Kicking off Discovery Canada’s Dino Week is what VP of programming Ken MacDonald is calling their “most ambitious project of the year.”

Airing in several formats – SD, HD, 3D – Last Day of the Dinosaurs presents a detailed and narrated look at how the world changed that fateful day 65 million years ago when a 10 km-wide asteroid collided into the Earth.

The 90-minute special was pitched as a co-pro three years ago by Montreal’s Handel Productions and Dangerous Films from London, UK.

“Dinosaurs always do well for us,” MacDonald tells Playback Daily. “And we’re always looking for a unique way to tell a story.”

Last Day was certainly that. There were no talking heads, no paleontologist commentary. Based on 18 months of research and consulting with more than 50 academic experts around the world, the team crafted a story told entirely from the perspective of dinosaurs around the world in CGI and 3D environments – from the unfortunate creatures in proximity to the impact near the Gulf of Mexico, to Mongolia and what’s now British Columbia.

The project wasn’t initially conceived with 3D in mind, as it was originally only supposed to be in HD and SD. But conversations escalated, and MacDonald and the two prodcos soon realized it was a natural fit.

“We wanted to share the 3D experience with as many people as possible, not just with people who have 3D TVs,” MacDonald tells Playback Daily. “Good 3D should not overpower you or over take the story.”

Over 30,000 hours of visual effects and animation were poured into Last Day, including rendering more than one million images. It also shows a detailed account of the asteroid itself, so the team culled research from the Los Alamos National Laboratory to calculate the impact’s effects, along with blowing up a four-foot physical model, all the while filming the detonation at 150 frames per second.

“We are looking at other 3D opportunities and talking with partners on 3D production,” says MacDonald, adding that there used to be separate conversations for HD that are now part of the mix, so it was only a matter of time for the same to happen with 3D.

“It’s what’s being pitched to the international production community, and there are a lot of potential 3D projects happening.”

To appeal to the broadest audience possible, Last Day will be airing in four formats on Sunday, November 21 – Discovery Channel in SD and Discovery World HD in hi def at 8 p.m. ET/PT; then again at 9:30 p.m. ET on Discovery World HD in anaglyph 3D and cab/sat 3D Barker Channel in active 3D.

The red and blue anaglyph 3D glasses were distributed through The Globe and Mail and also available free at CTV locations.

Last Day kicks off Dino Week on Sunday November 21 and will be followed by four episodes of Prehistoric.