Beasts! Beasts with teeth. Beasts with claws. Beasts with claws and teeth. Do you get the idea? This disc is chock full of violence, death action and sex, all in the name of education. You've gotta love it.

Walking With Beasts is a documentary for the modern age and is concerned with one thing and one thing only - keeping you in your seat. That's all this BBC series and its predecessor, Walking With Dinosaurs, are about. It's a chance for the TV effects department to go wild with the cheque book and really show what they can do and the result - no doubt about it - is spectacular.

After the demise of the dinosaurs, it's the turn of the mammals. With sabre-toothed tigers, walking whales and even a cameo from homo sapiens, it is a weird and wonderfull world. Whether it's a few years of advanced technology, or something else, I'm not sure, but this does seem to look better than Walking With Dinosaurs. The Beasts are much more real. You actually believe what you're seeing on screen. As each episode focuses on one particular species, it is presented as a modern day nature series. The camera feels part of the proceedings, as the creatures react and spar with it.

As to the accuracy? Well, I'm hardly in a position to make an informed judgement, but it certainly seems convincing. If you believe the programme-makers, it appears we're able to present a realistic representation of a creature's life simply from a collection of fossils. I have my doubts - all they need to do is keep a straight face, point to a few notches with knowing expressions and we're all taken in - but it makes for good watching none the less.

This show is part of a spate of historical education programmes using CGI to capitalise upon the "OOH" and "AHH" factors. We've seen similar techniques used in bringing ancient cities back to life in the most spectacular of fashions. As audience figures show, this approach has worked fantastically well, demonstrating that we are easily distracted by the bright lights of computer animation.

Walking With Beasts is more entertainment than education, but don't let that put you off. It makes riveting viewing.