September 24th sees the DVD release of the one and only season of the dinosaur show TERRA NOVA. All 13 episodes spread over four shiny discs.

Exactly why TERRA NOVA only managed the one season compared to the likes of FALLING SKIES and ALPHAS (two shows that were in no objective way better and certainly less original) is probably complicated and down to the balance sheet, but at the end of the day the simplistic answer would be expectations. ALPHAS is just another attempt at HEROES whilst FALLING SKIES was just WAR OF THE WORLDS all over again. TERRA NOVA, though was supposed to be JURASSIC PARK on television.

So what went wrong? Well first there was the dinosaur problem - where were they? They didn't crop up as much as they were expected to and their appearances tailed off towards the end. The drama was of a more mundane human variety. The settlers all had nice houses with electricity and advanced medicine and it didn't look like a hard frontier life at all. The plotting was pedestrian and the characters didn't exactly stand out. At least not until the two-part finale where it all came together, but too late.

It certainly wasn't all bad though. When the dinosaurs did choose to put in an appearance they were well rendered and impressive. The cast was led by the affable Jason O'Mara (the US remake of LIFE ON MARS) and AVATAR's Stephen Lang recycling his performance from that film. Many of the episodes trip along entertainingly enough without straining any brain cells and it rarely outstays its welcome.

The scenery is absolutely stunning throughout and the evocation of the future world where the environment is failing badly is nicely nasty. The pilot is big and exciting and the finale is too. If it had been allowed its second season it might have become something so much better.

TERRA NOVA will not set your world alight, but for passable dinosaur entertainment it just might be worth indulging yourself in and it is always more fun than the other two shows mentioned.

The DVD box set is released on 24th September 2012.

You can find fuller reviews of the individual episodes here.

Special Features

Extended Finale
Deleted Scenes
Director's Diary: Making The Pilot
The Mysteries of Terra Nova Explored
Cretaceous Life: The Dinosaurs Of Terra Nova

Trailer