The BBC & PBS Release First Look at 'Walking With Dinosaurs'

Those old enough to remember the last century may recall 1999's Walking with Dinosaurs and the controversy surrounding its release. An early instance of using what was at the time state-of-the-art computerized graphic images (CGI) to illustrate scientific discoveries, Walking with Dinosaurs was derided as trash and the first step by the BBC and U.S. broadcaster/co-producer Discovery away from their missions as factually based networks. (Though the network changed its name from The Discovery Channel to Discovery in 1995, it was still the home of science-and-nature-focused programming, having not yet gotten into red-state-coded reality fare.) Despite massive ratings, three Emmys, two BAFTAs, and a Peabody, critics viewed the series as somehow unwholesome; the BBC and Discovery betraying science and real-world-based archeology for sensational CGI dinosaurs like this were Jurassic Park, precisely the sort of programming PBS would never stoop to broadcast. 

It's a quaint reminder of how much our TV landscape has changed in the last quarter century; nowadays, Discovery has no interest in co-producing something with actual science behind it. (Considering the company handed the entire DIY Network to the fundamentalist Christian couple, Chip and Joanna Gains, to remake in their own image, one assumes there are concerns in declaring dinosaurs "real.") Meanwhile, PBS is all over being part of the show's revival, with both Germany and France's public broadcasters boarding it as well.

The first images from the series are now out, and CGI has come a long way since the 1990s. So has dinosaur research, with the first images including a family of Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai, one of three known species of Pachyrhinosaurus. They kinda look like Triceratops and are plant-eaters with a thick slab of keratin-covered bone over their nose, known as a boss. The other is the Albertosaurus, a small but deadly feathered relative of T. Rex; feathered dinosaurs have only been confirmed since 2000, as science found preserved fossil evidence of feathers gracing related species.

Here's the series synopsis:

More than 25 years after it first stomped across our TV screens, the iconic Walking With Dinosaurs returns. This new six-part series will take viewers on a unique journey back through time, revealing the incredible life stories of these long-lost giants.

In an exciting reimagining of one of the BBC’s best-loved factual shows, each episode of Walking With Dinosaurs tells the dramatic story of an individual dinosaur whose remains are currently being unearthed by world-leading dinosaur hunters. Thanks to cutting-edge science, experts can determine how these prehistoric creatures lived, hunted, fought, and died more accurately than ever before. As the dinosaurs’ bones emerge from the ground, the series brings these prehistoric stories to life with state-of-the-art visual effects - making each episode a gripping dinosaur drama based on the very latest evidence.

Kirsty Wilson is the series showrunner for Walking with Dinosaurs. Directors Stephen Cooter, Tom Hewitson, and Owen Gower split helming and producing duties, with Max Brunold and Libby Hand also producing. Although Walking With Dinosaurs may be CGI-laden, BBC Factual commissioned the series, created by the international team of BBC's Science Unit Production, PBS, Germany's ZDF, and France Télévisions. Bill Gardner is the Editorial Consultant, and Diana El-Osta is the Executive in Charge for PBS. Andrew Cohen and Helen Thomas executive produce.

Walking with Dinosaurs is expected to air and stream on the BBC and PBS by mid-2025.