2023 Winner

Dinosaurs: The Final Day with David Attenborough

BBC Studios Science Unit, NOVA, GBH Boston, BBC, PBS, France Télévisions

FRANCE, UK, USA

- Science & Technology

We worked hard to tell a story that wove together the rigorous journalism of the science and the palaeontological discoveries, with the lives of the creatures uncovered – as they might have been leading up to the asteroid impact 66 million years ago that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. We gave the creatures character stories that revealed the science whilst helping the audience relate to and care about them. We had to shoot VFX back plates during the pandemic and couldn't access the parts of the world needed to recreate the Late Cretaceous, so we had to direct complex shoots remotely with local crew. For the presenter VFX scenes, we used cutting edge Virtual Production techniques so we could immerse David Attenborough in eg a burning prehistoric forest and a post apocalyptic environment. We believe this is the first time this had been attempted on this scale for a broadcast documentary with a doc budget, as it’s usually the preserve of high-end drama and feature films.