Radio Times: Review by:; Mark Braxton

You may never like the crocodile, let alone smile at one, but you will admire it… not to mention the olive python, the yellowwood and the nautilus. In the second of three films, Professor Richard Fortey discovers how these and other creatures waltzed through the K-T extinction of 65 million years ago (the asteroid that deleted the dinosaurs).

The reasons are many, varied and enthralling: the ancient, camera-shy coelacanth is inedible, ferns drop spores in their millions, crocs can go for up to ten months without a meal, and so on. But this is no cutesy, fluffy documentary: Fortey eats crocodile and dissects a turtle. And is picked up on his incorrect use of the word “poisonous”!

About this programme

2/3. Richard Fortey explores the KT boundary, a line across Earth that geologists believe was created when an asteroid struck the planet 65 million years ago - an event that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. He also examines how a mixture of evolutionary adaptations and good fortune enabled some creatures to survive the catastrophes that caused the demise of the giant lizards.