the most beautiful things you will ever see. A male carefully arranges various naturally occurring trinkets around himself on the spit of an island and gently starts dancing, eyes never leaving the sky, in the vain hope that a female might pass overhead and take interest. It’s heartbreaking, lovelorn and gorgeous to watch. Hatzegopteryx – who knew?“Nothing is primitive about dinosaurs,” says Tim Walker, Prehistoric Planet’s series producer, over a video call. “They weren’t lone hunters or killers. They were really social and they would have been really flamboyant because of the social mindset. Our mission, if you like, was to show the audience that these are not mindless monsters.”
The second series marries two irresistibly compelling forces: MPC, the visual effects house that helped Jon Favreau create his photorealistic remakes of The Lion King and The Jungle Book; and BBC Studios Natural History Unit.