BBC, PBS dive into Attenborough & Natural History Unit special ‘The Giant Sea Monster’

David Attenborough

The BBC has linked with PBS in the US on a new factual show from David Attenborough and BBC Studios Natural History Unit.

Attenborough And The Giant Sea Monster (working title) is a 60-minute special that follows Attenborough as he unearths the skull of a giant Pliosaur, one of the most ferocious Jurassic predators ever known.

The show explores how fossil experts believe the Pliosaur to be a completely new species, with experts working at a secret location setting out on a perilous expedition to excavate the skull.

It is being filmed on location across the UK and will combine science with storytelling, as well as “state-of-the-art CGI” to tell the tale of the predator, the BBC said.

PBS is coproducing with the BBC and the WNET Group.

Attenborough said: “Pliosaurs were the biggest and most formidable hunters in the Jurassic seas, the marine equivalent, you might say of T. Rex. The skull of this one is, by itself, over two metres long and armed with massive fangs.

“Frustratingly, skulls, which can tell us most about an animal, are only too easily smashed before fossilisation but this one is virtually undamaged and promises to reveal all kinds of new details about these terrifying hunters that preyed on Lyme Regis’ better known ichthyosaurs.”

Jack Bootle, head of commissioning for specialist factual at the BBC, said: “David has filmed some of the world’s very best fossil animals, so the fact he’s so interested in this skull makes me unbelievably excited. This film promises to be a thrilling trip through time to a moment when monsters ruled the seas around Britain. I can’t wait for viewers to experience it.”