Walking with Dinosaurs | Interview with Michaela Strachan

Dinosaurs are set to roam the earth again next year. More specifically, they’re going to making appearances at various venues around the country as part of the Walking With Dinosaurs Tour. Already seen by 9 million people in more than 250 cities around the world, it’s fair to say that it is one of the most successful and constantly entertaining shows around at the moment.

All good things must come to an end and the arena tour which finishes in the UK at the end of December, is apparently the scheduled extinction date for these particular dinosaurs. If you’ve already seen the show, fear not, it has been tweaked slightly and features some new science so there will be new things for you to learn and see. If you’ve not seen it, you’re in for a real treat.

Of course, the most important thing is that it’ll still look spectacular. The are 9 species of dinosaur represented over the course of the show as the history of the world is played out. The Brachiosaurus is 35ft tall and 55ft long and the Tyrannosaurus is a stunning beast; but it’s not just a visual spectacular, it’s educational too.

There’s been some new developments for its final year and not just new science! Michaela Strachan, has come on board to play the role of Huxley the Palaeontologist and Primary Times was lucky enough to catch up with her recently to talk about the show.
 

Primary Times: How did you get involved in the show?

Michaela Strachan: It was completely out of the blue. I got an email from my agent, it just popped up in my inbox and I thought ooh what’s this?
It said “Are you interested in doing the Walking With Dinosaurs Tour?” And immediately I thought “YES – Definitely”. So, then I had meetings and watched some of it online. I think it’s so exciting to be a part of it.

PT: Have you seen the show?

MS: I’ve just seen youtube clips of it, but how realistic the dinosaurs are! It’s incredible. You’ve got life sized animatronic dinosaurs on the stage, and I play the role of Huxley, which is the Palaeontologist, who narrates through all the different periods – Triassic, Jurassic Cretaceous – with all the different dinosaurs that belong to those different eras. There’s quite a bit about how the world changes during that 200-million-year period. It’s a real spectacle. Not only have you got these life-sized dinosaurs on that stage, but you’ve got the lighting, the screen, it’s incredible – it’s a really fantastic show.

PT: Have you had any rehearsals yet?

MS: No, we don’t start until next year. I’ve not been with the dinosaurs, I’ve not even seen the dinosaurs yet! I had a photograph taken to promote it and then they superimposed the dinosaur, and it looks like my head’s about to be bitten off – but ’ve still got a smile on my face!

PT: Do you think you’ll be awestruck when you finally come face to face?

MS: I’m sure I will do – because, from what I’ve seen, the way they move is so realistic, and they put a lot of time and energy into the detail of the dinosaur and to make sure it’s absolutely scientifically correct.

PT: Do you have a favourite dinosaur from what you’ve seen of the show?

MS: I guess it’s got to be the baby T-Rex, although having said it’s a baby, it’s still bigger than I am! But I think that gets quite a few “AHHHhhs” when that comes on. And T-Rex is probably the best-known dinosaur isn’t it? But it does make me laugh because I think there are a lot of kids that are passionately into dinosaurs. I was at the Birmingham pet-show and I met a few boys with dinosaur t-shirts on and I’m sure they’re going to teach me an awful lot about dinosaurs. I know so much and from learning the script, I learn more, but my goodness their knowledge is unbelievable! They know all the Latin names and what period they’re from. Some kids are so into their dinosaurs.

PT: Do you ever think we’ll see real dinosaurs? Like Jurassic Park?

MS: No…I mean take a look out of the window…is there space for dinosaurs? Nope! Not unless we flatten this entire area! And I think that’s what’s amazing – we find it very difficult to imagine what it must have been like in the time of dinosaurs. This show transports your imagination to that time, and makes it a little easier to get your head around what it must have been like 200 million years ago. It’s such a ludicrous amount of time! One thing I find quite interesting about dinosaurs is – how do we know what they looked like?? It’s remarkable isn’t it? I think science is an interesting thing, because you have theory about something and then that theory sticks around so long that it becomes fact, and then you build the next theory on that fact, which was theory! It sounds like a lot of guesswork – how could we possibly know what happened 200 million years ago?

PT: There are still remnants of Dinosaurs around on earth at the moment aren’t there? Autumnwatch (Michaela is an Autumnwatch presenter) recently did a feature on the Triops.

MS: Yes!!! Isn’t that incredible that the Triops has been around since the age of the dinosaur? Again, I can’t quite get my head around that. So, there are things that have been around for that long – but not many.

PT: Birds are linked to dinosaurs aren’t they?

MS: They reckon that birds have come from dinosaurs – I’ve got to be honest, my knowledge is not great on that so I wouldn’t know any specifics. We don’t want to get it wrong do we?

PT: Have there been any tweaks to the show?

MS: There’s been some new discoveries, I think – some dinosaurs had feathers. I think they’ve tweaked the dinosaurs because of the new science. They spend a lot of time making sure it’s right scientifically. So, those little 8-year olds won’t be able to pick us up on it!

PT: It’s a big tour coming up, what are the venues like and where are you most looking forward to going?

MS: It’s just arenas…I’m looking forward to the O2 – that’s where Rock Stars go isn’t it?? I mean they’re all big arenas, just to be able to say I’ve played the O2 is really exciting.

PT: You had a brief career as a pop star, will you play any of the old hits?

MS: NO! Definitely not, I won’t submit them to that!

PT: How do they transport the dinosaurs? Is it like one of those old circus wagons with the giraffes poking out of the top?

MS: That would be hilarious…they do it with lorries. They’ve got twenty-one 14.5 metre trailers, so it takes at least two days to get it out of a venue and into another place. So at least I get two days off!

And with that, our time with Michaela comes to an end and it’s time for Primary Times to walk the earth once again, like a smaller, not-as-scaly-as-you-might-think dinosaur.

For more information on Walking With Dinosaurs visit: www.dinosaurlive.com