Prehistoric Planet
Prehistoric Planet is a nature documentary television series about prehistoric animals that premiered on Apple TV+ beginning May 23, 2022. The first two seasons are produced by the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, with Jon Favreau as showrunner, visual effects by The Moving Picture Company, and narration by natural historian Sir David Attenborough. These seasons follow dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, recreated with computer-generated imagery, living around the globe in the Late Cretaceous period 66 million years ago, just before the non-avian dinosaurs' extinction. The show intends to reflect modern palaeontological research, with informed depictions of prehistoric life alongside speculative animal behavior. A third season titled Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, narrated by Tom Hiddleston and focusing on Pleistocene megafauna, was released in 2025.
Hans Zimmer, Kara Talve, and Anže Rozman composed the soundtrack. Prehistoric Planet is the highest-profile dinosaur-focused documentary series produced by the BBC since Planet Dinosaur in 2011, and its nature documentary-styled format is similar to the highly successful Walking with Dinosaurs. Prehistoric Planet received critical acclaim for its visual effects, depiction of dinosaurs, and Attenborough's narration.
Production
According to palaeontologist and consultant Steve Brusatte, the series had been in development "a decade" prior to its trailer release. On May 8, 2019, it was first reported by Deadline that Apple had ordered a new documentary series by BBC Studios titled Prehistoric Planet, to be executively produced by Jon Favreau. An original score was composed by Kara Talve, Anže Rozman and Hans Zimmer.The series uses up-to-date palaeontological research to depict its animals of the Cretaceous with scientific rigour; for example, feathered dinosaurs are featured in the series, such as juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex. Palaeozoologist Darren Naish was the lead consultant for the depictions of prehistoric life in the series. The storyboarding, concept art and creature designs were created by Jellyfish Pictures, while computer-generated imagery was developed by The Moving Picture Company and intended to be photorealistic, as with their previous productions The Jungle Book and The Lion King.
After its release, the series consultants other than Darren Naish were revealed to be Steve Brusatte, Alexander Farnsworth, Kiersten Formoso, Michael Habib, Scott Hartman, John R. Hutchinson, Luke Muscutt, Peter Skelton, Robert Spicer, Paul Valdes and Mark Witton. David Krentz, the director of Dinosaur Revolution and character designer on Disney's Dinosaur, was also revealed to have been involved in the creature development and design.
In March 2023, Apple renewed the series for a second season, which began airing on May 22, 2023. On July 29, 2025, a third season was announced, titled Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age. This series focuses on Pleistocene megafauna. Unlike previous seasons, it is narrated by Tom Hiddleston with computer-generated imagery handled by Framestore. It was released on November 26, 2025.
Marketing
A first sneak peek was posted to the official Apple TV+ YouTube channel on April 2, 2022, along with a trailer, with a May 23 airdate set for the first episode. A ten-second teaser was released on April 19, 2022, followed by an official trailer the following day. A second trailer was released on May 19, 2022, in the lead up to the show's premiere.The teaser of the second season was uploaded to the official Apple TV+ YouTube channel on April 18, 2023. The official trailer was released on May 2, 2023.
A first look video clip was released for Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age on October 15, 2025. An official trailer was released on November 6, 2025.