Combining fact and informed speculation with cutting-edge computer graphics and animatronics, the six-part mini-series, which was billed as a "wildlife documentary", took two years to make and was the most expensive documentary television series per-minute ever made.

Narrated by Kenneth Branagh and costing €6.9 million, it was praised by the public and professionals alike. Palaeontologist David Norman, Director of Cambridge University's Sedgwick Museum, said about the series: "We have gained unexpected insights of long extinct animals. Having to make the animal go through a realistic step cycle makes all the difference in understanding how it works."

Now, in the best traditions of showbiz, the TV show has transferred to the stage at nearly twice the budget. More than 200 million years after they ruled the world, these awesome giants are coming to Flanders this September, and tickets have been flying out of the door. Having sold out so quickly, the venue has since added two extra shows.

The show includes life-size and extremely realistic-looking dinosaurs, including a T-Rex mother defending her baby against predators, the tank-like Ankylosaurus and even the flying Ornithocherius. A total of 10 species are represented, from small, swift meat-eaters to the giant, gentle Brachiosaurus.

Although they seem fierce and impenetrable, incredibly-intricate mechanics are involved in the creation of the dinosaurs.

"To make it appear that these creatures are flesh and blood weighing six, eight or even 20 tons, we use a system called 'muscle bags' made from stretch-mesh fabric and filled with polystyrene balls," explains Sonny Tilders, who heads up the team of dinosaur designers. "These are stretched across moving points on the dinosaurs' bodies, and they contract and stretch in the same manner that muscle, fat and the skin does on real creatures."

The larger dinosaurs are moved by puppeteers using miniature versions of their counterparts on stage. "The puppeteers use 'voodoo rigs' to make the dinosaurs move," explains Tilders. "They are miniature versions of the dinosaurs with the same joints and range of movement as their life-sized counterparts."

The puppeteers manipulate the voodoo rig, and these actions are interpreted by computer and transmitted by radio waves to make the hydraulic cylinders in the actual dinosaur replicate the action. The smaller dinosaurs, meanwhile, actually have specialist puppeteers inside them controlling the movements.

The sheer scale of the show is such that only venues the size of Antwerp's Sportpaleis are considered suitable, according to Carmen Pavlovic, CEO of Global Creatures production and technology company, which will stage the show in Antwerp. "The dinosaurs are full-size, making the show so immense, it can only fit in arenas. It is a spectacle of unprecedented size and quality," she says.

Directed by Broadway veteran Scott Faris, Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience depicts the dinosaurs' evolution, complete with the climatic and tectonic changes that took place, which led to the demise of many species.

Reviews in the US, where the show has been on tour prior to coming to Europe, have been, it has to be said, a tad mixed. Variety describes the script as "mostly dull and clichéd", while Newsweek calls the show: "That rare entertainment beast that parents and kids can enjoy together."

Tim Haines, creator and producer of the original BBC series, meanwhile, has given his seal of approval. "At its core," he says, "the show manages to do what the TV series did so successfully, which is to make people imagine they are looking at real dinosaurs."

This would certain appear to be the case, according to audiences, who are raving while simultaneously warning that smaller kids in the front half of the seating can be scared out of their wits.

Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience
11-13 September
Sportpaleis, Antwerp

www.dinosaurlive.be