One of the few shortcomings of the acclaimed "Walking with Dinosaurs" series was that the viewer could not have a sense of scale. This is to be expected of course, since there was virtually nothing familiar in the Jurassic period to compare the Dinosaurs to. The same critisism had been expressed for another excellent BBC series, "The Blue Planet". It was indeed difficult to imagine exactly how big or small a fish or a whale were.

Well, in the 5 episodes we have here, BBC seem to have taken care of this problem. There is virtually no sea monster or land dinosaur that you will not see right next to Nigel Marven (or his boat, his jeep or biplane). In order to give some credibility to Nigel's close encounters, these episodes have been produced like Cousteau documentaries, where the expedition crew is being filmed during the preparations and some scientifically explained precautions are being taken to ensure Nigel's safety and make his unbelievable feats of courage somewhat more credible. But even for Nigel's extreme standards of courage, most encounters seem too far-fatched and the production seems to try to offset this by adding a generous dose of subtle humour. This lighthearted mood certainly removes the strict documentary feel of the "Walking with..." series, but it ultimately works pretty well.

The graphics are of the usual BBC high standars, although the land creatures seem slightly more natural than the sea monsters. The interaction between Nigel and the various creatures is very good and the integration is seamless. If you loved the "Walking with..." series you will probably buy this one too anyway, but I think that the sense of scale provided here makes this more valuable than other follow-ups (eg the "Allosaurus" episode).

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