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Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy - broadcast in North America as Chased by Sea Monsters - was a documentary trilogy that first aired on BBC One on 9 November 2003. It was the second Walking with... programme to star Nigel Marven and the last Walking with... special to air. It is also the only programme to be narrated by Karen Hayley, who narrated the UK version of, while Christopher Cook narrated the US version.
The show is about Nigel Marven travelling back in time to visit the seven deadliest prehistoric seas. On his journey, he encounters many marine animals, from the predators to the prey. He travels to those time periods on a boat called The Ancient Mariner, a 24 metre long boat with a crew. His means of time travel is never shown but the closest thing to it is his time map, that show the seven deadliest seas and the creatures that live in them. On his dives, he wears a scuba set with a fullface mask so that he can narrate while under water. On some of the most dangerous dives, he uses a strong shark cage, which is spherical so that it is difficult for predators to bite it.
Unlike the other programmes, Sea Monsters has never had a UK DVD release. The programme was, however. featured on the US release of Chased by Dinosaurs and on a Region 2 Dutch DVD.
Sea Monsters was nominated for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Television Series in the 2004 Visual Effects Society Awards. It also won Best Visual Effects at the 2004 BAFTA Awards.[1]
Production[]
List of episodes[]
| Image | Episode title | Episode number | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dangerous Seas | 1 | 9 November, 2003 | |
| This episode marks the beginning of Nigel's quest as he travels back to the Ordovician to find the giant orthocone. He then ventures to the Triassic to encounter Cymbospondylus but on his journey there, he encounters nothosaurs and the creature that defies physics. His last trek of the episode is to the Devonian where he encounters the Dunkleosteus. | ||||
|
Into the Jaws of Death | 2 | 16 November, 2003 | |
| This episode starts with Nigel still in the Devonian escaping the wrath of Dunkleosteus. The episode then moves on to the Eocene where Nigel encounters a rhino-like elephant and the giant Basilosaurus. The episode then continues to the Pliocene where he encounters the bizarre Odobenocetops and the titanic shark Megalodon. | ||||
|
To Hell... and Back? | 3 | 23 November, 2003 | |
| This episode starts with Nigel still in the Pliocene still trying to attach a camera to a Megalodon. The episode then moves on to the Jurassic where Nigel comes face-to-face with the giant fish Leedsichthys, the marine croc Metriorhynchus and the giant monster Liopleurodon. The episode concludes in the Cretaceous, Hell's Aquarium. There, Nigel encounters a plethora of sea monsters and then come face-to-face with the deadliest sea monster of all. | ||||
Companion book[]
- Main article: Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Predators of the Deep
A companion book to the trilogy was published by BBC Books on 16 October 2003. Instead of organising the chapters into the order of the most deadly seas, the book is presented in temporal order. The chapters also feature more creatures than in the television series.
Technical errors[]
- When a sea scorpion bites Nigel, a hat appears on Nigel's head, but after a few seconds it disappears and is not even visible on Nigel's assistant's head.
- Just before Cymbospondylus falls down on the Time map, Nigel swims under the ship without an electric prod. This short scene is probably the same as in the Basilosaurus episode.
- When the Arsinoitherium begins to chase Nigel, the shallows and shadows are very different from what they were a few seconds ago.
- When the crew of The Ancient Mariner looks at the ocean, a dorsal fin of a Megalodon moves wrong side forward.
- While Nigel riding an Archelon, an assistant watches him from a monitor. However, the Archelon is seen swimming without Nigel on its back on the monitor's screen.
- After Nigel's diving with Dunkleosteus, one of the Ancient Mariner crew members strikes out the Devonian period on the wall board. On this board, the Ordovician is located above the Devonian but under the Triassic, as if the latter was meant to be the least dangerous of all the seven seas (which was later confirmed in an interview with series producer Jasper James). Moreover, the Jurassic and Cretaceous seas seem to be striked out already.
Behind the scenes[]
Notes and references[]
Gallery[]
