It’s the must-see series that’s set to turn back time and take us up close and personal with the ferocious beasts who used to rule the earth.

Stephen gets up close and personal with terrifying dinosaurs

Channel 5’s Dinosaur with Stephen Fry is a jaw-dropping new show that’s far more than just another documentary about the gigantic creatures who came (long) before us.

So sit back and enjoy watching how the very latest science and cutting-edge technology can take us on a journey into an incredible prehistoric virtual world more realistic than anything ever seen before.

With four hour-long episodes starting tonight, this truly is event television you won’t want to miss.

Still not convinced? Here are five great reasons why you need to tune in:

1. STEPHEN FRY’S IN IT!

‘Dinosaurs have always been a passion of mine, so I jumped at the opportunity to lend my excitement and curiosity to immerse audiences back in time 250 million years,’ says Stephen.

Our favourite national treasure doesn’t appear in just anything. With the pick of all the best programmes to choose from, something has to be really special for Stephen Fry to be involved.

And once he’d heard what was in store for viewers of this new show, this self-confessed dinosaur fan couldn’t wait to be involved.

‘Dinosaurs have always been a passion of mine, so I jumped at the opportunity to lend my excitement and curiosity to immerse audiences back in time 250 million years,’ he says.

Stephen says: ‘I always felt that dinosaurs are like a window into life on this planet, perhaps the most amazing of all the ones we have.’

‘The attention to detail and technology in this series allows us to really delve deep in to some exciting new scientific discoveries about these majestic creatures.’

Stephen doesn’t just bring warmth and wit to the programme but real gravitas too, helping viewers understand the prehistoric world like never before.

‘I always felt that dinosaurs are like a window into life on this planet, perhaps the most amazing of all the ones we have,’ he says. ‘There is the awesome spectacle idea of pterosaurs, stegosaurs and Tyrannosaurus Rex inhabiting this earth, fighting, and living and the scale of that.’

2. IT’S DINOSAURS 360: TURBO CHARGED

Ground-breaking technology has allowed a whole dinosaur universe to be created, one in which we can truly immerse ourselves

If you’re expecting to watch a massive CGI Brontosaurus chomping on trees as a presenter’s voiceover drones on about their vital statistics, forget it.

Because new, ground-breaking technology has allowed a whole dinosaur universe to be created, one in which we can truly immerse ourselves.

It’s a 360-degree world where cameras can follow Stephen Fry as he wanders through their world, moving through trees, scaling hills and walking alongside these big beasts.

‘I think it’s a wonderful new way of bringing this kind of science to life,’ says Stephen. ‘We’ve tried to be as absolutely truthful to the science as we can be. It’s not cutesy. What I hope is fun about it is that it tells the story of the different species and how they lived.’

The dinosaurs themselves can magically roam around their prehistoric land, hunting and roaring as they would have done over 65 million years ago

In turn, the dinosaurs themselves can magically roam around their prehistoric land, hunting and roaring as they would have done over 65 million years ago.

‘The amazing thing is that it is all in real time,’ says Stephen. ‘You are there and as far as anybody is concerned they see me next to the creature. Whether it’s flying through the air or on the ground with me.’

It allows us to go on a turbo-charged dinosaur safari where we get to meet a different creature in each episode and uncover their secrets.

Along the way, we’ll come face-to-face with some of the most famous dinosaurs in the world including their king, the terrifying T-rex.

3. TV FOR ALL THE FAMILY

Every hair, every scale and every feather of every dinosaur is in dazzling detail

We’re all obsessed with these incredible creatures who came before us – even though they’re now extinct, they still live on in our imaginations.

Popular culture really shows how much we love them – stores are currently full of dino gifts while many of the best movies ever made feature these gigantic creatures.

And it’s a fascination that, like Stephen’s, we’ve had since childhood when we played with dinosaur toys.

So what could be better than uniting the whole family to sit down and watch the most realistic depiction of dinosaurs yet – it’s sure to get the whole gang together no matter their age?

Grab the kids and watch their faces as we go on a journey through time, meeting the gentle diplodocus, ferocious raptors and mighty T-rex that all move, walk, hunt and roar just like their real-life counterparts.

You’ll all be amazed to see every hair, every scale and every feather of every dinosaur in dazzling detail.

4. DINOS FROM DAWN TILL DUSK

Dinosaur with Stephen Fry will tell their incredible story from beginning to end, starting with their birth in the jungles of the Jurassic period, all the way to their extinction in the plains of the Cretaceous

It’s hard to believe but dinosaurs roamed the earth for an incredible 165 million years before dying out when a massive meteor struck the planet around 65 million years ago.

Dinosaur with Stephen Fry will tell their incredible story from beginning to end, starting with their birth in the jungles of the Jurassic period, all the way to their extinction in the plains of the Cretaceous.

He’ll look closely at the creatures associated with each era and we’ll get to meet grazing herds of beautiful diplodocus, rampaging packs of ravenous raptors and the most famous of them all, the T-rex.

And he’ll reveal the very latest scientific discoveries about what they looked like and how they lived.

‘There is the relatively new discovery they were actually feathered,’ says Stephen. ‘Dinosaurs are more ancestors of birds than of lizards. What we have found is a way of telling the dinosaur story, which is such a great story, and like all great stories is ultimately about us. 

‘Even though we weren’t anywhere near there at the time it’s a way of looking at what evolution really means and how nature can push size and variation into the most fantastic kaleidoscope of colours and shapes.’

5. ALL YOUR DINO QUESTIONS FINALLY ANSWERED…

An assorted cast of experts will be on hand to introduce Stephen Fry to his new friends and give us previously unknown insights into these extraordinary creatures’ lives

Producers have worked with scientists and dinosaur experts to ensure all the information in the series is accurate.

And an assorted cast of experts will be on hand to introduce Stephen Fry to his new friends and give us previously unknown insights into these extraordinary creatures’ lives.

They’ll also try to answer the burning questions we all have about these big beasts.

To do this, every episode will feature a specially created DinoLab where engineers will carry out experiments to work out the truth behind the myths.

‘There are scenes where I am with the animals but also just as exciting are some of our experts recreating jaws of animals to see if this stegosaurus could bite into this triceratops,’ says Stephen.

So if you’ve ever want to know how powerfully a T-rex could bite or if raptors really did have claws so sharp they could disembowel prey, you’d better tune in…

Watch Dinosaur with Stephen Fry TONIGHT at 7pm on Channel 5

5 reasons why you won’t want to miss Stephen Fry’s new show Dinosaur!