David Attenborough's Flying Monsters wins Bafta & hits the very big screen

At this years Bafta television awards the gong for Best Specialist Factual deservedly went to Atlantic Productions for Sir David Attenborough's Flying Monsters 3D, which helped to launch Sky3D in December 2010. This is the first time a 3D programme has been celebrated by BAFTA. You can watch the acceptance speech on the Bafta website

The previous time David Attenborough won a Bafta was in 2008 for the series I had the privilege to work on - Life in Cold Blood (you can watch that acceptance here). As Atlantic Productions producer Anthony Geffen commented - David Attenborough has now won Baftas for programmes in black and white, colour, high definition and now 3D and that that would never be equalled.

In an interview with Zoe Ball following the award, David alluded to a new project he is working on with Atlantic, involving timelapses of plants growing in 3D. Could it be that he's planning to use 3D to recapture the wonder of his 1995 BBC series The Private Life of Plants? He's also working on Penguins 3D 'A dramatic look into the world of King penguins, the film promises romance, in-fighting and high drama, all set on the spectacular and uninhabited island of South Georgia' (read more here). 

You can now watch Flying Monsters in all its 3D glory at IMAX cinemas.

In Flying Monsters 3D, Sir David Attenborough the world’s leading naturalist, sets out to uncover the truth about the enigmatic pterosaurs, whose wingspans of up to 40 feet were equal to that of a modern day jet plane. The central question and one of the greatest mysteries in palaeontology is: how and why did pterosaurs fly? How did creatures the size of giraffes defy gravity and soar through prehistoric skies?

David Attenborough flies with the Pterosaurs: Flying Monsters 3D

Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough, Christmas Day 6pm, Sky 3D.

Sir David Attenborough flies with the Pterosaurs, Photo: Atlantic Productions

220 million years ago dinosaurs were beginning their domination of Earth. But another group of reptiles was about to make an extraordinary leap: pterosaurs were taking control of the skies. The story of how and why these mysterious creatures took to the air is more fantastical than any fiction.

In Flying Monsters 3D, Sir David Attenborough the world’s leading naturalist, sets out to uncover the truth about the enigmatic pterosaurs, whose wingspans of up to 40 feet were equal to that of a modern day jet plane.

The central question and one of the greatest mysteries in palaeontology is: how and why did pterosaurs fly? How did creatures the size of giraffes defy gravity and soar through prehistoric skies?

Driven by the information he finds as he attempts to answer these questions, Attenborough starts to unravel one of science’s more enduring mysteries, discovering that the marvel of pterosaur flight has evolutionary echoes that resonate even today.

Flying Monsters 3D is a groundbreaking film that uses cutting-edge 3D technology and CGI to bring the story of giant flying monsters and their prehistoric world to life. Audiences of all ages will be in awe as they enter the world and experience, as never before, REAL Flying Monsters – in 3D.

Find out more about this landmark production, and some of the prehistoric stars of the show.


Flying Monsters from Atlantic Productions on Vimeo.


Sir David Attenborough: Why 3D won't quite take off

"When I started in 1952, people had television sets and thought it was a miracle. You sat in front of it and waited for it to start and watched all the way through to the end and it was an event. But within a decade, you ate and talked and knitted while it was on," said Sir David, 84.

"Then colour came about and once again it was an event, people would come round and said, 'Wow, look at the colour'. Then we got accustomed to colour and television became like wallpaper.  I don't think 3D can be used as wallpaper, particularly because you need the glasses and when you put them on it's very isolating. You become very unaware of the person next to you."

"I think 3D TV is going to be event TV. It can be an international football match or it can also be an important programme. But I don't think 3D is going to be much good on trivia. It's for programmes that really mean something. It does require your attention."
Excerpts from an Interview by the Telegraph

Photo: Atlantic Productions