View source for Walking with Monsters

{{short description|2005 British television documentary series}}
{{redirect|Before the Dinosaurs|the album by Aura Dione|Before the Dinosaurs (album)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = Walking with Monsters DVD.png
| caption              = Cover of the original UK DVD release
| first_aired          = {{start date|2005|11|05|df=yes}}
| num_episodes         = 3
| channel              = [[BBC]], [[Discovery Channel]], [[ProSieben]], [[France 3]]
| company              = [[BBC Studios Science Unit]]<br/>[[Impossible Pictures]]
| runtime              = 30 minutes
| language             = English
| country              = United Kingdom
| alt_name             = ''Before the Dinosaurs''
| genre                = [[Nature documentary]]
| composer             = [[Ben Bartlett]]
| narrated             = [[Kenneth Branagh]]<br />[[Edward Gero]] (US)
| director             = Chloe Leland
| producer             = Chloe Leland
| creator              = Andrew Wilks<br />[[Chloe Leland]]<br />[[Tim Haines]]
| executive_producer   = Tim Haines
| budget               = £3{{nbsp}}million<ref name=":5"/>
}}

'''''Walking with Monsters – Life Before Dinosaurs''''', marketed as '''''Before the Dinosaurs – Walking with Monsters''''' in North America, is a 2005 three-part [[nature documentary]] television [[miniseries]] created by [[Impossible Pictures]] and produced by the [[BBC Studios Science Unit]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Støen |first=Michael |date=2022 |title=1999: The BBC simulates prehistoric wildlife |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09636625211068944 |journal=Public Understanding of Science |volume=31 |issue=4 |language=en |pages=524–529 |doi=10.1177/09636625211068944 |pmid=35062833 |s2cid=246165620 |issn=0963-6625|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the [[Discovery Channel]], [[ProSieben]] and [[France 3]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Walking with Monsters – Life Before Dinosaurs - Bibliotheca Alexandrina |url=http://www.bibalex.org/en/events/eventdetails?id=48545 |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=www.bibalex.org |language=en}}</ref> ''Walking with Monsters'' explores life in the [[Paleozoic]] era, showcasing the early development of groups such as arthropods, fish, amphibians, reptiles and synapsids. Like its predecessors ''[[Walking with Dinosaurs]]'' (1999) and ''[[Walking with Beasts]]'' (2001), ''Walking with Monsters'' is narrated by [[Kenneth Branagh]].

''Walking with Monsters'' is the final installment in the ''[[Walking with...]]'' series of documentaries and was envisioned as completing the series' so-called "''Trilogy of Life''", the previous ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' and ''Walking with Beasts'' having explored the [[Mesozoic]] and [[Cenozoic]], respectively. Like its predecessors, ''Walking with Monsters'' employs computer-generated imagery and [[animatronics]], as well as [[live action]] footage shot at various locations, to reconstruct prehistoric life and environments. Owing to being the latest installment, the CGI in ''Walking with Monsters'' is more sophisticated, which also contributed to a heavier reliance on CGI than animatronics than in previous series. In total, over 600 scientists were consulted for advice during the production of ''Walking with Monsters''.

Although ''Walking with Monsters'' attracted the least viewers out of any ''Walking with...'' series during its original airing<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2006-05-10 |title=Planet Earth sees off CGI |url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/may/10/broadcasting.bbc1 |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> and received more mixed reviews, the series won an [[Emmy Awards|Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or More)|Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More)]]. It was also nominated for a [[BAFTA TV Award]] for Best Visual Effects. ''Walking with Monsters'' was for some broadcasts (including its first) also edited together as a single 90-minute [[documentary film]].

== Premise ==
Set from the [[Cambrian]] (543 million years ago) to the early [[Triassic]] (248 million years ago),{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} ''Walking with Monsters'' explores the prehistoric life of the [[Paleozoic|Palaeozoic]] era. The series focuses on "the struggle for the survival of the fittest", using stories of individual animals to cast the Palaeozoic as a long "war" between various animal groups for dominance, some of which are described within the context of the series as being distantly related to humans,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Walking With Monsters {{!}} Impossible Pictures |url=http://impossiblepictures.co.uk/project/walking-with-monsters/ |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=impossiblepictures.co.uk}}</ref> to the point that some new evolutionary features are described as being inherited by humanity much later.

''Walking with Monsters'' is the final installment in the ''[[Walking with...]]'' series of nature documentaries<ref name=":3">{{cite news |author=Southern, Nathan |date=17 January 2006 |title=Walking with Monsters: Before the Dinosaurs (2005) |work=[[The New York Times]] |department=Movies & TV Dept. |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/336819/Walking-with-Monsters-Before-the-Dinosaurs/overview |url-status=dead |access-date=26 March 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715124159/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/336819/Walking-with-Monsters-Before-the-Dinosaurs/overview |archive-date=15 July 2012}}</ref> and serves as a [[prequel]] of sorts to the original series ''[[Walking with Dinosaurs]]'' (1999).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holmwood |first=Leigh |date=2006-05-10 |title=Planet Earth sees off CGI |url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/may/10/broadcasting.bbc1 |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

== Production ==
As for previous series in the ''Walking with...'' franchise, the computer graphics of ''Walking with Monsters'' were created by the visual effects company [[Framestore]]. ''Walking with Monsters'' employed the most sophisticated CGI in the entire franchise, featuring 29 different creatures (more than in previous series) in almost 600 VFX shots. Though close-up shots in previous series had often been made with animatronics, more such shots were made with CGI in ''Walking with Monsters'' owing to the extent to which computer graphics had improved by 2005.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2016-06-01 |title=Walking With... Series |url=https://www.framestore.com/work/walking-series?language=en |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=Framestore}}</ref> Models of animals were first made physically, based on fossil evidence, before being scanned and animated.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Unlike the creatures featured in previous series, the animals in ''Walking with Monsters'' were much less familiar to wider audiences and, according to producer and director [[Chloe Leland]], more "fantastical". The production team feared that this would make the creatures more difficult to believe in. To remedy this issue, the production team used various techniques, including adding numerous shots of the creatures interacting with the camera (such as a ''[[Brontoscorpio]]'' shattering a camera lens) and using night vision in certain scenes to increase the sense of realism.<ref name=":4" />

''Walking with Monsters'' took two years to make{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} and cost £3 million.<ref name=":5">''Walking with Monsters'' DVD - ''Trilogy of Life'' featurette</ref> The series was shot in [[Super 16 film|Super 16]] and filmed over a 12-month period. Filming locations included [[Arizona]], [[Florida]] and the [[Canary Islands]]. Some detail shots of elements such as burrows, eggs and dead trees were built and shot in the studio.<ref name=":4" />

The production of ''Walking with Monsters'' was envisioned as finishing the story of prehistoric life began with ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' in 1999 and continued in ''[[Walking with Beasts]]'' in 2001. ''Dinosaurs'' focused on the [[Mesozoic]] and ''Beasts'' focused on the [[Cenozoic]], which meant that ''Monsters'' completed the so-called "''Trilogy of Life''". According to behind-the-scenes material from ''Walking with Monsters'', all three series together cost a total of £15 million to make.<ref name=":5" />

== Episodes ==
{{Episode table |background=#9790BB |overall= |title= |aux1= |director= |airdate= |viewers= |country=U.K. |aux1T=Time period |episodes={{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber= –
| Title=Walking with Monsters
| Aux1= 530–248 mya
| DirectedBy= [[Chloe Leland]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|11|5|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Three: 2005: November: Sat 5 |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcthree/2005-11-05#at-20.20 |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=28 September 2018}}</ref>
| Viewers= <small>Unknown</small><ref name="barb">https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-30/ Weekly top 30 programmes ''BARB'' Web. Retrieved 2022-04-25.</ref>
| ShortSummary= [[Omnibus (broadcast)|Omnibus]] of all three episodes.
| LineColor = 9790BB
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber= 1
| Title=
| Aux1= 530/418/360 mya
| DirectedBy= Chloe Leland
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|12|8|df=y}}<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y75k5 Episode 1: Walking with Monsters] ''bbc.co.uk.'' Web. Retrieved 28 September 2018.</ref>
| Viewers= 4.57<ref name="barb"/>
| ShortSummary= The first episode deals with early life in the water; after a depiction of the [[giant impact hypothesis]] and the formation of the [[Moon]], the episode forwards to the [[Cambrian]] period. The Cambrian segment showcases strange early arthropods, such as the super-predator ''[[Anomalocaris]]'',<!--As of 2021 these fossils have been reclassified as Houcaris, but this is WP:OR--> and ''[[Haikouichthys]]'', described as the first [[vertebrate]]. In the subsequent [[Silurian]] segment, the episode follows the jawless fish ''[[Cephalaspis]]'', which is hunted by the giant marine scorpion ''[[Brontoscorpio]]'', who, in turn, falls victim to the giant [[eurypterid]], ''[[Pterygotus]]''. The final segment of the episode, set in the [[Devonian]] period, follows the [[amphibian]]-like [[tetrapod]] ''[[Hynerpeton]]''. Although arthropods have by this point shrunk in size, ''Hynerpeton'' are instead preyed upon by large predatory fish, such as the shark ''[[Stethacanthus]]'' and the two-ton giant ''[[Hyneria]]''.
| LineColor = 9790BB
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber= 2
| Title= 
| Aux1= 300/280 mya
| DirectedBy= Chloe Leland
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|12|15|df=y}}
| Viewers= {{Unreported UK viewers|4.24}}<ref name="barb"/>
| ShortSummary= The second episode begins in the [[coal forest]]s of the [[Carboniferous]], where high oxygen content in the atmosphere has allowed [[arthropod]]s to once more reach giant sizes. Giant arthropods include the [[dragonfly]] ''[[Meganeura]]'', [[millipede]] ''[[Arthropleura]]'' and a giant [[spider]] from the [[Mesothelae]] suborder.{{efn|The spider featured in the programme does not correspond to any real fossil species. The production team had intended for it to represent ''[[Megarachne]]'', which was originally described as a giant spider but was during the production of the series reclassified as a [[eurypterid]]. The Mesothelae spider in ''Walking with Monsters'' closely follows what ''Megarachne'' was thought to have looked like before it was reclassified.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Switek|first=Brian|date=2010|title=''Megarachne'', the Giant Spider That Wasn't|url=http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2010/03/24/megarachne-the-giant-spider-th/|journal=Biology Letters|publisher=ScienceBlogs|volume=1|issue=1|pages=44–48|doi=10.1098/rsbl.2004.0272|pmc=1629066|pmid=17148124|access-date=16 November 2012}}</ref>}} The coal forest is also inhabited by the early reptile ''[[Petrolacosaurus]]'', one of the few creatures that end up surviving a catastrophic [[forest fire]]. The second segment of the episode is set in the [[Early Permian]], with reptiles now being the dominant group of land animals. The episode follows two different species of [[pelycosaur]], the herbivorous ''[[Edaphosaurus]]'' and carnivorous ''[[Dimetrodon]]'', particularly following a lone ''Dimetrodon'' mother guarding her nest.
| LineColor = 9790BB
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber= 3
| Title= 
| Aux1= 250/248 mya
| DirectedBy= Tim Haines
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|12|19|df=y}}
| Viewers= {{Unreported UK viewers|4.23}}<ref name="barb"/>
| ShortSummary= The third episode begins in the [[Late Permian]], on the supercontinent [[Pangaea]], covered by a vast and inhospitable [[desert]]. The first segment follows the life around a shrinking waterhole and the animals living in its surroundings. These include the [[pareiasaur]] ''[[Scutosaurus]]'', [[dicynodont]] ''[[Diictodon]]'' and [[Gorgonops|Gorgonopsid]]s<!--not identified in the programme itself on a genus level-->. A ''Scutosaurus'' herd drinking the waterhole dry and a large sandstorm wipes out most of the animals, the ''Diictodon''s being among the few survivors. The second segment of the episode is set in the [[Early Triassic]] and follows the larger dicynodonts ''[[Lystrosaurus]]'' on a large migration. The herd is during its migration threatened by predators such as [[therocephalian]]s<!--not identified more precisely in the series--> and [[Proterosuchus|chasmatosaurs]]<!--not identified more precisely in the series-->. The episode also features ''[[Euparkeria]]'', an early forerunner of the [[dinosaur]]s.
| LineColor = 9790BB
}}
}}

== Reception ==
''Walking with Monsters'' was the least viewed series in the ''Walking with...'' franchise during its original airing,<!-- Other than Monsters, the article only mentions Dinosaurs and Beasts. Viewing figures from the WP articles on Cavemen and Sea Monsters confirm that Monsters was less viewed than them as well --> its first episode attracting only 4.57 million viewers. By comparison, ''Walking with Beasts'' had 8 million viewers and ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' reached 15 million.<ref name=":0" />

=== Reviews ===
Nathan Southern gave ''Walking with Monsters'' a positive review in ''[[The New York Times]]'', writing that the programme was likely to "[entertain] young viewers while encouraging them to think about prehistory".<ref name=":3" /> Ian Johns gave ''Walking with Monsters'' a negative review in ''[[The Times]]'', criticizing its "over-insistence that every creature was locked [...] in a ruthless battle to rule the Earth" and also thought that it had lost the "wow factor" of its predecessors.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Johns |first=Ian |date=9 December 2005 |title=Shadowy figures under the spotlight |language=en |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/shadowy-figures-under-the-spotlight-drpv8vrmp3r |access-date=2022-04-25 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> [[A. A. Gill]], also writing for ''The Times'', also reviewed ''Walking with Monsters'' negatively, writing that it was full of "small mouthfuls of ghoulish factoids and gory suppositions", that the "monsters look like prototypes for toy manufacturers and computer games" and that the programme seemed to be aimed at "nine-year-old American boys" rather than mature British audiences.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gill |first=A. A. |date=11 December 2005 |title=Coming up for airtime |language=en |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/coming-up-for-airtime-cqxx56kzp9p |access-date=2022-04-25 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref>

=== Awards ===
In 2006, ''Walking with Monsters'' won an [[Emmy Awards|Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or More)|Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More)]] and was also nominated for a [[BAFTA TV Award]] for Best Visual Effects.<ref name=":2" />

== In other media ==

=== Encyclopedia ===
{{Main|The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life}}
Unlike previous ''Walking with...'' series,<!-- Big Al and Chased by Dinosaurs also lack companion books, but they are Walking with Dinosaurs specials, not technically different series --> ''Walking with Monsters'' was not accompanied with the publication of a companion book. Instead, the book ''[[The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life]]'' was published in October 2005 to coincide with the series.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Palmer |first=Douglas |date=5 October 2005 |title=Book Review: Myriad monsters |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18825201-900-book-review-myriad-monsters/ |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}</ref> Written by Paul Chambers and executive producer [[Tim Haines]], the book is an encyclopedia and reference work, pulling together images from ''Walking with Monsters'', ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' (including its specials), ''Walking with Beasts'' and ''[[Sea Monsters (TV series)|Sea Monsters]]'' (2003) and pairing them with scientific information on the species depicted.<ref name=":6" />

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*{{BBC programme}}
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/galleries/wwmonsters/index.shtml BBC – Science & Nature – Walking with Monsters gallery]
*{{IMDb title}}

{{Walking with}}
{{Impossible Pictures}}
{{EmmyAward AnimationLessThanHour 2001–2025}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walking With Monsters}}
[[Category:2005 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:2005 British television series endings]]
[[Category:BBC television documentaries]]
[[Category:Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program winners]]
[[Category:Documentary films about prehistoric life]]
[[Category:Discovery Channel original programming]]
[[Category:Television series by BBC Studios]]
[[Category:Television series about arthropods]]
[[Category:Television series about fish]]
[[Category:Television series about reptiles and amphibians]]
[[Category:Walking with...]]