Series synopsis
Prehistoric Planet is a British documentary television series that premiered on Apple TV on May 23, 2022. It was created by Mike Gunton. It stars David Attenborough, Tom Hiddleston, Mark P. Witton and Paul M. Barrett.
Prehistoric Planet is a re-version of the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts series, done by Discovery Channel and NBC for the Discovery Kids network. Though the producers kept nearly all of the original animation, David Bock and Peter Sherman wrote new text for a younger target audience, narrated by Ben Stiller and Christian Slater, and interspersed the scenes with occasional quizzes to act as bumpers around the commercial breaks. New music was incorporated as well. Most marke ...
Premise
Prehistoric Planet is a re-version of the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts series, done by Discovery Channel and NBC for the Discovery Kids network. Though the producers kept nearly all of the original animation, David Bock and Peter Sherman wrote new text for a younger target audience, narrated by Ben Stiller and Christian Slater, and interspersed the scenes with occasional quizzes to act as bumpers around the commercial breaks. New music was incorporated as well. Most marketing and advertising for the series focused on the dinosaur episodes. In addition, the final episode, the Prehistoric Planet Top 10 focused solely on the creatures from Walking With Dinosaurs. Some small content edits were done to allow original programs to fit in the 23 minutes of non-commercial time that a normal half-hour program has on network TV. At present, only Season 1 has been released on home video and DVD.
Premise: The epic series returns with a new era.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- David Attenborough as Self - Presenter
- Tom Hiddleston as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Mark P. Witton as Self - Palaeoartist & Palaeontologist
- Paul M. Barrett as Self - National History Museum
- Susannah Maidment as Self - Natural History Museum
- Michael Habib as Self - University of California
- Darren Naish as Self - Palaeontologist
- Kiersten Formoso as Self - University of Southern California
Supporting cast
- Natalie Kehrwald as Self - Geologist
- Heïdi Sevestre as Self - Glaciologist
- Victoria Herridge as Self - Evolutionary Biologist
- Ella Gilbert as Self - Climate Scientist
- Christopher Jackson as Self - Geoscientist
- Aaron Camens as Self - Palaeontologist
- Emily L. Lindsey as Self - Associate Curator, La Brea Tar Pits
Guest cast
- Mark P. Witton as Self - Palaeoartist & Palaeontologist
- Paul M. Barrett as Self - National History Museum
- Susannah Maidment as Self - Natural History Museum
- Michael Habib as Self - University of California
- Darren Naish as Self - Palaeontologist
- Kiersten Formoso as Self - University of Southern California
- Natalie Kehrwald as Self - Geologist
- Heïdi Sevestre as Self - Glaciologist
- Victoria Herridge as Self - Evolutionary Biologist
- Ella Gilbert as Self - Climate Scientist
- Christopher Jackson as Self - Geoscientist
- Aaron Camens as Self - Palaeontologist
Episodes
This series spans 4 seasons with 36 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 21 | May 23, 2022 | June 3, 2023 |
| Season 1 | 5 | May 23, 2022 | May 27, 2022 |
| Season 2 | 5 | May 22, 2023 | May 26, 2023 |
| Season 3 | 5 | November 26, 2025 | November 26, 2025 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Uncovered: Could T. Rex Really Swim? They're huge, powerful...and full of surprises. |
May 23, 2022 |
| 2 |
Uncovered: Flamboyant Flyers Why would a flying reptile have a large and cumbersome, yet remarkable, head crest? Learn this and more about Pterosaurs in Prehistoric Planet. |
May 24, 2022 |
| 3 |
Uncovered: Did Velociraptor Have Feathers? “It would've looked a lot more like a really terrifying turkey.” Millions of years later, dinosaurs are still full of surprises. |
May 25, 2022 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Coasts A pregnant Tuarangisaurus is in distress—and her young calf can sense it—as she travels waters that are home to the ocean's deadliest predators. |
May 23, 2022 |
| 2 |
Deserts Above the deserts of North Africa, aerial combat ensues as male Barbaridactylus pterosaurs fight for the attention of females below. |
May 24, 2022 |
| 3 |
Freshwater With its feathered body and duck bill, the eight-ton Deinocheirus wades through an Asian wetland in search of relief from pesky biting flies. |
May 25, 2022 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Islands On a small island, a monumental display takes place as the giant Hatzegopteryx reveals his gentler side to woo a mate. |
May 22, 2023 |
| 2 |
Badlands Trudging through a scorching desert, two young Tarchia find relief at an oasis and encounter an adult twice their size, ready to lay claim. |
May 23, 2023 |
| 3 |
Swamps In a drought-stricken basin where much has perished, an old Pachycephalosaurus bull defends his leadership against a young challenger. |
May 24, 2023 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Big Freeze In a world covered in ice, woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats fight to survive the coldest temperatures in millions of years. |
November 26, 2025 |
| 2 |
New Lands As sea levels drop and continents shift, animals begin migrating to unknown territories full of new possibilities—and new threats. |
November 26, 2025 |
| 3 |
Desert Lands With much of the planet's water supply frozen, rock-climbing sloths and marsupial lions must find a way to withstand barren landscapes. |
November 26, 2025 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | Apple TV |
|---|---|
| First aired | May 23, 2022 |
| Last aired | November 26, 2025 |
| Runtime | 132 minutes |
| Status | continue |