The Ballad of Big Al

The Ballad of Big Al
Cover of a 2004 UK DVD release
Also known asAllosaurus
GenreNature documentary
Directed byKate Bartlett
Narrated byKenneth Branagh
Avery Brooks (US)
ComposerBen Bartlett
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerMick Kaczorowski
ProducersTim Haines
Joshua C. Berkley
Running time29 minutes
Production companiesBBC Studios Science Unit
Impossible Pictures
Original release
NetworkBBC, Discovery Channel, ProSieben, TV Asahi
Release25 December 2000 (2000-12-25)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Ballad of Big Al,[a] marketed as Allosaurus[b] in North America, is a 2000 special episode of the nature documentary television series Walking with Dinosaurs. The Ballad of Big Al is set in the Late Jurassic, 145 million years ago, and follows a single Allosaurus specimen nicknamed "Big Al" whose life story has been reconstructed based on a well-preserved fossil of the same name. The Ballad of Big Al was like the other episodes of Walking with Dinosaurs made by Impossible Pictures and was produced by the BBC Studios Science Unit,[1] the Discovery Channel, ProSieben and TV Asahi.[2] The episode was aired together with a 30-minute behind-the-scenes episode, Big Al Uncovered.


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  1. ^ Støen, Michael (2022). "1999: The BBC simulates prehistoric wildlife". Public Understanding of Science. 31 (4): 524–529. doi:10.1177/09636625211068944. ISSN 0963-6625. PMID 35062833. S2CID 246165620.
  2. ^ Salamon, Julie (6 April 2001). "TV WEEKEND; Visiting an Allosaur-Eat-Allosaur World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 April 2022.