History Series / PlanetDinosaur

* MisplacedWildlife: ''Rugops'' is from the Echkar, not the Kem Kem.

* ConspicuousCGI: Somewhat averted; the models of the animals themselves are usually alright (although they got lazy with some of the feathered dinosaurs by just putting feather texture directly on the bodies of the dinosaurs), but the movements and backgrounds don't look as good.

In the wake of the [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaur]] documentary craze of 2011, the {{BBC}} has released their contribution to the phenomenon, a TV show titled '''''Planet Dinosaur'''''. Following in the footsteps of the BBC's very own ''WalkingWithDinosaurs'', this docu-show is also broadcast as a six-episode MiniSeries, but unlike its famous predecessor, it doesn't merely tell six half hour-long stories, but a whopping ''24'', putting onto the screen 50 (that's ''fifty''!) different types of {{prehistoric monster}}s, from dinosaurs to [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles pterosaurs and marine reptiles]]. The lack of {{talking heads}} means the narration, provided by Creator/JohnHurt, plays a crucial role in bringing the prehistoric stories to life.

* AdaptationalWimp: Subverted. The ''Hatzegopteryx'' shown in the program is much lankier than the one in real life, but it's still formidable and deadly all the same.

** ''Bradycneme'' simultaneously plays this straight & averts it. As noted under the ScienceMarchesOn entry, ''Bradycneme'' may simply be a harmless alvarezsaurid instead of a deinonychosaur. As far as Hateg deinonychosaurs go, it would be rather weak, and the contemporary ''Balaur'' (which may have had two killing claws per foot) could've been used instead.

** ''Hatzegopteryx'' is portrayed accurately as a terrestrial macropredator.

* ButtMonkey: If an ornithopod shows up, expect at least one member of its species to get killed.

* GiantFlyer: ''Hatzegopteryx'', although this program showcases just how terrifyingly good it was at being a "Giant Strider" on ground. Lampshaded ''a lot'' by the narrator:

** ''Hatzegopteryx'' is depicted properly as the terrestrial macropredator it was in real life; while the neck is slightly too flexible and the wing membranes are folded in a way not likely to have occured in real life (a problem ''WalkingWithDinosaurs'' pterosaurs also faced), it was otherwise very accurate.

** Subverted at first with the ''Spinosaurus''. The narration makes it out to be the most fearsome predator of all time, and the music score plays along too. Then it walks past the scared herbivores and goes fishing. Later, however, as the river recedes, [[spoiler:it manages to beat up a giant ''Carcharodontosaurus'']].

** ''Rugops'' is claimed to be an obligate scavenger, but studies on energy efficiency show that only large soaring animals can be obligate scavengers. At the same time, however, this may actually be [[ShownTheirWork based on an unpublished study]] showing that ''Rugops'' was at least ''well built'' for scavenging, rather than just wild speculation. However, a 2006 DougalDixon book made a similar claim, so the producers aren't necessarily aware of the new study.

** There's also the issue of ''Bradycneme'' being depicted as a troodontid (see the ScienceMarchesOn section), when it was recently reclassified as an alvarezsaurid. Though due to the fragmentary nature of its fossils, exactly what this animal was is still being debated.

* ScienceMarchesOn:
** Or at least may be marching on very soon. There is reportedly [[http://dml.cmnh.org/2011Jul/msg00114.html unpublished data]] showing that the troodont skulls in the oviraptorid nest actually tumbled into the nest, instead of being evidence of interspecific interaction.
** ''Bradycneme'' was just recently [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradycneme reclassified]] as an alvarezsaurid by one paleontologist. [[OhCrap Oops]] (but it's pretty fragmentary, so one hypothesis is almost as good as another). Why they didn't just use its far more complete, contemporary compatriot ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaur_%28dinosaur%29 Balaur bondoc]]'' is anyone's guess.
** ''Raptorex'', which is briefly mentioned in the third episode, may be an inaccurately dated juvenile of a larger tyrannosaurid. Doubles as RuleOfCool, as ''Dilong'' would have been equally acceptable, and there are no doubts about its validity. [[note]]Unless, of course, you happen to be DougalDixon.[[/note]]
** It turns out we now have an idea of what the [[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/03/08/a-shiny-dinosaur-–four-winged-microraptor-gets-colour-and-gloss/ colours]] of ''Microraptor'' were.
** "Predator X" has been officially described, with it now being called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_X Pliosaurus funkei]]''.

* GiantFlyer: ''Hatzegopteryx'', although this program showcases just how terrifyingly good it was at being a "Giant Strider" on ground.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: ''Gigantoraptor'', ''Sinraptor'' (at least, [[NoPronunciationGuide how Hurt pronounces it]]), and "Predator X".

** Also, ''Xianglong'' is on late Cretaceous Romania and New Mexico in episode 6, being severely displaced in time and space. It could have been just a placeholder for a random lizard, though.

** ''Carcharodontosaurus'' and ''Spinosaurus'', both ultra-large carnivores that shared the same habitat, though only one of them is a "true" hunting predator, the other an overgrown fish-eater. Another docu, ''Series/MonstersResurrected'', toyed with the idea of pitting them against each other, but [[OneHitKill their scenario]] just [[SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying made dino-fans cry]].

* SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying:
** As accurate as the dromaeosaurids are, their primary feathers inexplicably attach to the third finger instead of the second as they did in RealLife.
** Although most of the theropods in the show [[ShownTheirWork don't have pronated hands]] most of the time, the ''Spinosaurus'' and ''Epidexipteryx'' do in many shots.
** The "venomous ''Sinornithosaurus''" idea is brought up, even though this study was debunked online as soon as it was published and later officially debunked in a rebuttal paper (the accompanying book gets this right). [[note]]There's still no existing evidence ''against'' a venomous ''Sinornithosaurus'', but the theory is admittedly unlikely, given that birds and crocodilians don't have venom of any sort.[[/note]]
** They still can't get the number of claws on archosaur forelimbs right. The maximum number should be three, on the inner digits, while the rest don't have actual claws.
** Ornithopods chewing like some mammals do, by moving their lower jaws from side to side. This would have been impossible.
** ''Onchopristis'' was probably an entirely freshwater species, not one that occasionally swam upriver from the seas.
** Dinosaurs and birds are regarded as two separate, distinct groups by the schematics at the end of the last episode, and the narrator doesn't even mention that not all dinosaurs are gone, in spite of the fact that a [[WalkingWithDinosaurs certain other BBC documentary]] made more than ten years ago points this out. (Particularly strange because ''Planet Dinosaur'' does get this right at the end of the ''second'' episode.)
** The oviraptorids are shown digging with their forelimbs, even though using their feet would be more likely (especially given that they had large wing feathers attached to their hands).
** ''Rugops'' is claimed to be an obligate scavenger, but studies on energy efficiency show that only large soaring animals can be obligate scavengers. At the same time, however, this may actually be [[ShownTheirWork based on an unpublished study]] showing that ''Rugops'' was at least ''well built'' for scavenging, rather than just wild speculation. However, a 2006 DougalDixon book made a similar claim, so the producers aren't necessarily aware of the new study.
** The pterosaurs all lack pteroid bones.

** Other candidates include ''Majungasaurus'', ''[[TheBigGuy Chasmosaurus]]'', ''[[BewareMyStingerTail Stegosaurus]]'', ''[[MamaBear Gigantoraptor]]'', ''[[GiantFlyer Hatzegopteryx]]'' and ''[[SeaMonster Pliosaurus]]''.

** Other candidates include ''Majungasaurus'', ''[[TheBigGuy Chasmosaurus]]'', ''[[BewareMyStingerTail Stegosaurus]]'', ''[[MamaBear Gigantoraptor]]'', and ''[[SeaMonster Pliosaurus]]''.

** There is an interesting subversion of this trope in the last episode. Whereas in most documentaries Hell Creek has been the location commonly used to represent the K-P extinction due to the large number of stock dinosaurs that lived there during the final years of the Cretaceous (''TyrannosaurusRex'', ''Triceratops'', ''Edmontosaurus'', ''Ankylosaurus'', ''Pachycephalosaurus'', ''Troodon'', dromaeosaurids, ''Ornithomimus''/''Struthiomimus''), this series instead uses Hateg Island, which is home to many more obscure dinosaur genera.

** There is an interesting subversion of this trope in the last episode. Whereas in most documentaries Hell Creek has been the location commonly used to represent the K-P extinction due to the large number of stock dinosaurs that lived there during the final years of the Cretaceous (''TyrannosaurusRex'', ''Triceratops'', ''Edmontosaurus'', ''Ankylosaurus'', ''Pachycephalosaurus'', ''Troodon'', dromaeosaurids, ''Ornithomimus''/''Struthiomimus''), this series instead uses Hateg Island: which is home to many more obscure dinosaur genera.

** They all suffer from one noticeable flaw though: the lack of a pteroid bone.

Not to be confused with the very similarly titled ''DinosaurPlanet'', which is a DiscoveryChannel production.

** Other candidates include ''Majungasaurus'', ''Chasmosaurus'', ''Stegosaurus'', ''Gigantoraptor'', and ''Pliosaurus''.

** ''Bradycneme'' was just recently [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradycneme reclassified]] as an alvarezsaurid by one paleontologist. [[OhCrap Oops.]] (but it's pretty fragmentary, so one hypothesis is almost as good as another.) Why they didn't just use its far more complete, contemporary compatriot ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaur_%28dinosaur%29 Balaur bondoc]]'' is anyone's guess.

* AudibleSharpness: When the ''Nothroynchus'' claws are first shown.