In this week’s Radio Times magazine, Sir David Attenborough discusses fulfilling his boyhood dream of bringing the Tyrannosaurus rex back to life.

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Early fossil discoveries sparked a lifelong fascination with the prehistoric world for Attenborough, who is narrating Apple TV+’s upcoming docuseries Prehistoric Planet. From executive producer Jon Favreau and the producers behind Planet Earth comes a five-part series which travels back 66 million years to when majestic dinosaurs and extraordinary creatures roamed the earth.

Prehistoric Planet director Jon Favreau reveals to Radio Times how Planet Earth influenced his directorial take on Disney’s live-action remakes of Jungle Book and Lion King.

He explains: “When we were making Jungle Book and Lion King [Favreau directed Disney’s recent live-action remakes], we pretty rigorously researched the work that all of the Planet Earth team did to try to figure out how to present animals and nature in a naturalistic way — the high water mark, we felt, were the raft of documentaries they had done for the BBC.”

Also in this week’s Radio Times magazine:

  • Richard Osman discusses why he didn’t want to explore his father’s side of his family on Who Do You Think You Are?, that he wanted to be a detective growing up and how a story from his past could be a plot-line from one of his novels
  • Amanda Burton reveals how her return to Silent Witness for its 25th anniversary was inspired by Radio Times. She also chats about revisiting Brookside Close, how her character was a forerunner for strong female leads and the continued ageism in television
  • Troy Deeney talks about his campaign to introduce mandatory teaching of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories throughout the school curriculum and why he feels racism is always bottom of the rung in terms of priorities
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You can be among the first in the world to watch the opening two episodes of Prehistoric Planet as part of this year's BFI & Radio Times Television Festival, where it will screen at the BFI IMAX cinema on Friday 20th May. Tickets are on sale now here.

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The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only £1. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.

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