Remember Terra Nova? That show that seemed to combine Jurassic Park, Avatar, Lost and Stargate into an epic sci-fi family drama? Remember when we all thought it was going to be good? In our very first two-parter episode, Tom and guest host, Woody Laui, look back at one of the biggest let-downs in paleo TV...and the brief period when it looked like it wouldn't be. Join us as we enjoy Stephen Lang in his other role as a soldier in a fictional rainforest world, marvel at a set that's better made than most of the show going forward, and apply real evolutionary biology to a totally made-up species of dinosaur. Also, how many Jurassic Park and Avatar references can we squeeze into one episode? Answer: a lot. 

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It's back to the halcyon year of 2007 as Tom and Darby revisit Primeval Series 1 in all its nostalgic British sci-fi glory. Widely considered to be one of the best of the show, this is the series that did prehistoric wildlife in the modern world right the first time — Jurassic World: Dominion should have taken notes — helped in no small part by great characters, imaginative writing and a healthy dose of groundedness too. Relive the series that briefly popularised a Permian predator, turned a former pop star into an accomplished actress long before Lady Gaga, concludes with one of the most epic creature battles in paleo media, and somehow makes you sob your heart out for a conspiracy theorist fighting the urge to infect other people with a deadly parasite.

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We like Prehistoric Park, but there are reasons why it was cancelled after one series (and no, it wasn't because of Primeval). Join Tom and guest host, Alex Croney, as we both celebrate a beloved 2000s mockumentary series with seemingly everything going for it — a charismatic host, a premise ripe with potential, and of course, dinosaurs — and try to answer why it came to an unceremonious end that still leaves fans clamouring for its revival long after that has ceased to be realistic. Warning: Rose tinted glasses may be removed here.

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Really? That company for soppy holiday TV movies made a dinosaur show too? Based on a series of best-selling books, Dinotopia had the task of taking an IP renowned for its breathtaking artwork and unique fantasy worldbuilding (less so for its story) and adapting it into three 90-minute TV episodes, with all the constraints that entailed in 2002. What followed was a magnificently "meh" miniseries that gets some things right (like its villain), fails spectacularly at others (like its love interest), but manages to stay just on the right side of mediocre to be enjoyable. Join us we compare the book vs the miniseries, witness a future Prison Break star riding a pterosaur, wonder if we accidentally watched a Star Wars prequel movie, and ask the question, "How did this god-awful CGI win the Emmy for Best Visual Effects?"

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In our pilot episode of The Dinosaur Box, Tom and Darby kick things off with a beloved paleo drama that ripped the boundaries of space and time to shreds. Taking a concept that could so easily not have worked, Primeval instead became the show that forced Doctor Who to share the late-2000s British sci-fi landscape with its colourful cast of characters, imaginative twists on its already imaginative premise, wackily weird creature designs that would make Tim Burton or Guillermo Del Toro applaud, and a surprisingly sweet, genuine love story (yes, for real). Come through the anomaly with us as we look back on the show that defined our childhoods as dinosaur nerds and made everyone watching think 'Hey, Brits can do good paleo fiction too."

Note: This episode was recorded before the release of ARK: the Animated Series and Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, hence why we refer to both of those shows in the future tense.

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