Prehistoric Park

Prehistoric Park
Genre	Science fiction / Docu-fiction
Starring	Nigel Marven
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Running time	60 minutes (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV (2006) Animal Planet (2006-present)
Original run	22 July 2006 – 26 August 2006
Chronology
Related shows	Chased by Dinosaurs Sea Monsters Walking with Dinosaurs Walking With Beasts Walking With Monsters Primeval

Prehistoric Park is a six-episode mockumentary television mini-series that premiered on ITV on 22 July 2006 and on Animal Planet on 29 October 2006. The program was produced by Impossible Pictures, who also created Walking with Dinosaurs. In 2007, ITV had announced that Prehistoric Park would not return for a second series, because a new show called Primeval was to be introduced. Each episode is an hour long including commercial breaks.

The program is narrated by David Jason and presented by Nigel Marven. The fictional component is the theme that Nigel goes back to various geological time periods through a time portal, and brings back live specimens of extinct animals back to the present day, where they are exhibited in a wildlife park named Prehistoric Park, which is a big area between high steep mountains and ocean (which serve to help confine any escapes) with varied environments.

On the DVD of the series, the introduction says that "the events in these 6 episodes are largely to find the possibility of keeping animals from old geological periods alive in the modern world and later they may get breeding populations of more species".

The soundtrack to the series, composed by Daniel Pemberton, was released on iTunes in August 2007 by 1812 Recordings.

Characters

• Nigel Marven (as himself) - responsible for travelling back in time to collect the animals. Played usually by himself, sometimes by Physical Effects Supervisor Jamie Campbell: see [1]
• Bob (Rod Arthur) - the long-suffering head keeper at the park. In charge of feeding, cleaning and controlling the animals in the park.
• Suzanne (Suzanne McNabb) - the head veterinarian. Responsible for treating animals when they're sick or injured.
• Saba Douglas-Hamilton (as herself) - a big cat specialist, whom Nigel invites back to catch Smilodon in episode 4.
• Bill - a crew member who travels back with Nigel. Introduced in episode 5.
• Jim - an associate of Nigel who travels with him through time. Also introduced in episode 5.
• Ben - One of Nigel's crew. Four Mei long attacked him for meat in his backpack. Introduced in episode 3.

There are various other staff members, but none of their names have been given. One of the more prominent is Suzanne's blonde assistant, who appears in episode 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

Episodes

Main article: List of Prehistoric Park episodes

Locations within the park

Main article: List of locations in Prehistoric Park

Animals

• Triceratops (one male, named Theo)
• Ornithomimus (at least 13, males and females, later one pair had 12 chicks)
• Tyrannosaurus (a male and female, named Terence and Matilda)
• Woolly Mammoth (one female, named Martha)
• Elasmotherium (one male)
• Microraptor (three males, one female)
• Titanosaurs (nine, males and females)
• Phorusrhacos (one male)
• Smilodon (one male and one female, who later had two cubs, the female may be named Sabrina)
• Meganeura (one male)
• Pulmonoscorpius (one female)
• Arthropleura (one male)
• Deinosuchus (one female)
• Troodon (one male, named Rascal)

There are also several non-extinct animals in the park. These are:

• African Elephants (a herd of ten adults and one calf who live in the mammoth complex)
• Cheetah (one, male) (Nigel's Pet)
• Nile Crocodiles (seven, males and females, one named Henry)
• Sacred Ibis (free roaming)
• Egrets (free roaming)
• Blue and Gold Macaw (one male) (Nigel's Pet)

Nigel also has several pets at his base, including Blue-and-yellow Macaws, a Western hog-nosed snake, a Hermann's Tortoise and two Jackson's Chameleons.

There are also several animals that appear in the opening but are not in the park. These are:

• Two Nyctosaurus
• Two Parasaurolophus
• Five Triceratops, though one is probably Theo.

There are several animals which Nigel encounters but doesn't bring back to the park. These are:

• Three Incisivosaurus.
• A pack of four and another pack of five Mei long.
• A pack of two and another pack of three Albertosaurus.
• About six unidentified Pterosaurs in episode three.
• A pair and a herd of about forty Parasaurolophus.
• A flock of five Nyctosaurus from the first episode and a flock of about ten from the last episode.
• One Crassigyrinus
• Herd of Toxodon.
• Pack of Cave Hyena
• One Cave Bear

Devices/vehicles used

The time portal is generated by two metal poles about 3 feet tall. The tops of the poles need to be turned to switch the gate on. When activated, a blue light near the tops of the poles flashes, and the gate field develops between them. The park end of the Time Portal is always at the same place, and leads into a long strong high-walled stockade passage. In close-ups, a faint image of either the park or the time period can be seen. The Time Portal is similar to the anomalies in Primeval.

A list of the (non-vehicular) technology seen in the series:

• Gas mask
• Watercannon
• Pistol

A list of all vehicles seen in the series:

• Snowmobile (used in Mammoth Undertaking)
• Covered truck/Land Rover (used in The Bug House)
• RIB with an A-frame and a steering wheel (used in The Bug House)
• Inflatable raft (used in Supercroc)
• Tractor/mock Triceratops (used in T-Rex Returns)
• Special containment vehicles for transporting the creatures that are fitted to the back of a jeep.

These items were taken through the time portal:

• Portable air-cylinder-powered bicycle horn. In episode 6, Nigel uses it to scare away some Troodon. (He uses it when he is being threatened by Velociraptor in The Giant Claw.)
• Carbon dioxide detector. (Carbon dioxide is lethal at high levels.)
• A light strapped to the head without a helmet.
• Microlight
• Netgun
• Tranquilliser gun
• Videocamera, fitted with movement detector and night vision device.
• Walkietalkie

Filming locations

Note: The first location mentioned in each episode is where it was set, while the second location refers to where the episode was filmed.

• Episode 1: Montana, U.S.: the Andean national parks of Chile where there are plenty of Araucaria and Nothofagus trees.
• Episode 2: Siberia: the Yukon in Canada.
• Episode 3: China: Rotorua, New Zealand, in the Redwood, Ohakuri, and Tikitere forests.
• Episode 4: South America: dry grassland near Brasilia in Brazil.
• Episode 5: coal forest in Scotland: swamp forest in southern Florida, but some of the vegetation was CGI.
• Episode 6: Texas, U.S.: the freshwater lakes of Fraser Island, Australia.

DVD

• The Region 1 DVD was released on 5 June 2007 by BCI Eclipse, under license from Fremantle Media.
• The Region 2 DVD was released in Britain on 28 August 2006 by Fremantle Media. [2]
• The Region 4 DVD was released in Australia and surrounding islands on 6 October 2006. Charles Wooley narrated the series when broadcast on Australia's Nine Network, and the Region 4 DVD has the original narration by David Jason.

See also

• Paleoworld
• Dinosaur Planet (TV series)
• When Dinosaurs Roamed America

Prehistoric Park is part of a series of BBC documentaries that also include:

• Walking with Dinosaurs (1999)
• Walking with Beasts (2001), depicting life after the dinosaurs
• Walking with Cavemen (2003)
• Walking with Monsters (2005), depicting life before the dinosaurs

The following are Walking With... series specials:

• The Ballad of Big Al (2000)
• Chased By Dinosaurs (2002)
• Sea Monsters (2003)

The following are similar programs, produced by the BBC:

• "Prehistoric America (film)" (2003)
• "Monsters We Met" (2004)

External links

• Prehistoric Park at itv.com/citv (including episode guide and images)
• Animal Planet - Prehistoric Park
• Impossible Pictures minisite
• A Prehistoric Park RPG at Jurassic Park Legacy
• Nigel Marven's production photos
• Prehistoric Park at the Internet Movie Database
• Prehistoric Park at TV.com