The Isle of Wight has been chosen by children’s TV character ‘Little Howard’ to star in an episode of the popular CBBC series from ‘Little Howard’s Big Question’.

Episode 7 of 13, broadcast on CBBC and entitled Could Dinosaurs Ever Come Back, sees Little Howard, an animated six-year boy, and his human housemate, Big Howard, take a fascinating journey around the Island as they attempt to answer questions about the world around them.

Council-run Dinosaur Isle museum on Sandown seafront was consulted and used as the main focus for the programme, which sees Little Howard travelling back to the Jurassic period to “meet a real Dinosaur Hunter on the Isle of Wight and discover how many kinds of prehistoric creatures are just lying on the beach, waiting to be unearthed”.

The Island contains some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in Britain and the cliffs expose a great variety of rock types that can tell us, from their composition and fossils, what the Earth was like from 125 million years ago.

Earlier this year, Dr Steve Sweetman, a palaeontologist from Portsmouth University reported on 48 new species of dinosaur, which he had discovered on the Island in the last four years.

Peter Pusey, Dinosaur Isle’s General Manager said:

“When it comes to fossil finds, the Island takes some beating so we were delighted when the BBC asked for our help.

“Not only is the programme a fun way to introduce young children to the world of palaeontology, but it’s also great promotion for the Island and its Dinosaur Isle status”.

Little Howard’s Big Question can be viewed on the BBC iplayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gwcxp

Dinosaur Isle is open daily and admission costs £5 for adults, £4 for concessions, £3 for children (3-15 years) and £14.50 for a family (2+2). For more information, visit, www.dinosaurisle.com