EXCLUSIVE: British TV legend Stephen Fry is hosting his debut series for Paramount-owned Channel 5: a “four-day landmark event” on dinosaurs that will recreate a prehistoric environment.
Dinosaur – with Stephen Fry represents a major coup for the channel, which used to be mainly associated with lower-market TV but has in recent years snapped up the likes of Monty Python legend Michael Palin and University Challenge host Jeremy Paxman to present documentaries.
Fry’s show from British indie Mentorn Media is being described as a “four-day landmark event” that will recreate a prehistoric environment.
Due to be unveiled shortly at Sheffield Doc Fest, Dinosaur will recreate a prehistoric environment via a 360-degree Dinosaur World, which has been designed to immerse viewers in a hyper-realistic representation of the jungles of the Jurassic period and plains of the Cretaceous period.
Former QI host and It’s a Sin star Fry will steer the show by getting up close to the dinosaurs, telling viewers about each one and discussing the different prehistoric eras with experts.
“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,” said Fry. “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.”
Guy Davies, Channel 5 and Paramount+ Factual Commissioning Editor, described Dinosaur as “specialist factual content but with an accessible and entertaining twist.”
Fry has been segueing into the world of natural history of late, hosting BBC One’s Fantastic Beasts: A Natural History and being lined up to present ITV’s A Year on Planet Earth.
