Land of Giants / The Giant Claw

Land of Giants and The Giant Claw sees time-travelling zoologist Nigel Marven travel back in time to encounter and interact with prehistoric life. Marven seeks to solve palaeontological mysteries through direct observation. In The Giant Claw he searches for the obscure dinosaur Therizinosaurus. Because of its giant claws, Marven mistakenly initially believes it to have been an enormous carnivore. In the Land of Giants, Marven seeks to track down Argentinosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs to ever live, and observe how they were hunted by the giant predatory dinosaur Giganotosaurus.

Land of Giants and The Giant Claw were created by Impossible Pictures,[3][4] creators of the original 1999 series of Walking with Dinosaurs. The same technologies used to restore the animals in the previous series were used to reconstruct the prehistoric creatures and environments showcased in the specials, with computer-generated animals and animatronics being used for the animals and background footage being shot in real natural environments.[4][5] The visual effects were created by visual effects company Framestore, which had also worked on previous installments in the Walking with... franchise, including the original Walking with Dinosaurs.[6]

Because grass had not yet evolved in the Cretaceous, the location team had to look for filming sites where there was no grass. Filming locations included Fraser Island in Australia and Tenerife (including the lava-covered slopes of Mount Teide, prominently figuring in Land of Giants)[7] in the Canary Islands.[4]

The decision to include a wildlife presenter, The Giant Claw being the first time a wildlife presenter had ever been depicted interacting with computer-generated dinosaurs, was made to more easily allow the audience to see the true scale of the creatures shown in the programme.[3] Tim Haines, the creator of Walking with Dinosaurs, had seen Nigel Marven's work with modern-day reptiles and approached him about the possibility of producing a programme in which Marven travelled back in time to meet dinosaurs, a prospect which Marven was enthusiastic about.[7] Haines and Marven first discussed the prospect of producing the specials on 11 September 2001, the meeting being held at the exact same time as the September 11 attacks in New York.[8]

In one segment of The Giant Claw, Marven is chased by velociraptors and has to climb up a tree to escape. While climbing, Marven accidentally put his finger under a vine before stepping on it, which led to one of his fingernails being pulled off. In order to protect himself from infection, Marven then had to wear a bandage on his finger. The bandage and injury was incorporated into the story of the episode, with a Mononykus being depicted as biting Marven's finger.[7]

Following Marven's work on The Giant Claw and Land of Giants,[12] he was approached by Jasper James, producer of both episodes and director of Land of Giants, about the prospect of producing a standalone series where Marven travelled to different prehistoric seas and swam with ancient sea creatures. Marven was enthusiastic and agreed to partake in the project.[13] The series, titled Sea Monsters, was announced by the BBC on 29 July 2003[14] and first aired in November the same year.[9]

In addition to Sea Monsters, both Marven and James returned to prehistory with the series Prehistoric Park, also created by Impossible Pictures.[15][16][17] Prehistoric Park is unconnected to the Walking with... series and was produced by ITV, ProSieben, Animal Planet and M6.[17] Marven starred in the series[16] and James served as executive producer.[15] Prehistoric Park took a year to film and first aired in July–August 2006.[16] It is today considered a cult classic.[18]

• Chased by Dinosaurs at IMDb