Last night I traveled back 67million years in time to Time Base 67, a groundbreaking research facility that is finding out all that needs to be known about the Cretaceous period, and the dinosaurs that roamed and ruled the world. No, I haven’t gone mad, I’m talking, of course, about ‘Dinosaurs in the Wild’ a groundbreaking mixture of show, theme park and hands on experience that will open at the Birmingham NEC this weekend, and is sure to be the hit of the Summer with both adults and children alike.

Dinosaurs in the Wild is an experience that is so real you could almost believe you have traveled back in time. A mixture of CGI effects, animatronics and real life actors playing the part of scientists, lab workers and tour guides, you are taken through lots of different stages relating to dinosaurs, from a lab where you can examine dino dung for teeth and bone fragments, to a dinosaur autopsy which is funny rather than too gruesome. You meet dinosaurs who are nocturnal, farting and snoring whilst they sleep, and see dinosaur eggs being looked after prior to hatching, even meeting a newborn pterodactyl.

The whole attraction is well thought out, and there are so many things to see, which is why, even at 70 minutes long, you could still go back and keep noticing things.  The attraction works well at suspension of belief, with safety films telling you to be careful at windows (if you can see a dinosaur it can certainly see you etc, etc), and even the 3d glasses are described as radiation glasses, with a warning you must put them on immediately when told. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the piece de resistance, the viewing platform where you see the dinosaurs in their natural environment. It is very lifelike and doesn’t shy away from the true reality of nature, a rather cute baby triceratops being eaten shocked me, although the kids in attendance didn’t seem to mind so much.

I don’t want to give too much away, but Dinosaurs in the Wild is very, very good, a definite must visit for the upcoming school holidays.

With Nina Wadia from Eastenders and The Kumars

With Donna Air

Dinosaurs in the Wild, Hall 2, Birmingham NEC

24th June – 23rd August

Click here for more information and tickets.