Terra Nova is an American science fiction drama television series that airs on Fox on Monday nights. It premiered September 26, 2011 with a one-and-a-half-hour episode. It follows the Shannon family as they go 85 million years into the past to save humanity.

The show begins in the year 2149, a time when all life on planet Earth is threatened with extinction due to dwindling worldwide air quality and overpopulation. It has become virtually impossible for humanity to survive, and almost no vegetation exists. At Hope Plaza, a massive ring shaped structure in Chicago, scientists discover a rift in space-time that allows people to travel 85 million years back in time to the late Cretaceous period of an alternate prehistoric Earth. The Shannon family (father Jim, his wife Elisabeth, and their three children Josh, Maddie, and Zoe) join the Tenth Pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova becoming part of the first human colony on the other side of the temporal doorway. The Shannon Family starts a new life in Terra Nova while dealing with carnivorous dinosaurs and the Sixers, a splinter group of colonists from the Sixth Pilgrimage who are trying to transport all of Terra Nova’s resources back to 2149.

The series is based on an idea by British writer Kelly Marcel. Alex Graves signed on to direct the pilot. Brannon Braga and René Echevarria serve as showrunners. Australia was chosen after producer Steven Spielberg vetoed Hawaii because he wanted a different filming location from his 1993 film Jurassic Park. The two-hour pilot was filmed over 26 days in late November to December 2010. It was shot in south-east Queensland, Australia, with locations in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Gold Coast Hinterland. The shoot was plagued by torrential rain and additional material had to be shot in 2011, with a total estimated cost between $10 to $20 million to be amortized over the season. More than 250 sets were constructed An episode takes eight to nine days to shoot, like most television dramas, but six weeks in post-production, twice the television average. The average episode budget is about $4 million, compared to an average of $3 million for broadcast network dramas. Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly stated, “This thing is going to be huge. It’s going to take an enormous production commitment.”

In an unusual decision, Fox skipped ordering just a pilot, and instead immediately ordered thirteen episodes. This was partly due to financial reasons, as the large Australian sets are expensive to dismantle and rebuild. Despite this decision, the producers denied the production was over-budget, with Peter Rice explaining instead the show is “a very expensive… very ambitious television show”. Kevin Reilly continued, “We’re not in completely uncharted territory here. The start-up cost for the series is definitely on the high end. But it’s not some bank-breaking series”.[15] With only 10% of Cretaceous-era dinosaurs recorded in the fossil record, the producers decided to supplement the series with ones which might have existed; palaeontologist Jack Horner was brought in to help create realistic creatures for the period and different from those of the Jurassic Park film franchise.

In June 2010, the first cast member was announced – Jason O’Mara as Jim Shannon. In late August, Allison Miller joined the cast. In September, Deadline Hollywood reported that Stephen Lang signed on to play the role of Commander Taylor. An executive producer, David Fury, left the series as a result of creative differences. In September, Shelley Conn landed the female lead role. In October, Brian Tyler was chosen as the composer, Mido Hamada was cast as a security head, while Landon Liboiron, Naomi Scott, and Alana Mansour were cast as the three children. In November, Christine Adams was cast as Mira. In May 2011, Rod Hallett joined the cast.

The cast and crew returned to Queensland, Australia on May 20, 2011 to continue production on the first season. Filming commenced on May 25, 2011. With a long production process on the series, it was announced in July 2011 that the first season would consist of thirteen episodes to finish airing in December 2011.

• Season 1

1. Episode 1: Genesis
2. Episode 2: Genesis
3. Episode 3: Instinct
4. Episode 4: What Remains
5. Episode 5: The Runaway
6. Episode 6: Bylaw
7. Episode 7: Nightfall
8. Episode 8: Proof
9. Episode 9: Vs.
10. Episode 10: Now You See Me
11. Episode 11: Within
12. Episode 12: Occupation
13. Episode 13: Resistance