A significant technical accomplishment, Prehistoric Planet is a vivid reimagination and recreation of the world that existed 66 million years ago. Presented in a manner similar to other nature documentaries like Planet Earth, dinosaurs and their contemporaries are realistically brought to life. With story snippets across habitats and seasons, the perennial struggle for survival is ever the focus, be that in the quest for food, the search for a mate, the rearing of one's young, or the threat posed by predators. Apart from the mesmerizing nature of the content, praise is also due to the phenomenal camerawork, captivating visual effects, immersive sound creation and mixing, and erudite narration. All of these aspects combine together seamlessly to provide a unique audiovisual feast through its depiction of a popular bygone era.
While the show made for an absorbing watch, I would have wished for a lot more emphasis to be given to the scientific evidence and theories that supported and gave credence to the presented material. The 5-minute videos were far too short to provide adequate reasoning and justification, especially as they also attempted to relate prehistoric observations to modern-day animal behaviours of which there was a notable lack within the episodes. The series' organization on the basis of habitats also felt suboptimal since the same lifeforms were often revisited; it might have been more beneficial to either focus episodes on important genera/classes (like Tyrannosaurus and Pterosaurs) or use seasonal/behavioural/temporal classifications. Lastly, very little clarity was given to the geographical and environmental differences between the modern and prehistoric worlds and there wasn't even a passing reference to the event that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs and the consequent far-reaching impacts on Earth's ecology.
While I personally view Prehistoric Planet more critically, it is still an astounding achievement that also has significant educational value. Lovers of natural history as well as dinosaur aficionados are certain to be fascinated and entranced by this show.
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