How to watch Prehistoric Planet online: streaming David Attenborough's new documentary series – episode 5 available now

Dinosaurs in Apple TV+'s Prehistoric Planet
(Image credit: Apple TV+)

Do you feel that? It’s the thundering footfalls of a giant beast of a show called Prehistoric Planet, headed right for Apple TV Plus. The studio responsible for Planet Earth and Life on Earth is whisking us back 66 million years to explore the fascinating creatures that once ruled the world. Prepare to journey into the past as we explain how to watch Prehistoric Planet online with Apple TV Plus.

Watch Prehistoric Planet online

Release date: daily from May 23 to 27

New episodes: 12am PT / 3am ET / 8am BST

Executive producer: Jon Favreau

Watch now: Apple TV Plus 7-day FREE trial

This week-long event transports viewers to treacherous ice worlds, arid deserts, verdant forests, and rugged coastlines, all while illuminating new information on the lives of these ancient reptiles. First up was coasts, then Episode 2 with deserts, next was Episode 3: Freshwater and fourth was Episode 4: Ice Worlds. Finally the last episode is also available with all on Apple TV+ to watch from now - Episode 5: Forests.

One group of dinosaurs look to clear a path of trees, while a group of Triceratops go spelunking. A male Carnotaurus gets ready to put on a show, and all must learn to deal with the threat of a forest fire.

It’s a truly epic series, with the Late Cretaceous period stunningly recreated by Moving Picture Company, whose photorealistic visual effects bagged it an Oscar for The Jungle Book in 2016 (directed by the series producer Jon Favreau). David Attenborough lends his beloved, whiskey-warm narration to proceedings, and there’s a rousing score from Hans Zimmer, the composer of film hits Gladiator, The Dark Knight trilogy, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune.

It’s an enchanting spectacle for all age groups, ideally seen on the largest TV screen possible. And you can stream it now with our guide below on how to watch Prehistoric Planet online. It’s even 100% FREE to new subscribers of Apple TV Plus too.


How to watch Prehistoric Planet online from anywhere

Monday, May 2312am PT / 3am ET Friday, May 27

Dinosaurs! David Attenborough! And that’s just the start for this highly-anticipated 5-part docuseries. Prehistoric Planet will debut on Monday, May 23 as part of a self-dubbed “week-long event”, with a new episode being added to Apple TV Plus daily at around 12am PT / 3am ET, with the final episode landing on Friday, May 27

Watch as each instalment arrives, or subsequently binge them at a later date once they’ve all been added to the platform.

Offering a raft of exclusive movies, documentaries and kids shows, with most offered in glorious 4K and HDR, there's currently a 7-day Apple TV Plus free trial for you to try it out. If you choose to continue, the Apple TV Plus cost thereafter works out as $4.99 / £4.99 / AU$7.99 per month.

Where is Apple TV Plus available?

Now widely available in over 100 countries, including the United States, the UK, mainland Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India, Apple TV Plus is Apple's very own exclusive subscription streaming service.

You can sign up and watch Apple TV Plus content through Apple’s TV app, which is available on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac computers, some supported third-party smart TVs from Samsung, LG and Sony. You can also get Apple TV Plus on Chromecast in addition to Roku and Fire TV devices, plus PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles.

Alternatively, you could also watch Apple TV Plus on a browser like Google Chrome.

David Attenborough at the London premiere of Prehistoric Planet

(Image credit: Apple TV+)

What else should I know about Apple TV Plus?

Apple's answer to Netflix may have a comparatively small library of films and shows to get stuck into – currently around the 100 mark – but what's available is top-quality, well-produced fare with little in the way of filler.

The Morning Show was the calling card for Apple TV Plus at launch, costing $15 million per episode and is one of the best Apple TV shows on the platform. It was complemented by the epic sci-fi drama See starring Jason Momoa, space drama For All Mankind, and period comedy Dickinson. Severance is one of the more recent hits.

Of course, the service's breakout success has been the Jason Sudeikis comedy Ted Lasso. It's earned an army of fans and an impressive amount of awards attention, netting 20 Primetime Emmy nominations in 2021 – a record for a freshman series. 

The small but great library is set to grow at a steady pace and Apple TV Plus looks to have a pretty strong-looking upcoming schedule of new exclusive content.

On June 17 comes the highly-anticipated dramedy Cha Cha Real Smooth, a film which received the Audience Award at Sundance and features the excellent Dakota Johnson. 

Then Rocketman star Taron Egerton stars as Jimmy Keene in a much grittier autobiographical tale on July 8, in the drama series Black Bird. He’ll play an incarcerated ex-football star who’s given a life-changing ultimatum: elicit a confession from a suspected serial killer and be released, or complete his 10-year sentence without any possibility of parole.

And finally, at some unknown time in 2022, subscribers will be able to see Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese's 'large-scale Western' featuring Hollywood big guns Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. 

Daniel Pateman

Daniel Pateman is a freelance writer, producing articles across the cultural spectrum for magazines like Aesthetica, Photomonitor, The Brooklyn Rail and This is Tomorrow. He also provides text-writing services to individual curators and artists worldwide, and has had work published internationally. His favourite film genre is horror (bring on Scream 5!) and he never tires of listening to Absolute 80s on the radio.