Television wizards who brought dinosaurs to life are honoured with Bafta award

The technical wizardry that helped recreate life on earth 248 million years ago was recognised last night as a special edition of Walking with Dinosaurs was named British television's most visually accomplished programme by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

The Giant Claw won the visual effects category for its computer-generated film about Mesozoic dinosaurs.

A spokeswoman for the Bafta Craft Awards, which were held yesterday evening at the Dorchester Hotel in London, said: "The fantastic attention to detail and clarity of the digital effects throughout a very complex programme impressed the board. The technicians behind this series truly bought dinosaurs to life on television, which is a fantastic achievement when you consider the budget that television programmes have in comparison to major feature films.

"The teamwork of a massive number of people working together made this an outstanding project."

The award for best new director of a factual programme was won by Alice Yglesias for her harrowing documentary, Death in which she followed people dying while being treated in NHS hospitals.

The category for best costume design was won by the Channel 4 film about the arctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. Shirley Russell, who died in March last year aged 66, was nominated for her commitment to authenticity while working with Kenneth Brannagh on the 2001 film, parts of which were filmed in the Arctic, the spokeswoman said.

She added: "Shirley won this award because she was tenacious to the last detail in her work on Shackleton. "She worked in very difficult conditions in extremely low temperatures but her commitment to making the film come alive never wavered."

Mrs Russell, who was married for 20 years to the film director Ken Russell, with whom she had five children, is also known for her work on the films Women in Love and Hope and Glory.

The BBC drama Daniel Deronda scooped two awards, its sound team winning the best sound fiction category and the best editing fiction category for the work of Philip Kloss.

The ITV drama Bloody Sunday won the best photography and lighting category for the work of its director of photography, Ivan Strasburg.