Planet Dinosaur, is a six-part documentary television series created by Nigel Paterson and Phil Dobree, produced by the BBC, and narrated by John Hurt.
There are more than 50 different prehistoric species featured, and they and their environments were created entirely as computer-generated images, for around a third of the production cost that was needed a decade earlier for Walking with Dinosaurs.
The episode cuts to a pair of young male Carcharodontosaurus, which are fighting to gain rights to hunt a herd of Ouranosaurus.
Spinosaurus competes for the remaining water and fish with a Sarcosuchus, which unlike dinosaurs can hibernate during droughts.
The episode then cuts to a desert in late Cretaceous Mongolia, where a Saurornithoides is shown brooding a nest of eggs.
The episode finally cuts to an early Cretaceous forest in China, where a Xianglong is being hunted by a Microraptor, which uses its feathers to pursue the gliding lizard in the air.
The group brings down the parent, the narrator explaining that their possibly venomous bite allowed them to tackle animals much larger than themselves.
In late Cretaceous Canada, in what will be known as Dinosaur Provincial Park, a Daspletosaurus stalks a Chasmosaurus in a forest but loses the element of surprise and is forced to retreat.
The episode then cuts to Madagascar, where a mother Majungasaurus -an abelisaurid- and her two offspring chase a group of Rahonavis off a Rapetosaurus carcass.
The episode ends with the narrator stating that in the battle for survival, the odds are always stacked in favour of the predators and that creatures like Pliosaurus "ruled the oceans for more than 100 million years".
However, the Skorpiovenator flees when a herd of adult Argentinosaurus arrive, although they offer no protection for the hatchlings, which begin to feed on the surrounding vegetation.
The episode then cuts to late Cretaceous North Africa, where a herd of Paralititan take a drink from a river to cool down.
The episode returns to South America, where the herd of Argentinosaurus move across a volcanic ash field to find food.
Because of their sheer size, they churn up the ground with each step, creating quicksand that becomes a death trap for the small Gasparinisaura, travelling with them.
Back in North Africa, the Sarcosuchus gets a hold of one of the Paralititans' legs, but a Carcharodontosaurus grips its neck and eventually wrestles it from the giant crocodilian's jaws.
The episode finally cuts back to South America, where an injured Argentinosaurus lies dying from a Mapusaurus attack.
The episode concludes with the Argentinosaurus body being shown decaying until only its bones are left to be fossilised, as the narrator explains that "when the sauropods died out, their predators lost their main food supply, and they too were doomed."
Towards the end of the Cretaceous period, on Hațeg Island, a herd of Magyarosaurus feed on vegetation, while a Bradycneme hunts lizards amongst them.
An Oviraptor raids the nest, but the Gigantoraptor manages to drive off the tyrannosaurs and chases away its smaller relative without losing any eggs.
The episode then cuts to 65 million years ago, when an enormous asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, causing devastation upon impact and filling the atmosphere with debris.
[11] A companion book "Planet Dinosaur: The Next Generation of Killer Giants" was written by Cavan Scott and published sometime in 2012.
[12] Tom Sutcliffe of The Independent found Planet Dinosaur to be visually "very polished and jazzed up" but that the "knowledge and science generally take second place to B-movie spectacle".
[13] Riley Black, in a post on the Smithsonian Magazine website, commented, "What sets Planet Dinosaur apart, and what I enjoyed most, is the fact that a modicum of science is woven into each episode to back up the different vignettes being presented."