Primeval is a
British science fiction television programme produced for
ITV by
Impossible Pictures. Created by
Adrian Hodges and
Tim Haines, who previously created the
Walking with... documentary series,
Primeval follows a team of five
scientists tasked with investigating the appearance of
temporal anomalies across
Great Britain through which
prehistoric and futuristic creatures enter the present.
First broadcast in the UK on 10 February 2007, it has since expanded to an international audience. Overall reception of the programme was positive during the first and second series, maintaining a 25 percent audience share in the United Kingdom during both series to date. Prior to its 9 August 2008 broadcast on BBC America, the programme received generally positive reaction from American critics as well. The third series, which ITV announced on 30 January 2008, began on 28 March 2009 and has now finished. In the US, series 3 premiered on 16 May 2009 on BBC America and has finished airing.
On 29 September 2009, it was announced that a deal had been struck between ITV, Watch, Impossible Pictures, German broadcaster Pro7 and BBC Worldwide to produce two new series of the show for transmission in 2011.
The first of the two new series will start airing in January 2011 on ITV1. Series 5 is currently being filmed and will air later in 2011 on Watch then will be shown on ITV1 in 2012.
Synopsis
The first series followed the efforts of
Professor Nick Cutter and his associates as they investigate the appearance of space-time continuum anomalies (called "earthquakes in time") that allow the passage of life-forms through that invariably threaten the lives of citizens. The
British government, in the form of the
Home Office becomes involved after a
Gorgonopsid travels through one such anomaly and wreaks havoc in the environs of the
Forest of Dean. Professor Cutter's wife, presumed missing in the first episodes, is revealed to have been stuck inside one anomaly for years and is now using the anomalies to try to access the future. The final episode of the first series involves the first appearance of a future anomaly, allowing predators from the future access to the present, and ultimately, the past.
The second series builds upon the first, in establishing that the destroyed camp of time travelers discovered in the first episode was actually that of the team and that they had created their own past. Due to Professor Cutter and his estranged wife's visit to the camp, Professor Cutter believes they affected the timeline, although this was the second time at the camp (the first was finding the camp, the second time years or months earlier setting up the camp so it can be found by them later), removing key personnel from the first series. The only people aware of the changes to the timeline are Professor Cutter and his wife.
Cast
,
Andrew-Lee Potts,
Lucy Brown,
Douglas Henshall,
Ben Mansfield and
Laila Rouass (not including
Ben Miller,
Jason Flemyng and
Juliet Aubrey)]]
The series originally featured a cast of five main characters plus supporting cast who investigate time anomalies for the British government:
Current cast
Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng) - A former policeman who becomes involved after an incident with two teenagers. His brother was killed by a camouflaging creature or Gremlin. He later becomes the new team leader, appointed by Lester, following Jenny's exit.
Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts) - Cutter's one-time student, becoming the research, equipment and logistics specialist.
Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt) - A herpetologist and assistant zookeeper. She joins Cutter's team at the beginning of Series 1.
Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield) - A Special Forces soldier who is assigned to help protect the team from potential danger.
James Lester (Ben Miller) - A senior Home Office official and administrator of the team.
Matt Anderson (Ciaran McMenamin) - Is the teams new field leader, is an ex soldier and is a zoologist.
Jess (Ruth Kearney) - Is in charge of running operations at the ARC control centre.
Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig) - a scientist and partial owner of the ARC.
TBA (
Lucy Brown) - Actress Lucy Brown has returned to Primeval but it is not confirmed who she will be playing.
Former cast
Professor Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) - A professor of evolutionary biology and team leader. Cutter is killed by his wife, Helen in Series 3, Episode 3, after the ARC (Anomaly Research Centre) is attacked by Helen and her army of Cleaner replicas. Helen believed Nick was the direct cause of the destruction of future earth. He was also romantically involved with both Claudia Brown, and more recently, before his death, Jenny Lewis was beginning to feel romantically attached to him.
Claudia Brown and Jennifer Lewis (Lucy Brown) - In the first series, Claudia Brown was a Home Office official and the team's government liaison, but disappeared at the end of Episode 6 due to a timeline change. Jenny Lewis, an identical woman, was introduced at the end of Series 2, Episode 1, serving as the new Public Relations officer for the ARC. She resigns at the end of Series 3, Episode 5.
Stephen Hart (James Murray) - Cutter's lab technician and "bodyguard". Stephen sacrificed himself for Nick, Helen and the team in the last episode of Series 2.
Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) - A palaeontologist, villainess and Cutter's estranged wife. Knocked off a cliff and killed by a raptor at the end of Series 3 while attempting to destroy humanity at its birth place in the Great Rift Valley.
Captain Tom Ryan (Mark Wakeling) - A Special Forces leader and former SAS operative. He is killed at the end of Series 1.
Oliver Leek (Karl Theobald) - Lester's assistant, who appears suddenly at the beginning of Series 2, replacing Claudia Brown. It is later revealed that Leek is in league with Helen Cutter. This character dies at the end of Series 2.
Sarah Page (Laila Rouass) - An Egyptologist, Cutter recruits her into the team at the beginning of Series 3. Her job is to investigate ancient myths and legends involving creatures to see whether any of them can be explained by anomalies. She will not be returning in Series 4 as actress Laila Rouass wanted to devote more time to raising her three year old daughter, Inez.
Episodes
Primeval's first series in 2007 comprised six episodes. Each instalment contributed to a
story arc which continued into the second series. The following series in 2008 was slightly longer with seven episodes. The third series began broadcasting on 28 March 2009 in the UK (22 in
Spain, 23 in
Germany), and had ten episodes. The fourth and fifth series will have 13 episodes between them.
Production
Setting
The series takes place first in Primeverse and then due to the time alteration in the final episode in the first year (of the series) the second year is in a
alternate universe that shares some features of the times covered in other
Impossible Pictures shows such as
Prehistoric Park and the
Walking with... series. Tim Haines and Adrian Hodges have added places and characters not covered there.
There is also the possibility that the Primeverse will be featured in future Impossible Pictures productions as writer Adrian Hodges has stated that he'd like to take the Primeverse "in another direction one day".
The series includes various imaginary species which are not native to the series setting, with some being prehistoric and others being futuristic. For the first series, various creatures were designed with some artistic license, for dramatic effect.
Filming
The first series was filmed partly at
Pinewood Studios, Black Park, Buckinghamshire,
London Underground,
New Den Stadium (home of
Millwall FC, although apparently the
Matchroom Stadium, home of
Leyton Orient F.C. according to the official website) and CEME (the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence near Ford's Dagenham)
Whipsnade Zoo,
London Zoo, the
Canary Islands,
Thorpe Park and
Bournemouth beach.
The Duke of Kent building at the University of Surrey, Guildford is used as the back-drop for the team's HQ, the ARC (Anomaly Research Centre).
Filming of the second series completed on 1 October 2007, and was broadcast in early Caroline Steel and Oliver Leek, portrayed by Naomi Bentley and Karl Theobald respectively, were two new characters for the second series, both of whom conspired with Helen Cutter. However, by June 2009, ITV confirmed the show was axed. At the same time, it was suggested that the production team would attempt to keep "Primeval alive in other ways." An ITV spokesman is quoted as saying:
"After three very successful series of Primeval there are no plans at the present time for it to return to ITV. High-quality drama remains a key part of the ITV schedule although our current focus is on post-watershed productions."
A likely contributing factor to the show's cancellation was ITV suffering severe financial troubles during 2009, reporting a £105 million half-year loss. As a result some of its other popular shows including Heartbeat were axed. On 29 September 2009, it was announced that two new series of the show will be produced for transmission in 2011, retaining most of the Series 3 cast; Laila Rouass has stated that she will not be returning. The new deal means a seven-part Series Four will air on ITV1 before being repeated on UKTV’s Watch channel, while the six-part Series Five gets its debut on Watch before showing on ITV1. Filming for series 4 and 5 of Primeval started on 22 March 2010 and is due to finish in November 2010, with January 2011 set as the new series 4 airdate. Filming for Series 4 was confirmed to have finished filming on June 25th, with filming for Series 5 starting immediately.
On 7 April 2010, three new regular characters were announced for series four and five. These were scientist Philip Burton, to be played by Alexander Siddig, Matt, the new field leader, to be played by Ciarán McMenamin and Jess, played by Ruth Kearney, who will run operations from the ARC Control Centre.
On the 8th June, in an interview with Robert Quinn, the only Irish director involved with the fourth series, stated that in episode 5 and 6 of series 4, one would feature creatures that would terrorise a seaside village (filmed in Wicklow) and in the other, creatures would attack a castle (filmed in Luttrelstown castle).
Spin-offs
Plans for a feature film version of Primeval have been revealed by
ITV with
Warner Bros. reportedly having acquired the screen rights with
Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster named as the producers. In August, 2010, Jonathan Drake, Managing Director of Impossible Films, confirmed rumours of a
spin-off series. According to Drake, Impossible has entered a franchising deal with Canadian independent company,
Omni Film Productions, to produce a Canadian version of the series. Drake said, "We won't be replacing the UK show in the international market but complementing it. It will provide a positive glow for our catalogue of existing Primeval shows. And if something were to happen to the UK version, the brand still survives." writers
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are expected to deliver scripts for the new series.
Merchandise
Toys and action figures
The master toy licence for
Primeval was given to
Character Options, the same company that created the
Doctor Who toy line. Jon Diver, joint MD at Character Group, stated that the series one toy line will be "extensive" and was scheduled for release in October 2007, followed by a series two toy line released in January 2008 to correspond with the second series. The toy line includes all of the main characters and a few of the creatures. A large plush toy version of Rex was also put into production. It is unknown if the toys will be shipped over to America. The Primeval Toy line includes:
* Main Characters (Nick Cutter, Helen Cutter, Stephen Hart, Connor Temple, Abby Maitland, James Lester, Claudia Brown, Jenny Lewis, Captain Tom Ryan)
Creatures (Rex, Giant Arachnids, Hesperonis, Dodo & Parasite, Agnurognathus, Future Predator, Raptor, Sabre-Tooth, Mer-Creature, Giant Scorpion)
Sets (Anomaly Incursion Set, Creature Incursion Set, Anomaly Detector Build-A-Figure)
Plush Rex with sound
Flying Rex & Agnurognathus
Handheld Anomaly Detector with lights & sound
Books
Ladybird Books has so far published 2 sticker books (one of which is a glow in the dark sticker book) a poster book, a tattoo activity title, a wipe-clean activity book, and a summer annual for children from 5–8 years old. They will also publish additional activity titles for February 2009.
Puffin Books are also publishing four Primeval paperback books named A Rip in Time, Dangerous Dimension, The Lost Predator and Fight for Survival.
DVD releases
A box set for Series 1 and 2 was released by Warner Home Video on 17 March 2008 in
Region 2 and on 4 November 2008, in Region 1. These sets were composed of four DVDs with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The series were also released individually (not in the US). Series 3 was released in Region 2 on 1 June 2009, with the finale included before it was aired on television, Series 3 was released in
Region 1 on 15 September 2009. Series 4 is confirmed to be released on 21 February 2011 in the UK.
Viewing statistics
The first episode gained a final viewing figure of 7.09 million people. The series averaged 6.39 million viewers. When shown in
Germany it gained a total audience of 2.78 million viewers. These figures do not take into account the viewing figures for repeats of the programme. After all 7 episodes, series 2 averaged 6.29 million viewers making a very slight drop of 100,000 from the series 1 average.
Although episode 3.3 received low viewer ratings in the UK, the second half of the show was aired during the opposing BBC transmission of a special edition of Doctor Who. Series 3 was also broadcast much later in the year than previous seasons so warmer weather could be a factor to explain a small decrease in viewership but little change in the percentage of audience share. Nevertheless, Primeval remains in the Top 30 most viewed programmes for ITV per week, beating many of the Top 30 for other stations as well.
! Final Rating
|-
| 1.1
| 6.7 million (29%)
| 7.09 million
|-
| 1.2
| 6.0 million (28%)
| 6.29 million
|-
| 1.3
| 5.8 million (25%)
| 6.17 million
|-
| 1.4
| 5.6 million (24%)
| 5.81 million
|-
| 1.5
| 6.2 million (28%)
| 6.46 million
|-
| 1.6
| 6.1 million (27%)
| 6.52 million
|-
| Average:
| colspan="2" |
6.39 million
|}
Series 2
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Episode
! Overnight rating
(audience share)
First broadcast on BBC America on August 9, 2008, Primeval met with generally favourable reviews among American critics, earning 73 out of 100 on the aggregate review site Metacritic. Calling the show both child-friendly and entertaining for adults, Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune noted the unusual date of the American première, stating that "most networks...have shied away from launching shows during August, when the Beijing Olympics are expected to dominate the TV landscape." Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised Primeval's special effects and sense of humor. Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times criticized the music and emotional direction of the narrative, saying of protagonist Nick Cutter "I know your wife has been missing for years, but ye gods, man, that's a bloody dinosaur."
Comparisons have been made between Primeval and the popular BBC series Doctor Who, which is famous for its use of time travel. The producers of Primeval have consistently resisted comparison of the series with Doctor Who, calling Primeval more "reality-based." Actor Douglas Henshall instead compared the series to The A-Team, calling Primeval an ensemble piece featuring characters with different backgrounds who must work together. Torchwood creator and former Doctor Who head writer Russell T Davies commented on the show in 2007, criticizing Primeval's lack of ethnic casting as "shameful," but then adding "apart from that, I think it's excellent". The show has since introduced Sarah Page, played by the Moroccan-Indian actress Laila Rouass, as a permanent member of the team.
International broadcasts
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
|-
! Country
! Network
! First broadcast
!
|-
|
||
ITV
|10 February 2007
|
|-
|
||
Watch
|2011
|
|-
|
||
Watch
|2011
|
|-
|
||
Nine Network 2007-2009
7mate 2010 -
|29 April 2007
||
|-
|
|
één and
acht
|7 September 2007
|
|-
|
|
Space
|4 April 2007
|
|-
|
||
KBS2
|15 April 2007
|
|-
|
|
ProSieben
|4 June 2007
|
|-
|
|
TVB Pearl
|14 February 2007
|
|-
|
|
TV2
|11 July 2007
|
|-
|
|
NRK3
|December 2008
|-
|
|
Canal+ &
Cuatro
|2007
|
|-
|
|
Kanal 9
|3 September 2007
|
|-
|
||IRIB 4
| 2009
|-
|
||
Jimmy
|28 December 2007
|
|-
|
||
M6
|29 December 2007
|
|-
|
||
NRJ12
|2 December 2008
|
|-
|
||
TVR2
|2008
|
|-
|
|
HBO Latin America
| 2008
|
|-
|
|
RTL Klub
|6 January 2008
|
|-
|
|
Public Television Service
|6 February 2008
|
|-
|
|
DR
|21 February 2008
|
|-
|
|
Kanal 1,
AXN Sci-Fi
|10 March 2008, 7th April 2010
|-
|
|
BBC Entertainment
|15 May 2008
|
|-
|
|
HRT
|7 July 2008
|
|-
|
|
BBC AmericaSciFi
|9 August 2008
10 April 2009 (
HD)
|
|-
|
|
Slovenská televízia
|6 May 2008
|
|-
|
|
RTP1,
Animax
|2 August 2008
|-
|
|
TV-3
|15 November 2008
|-
|
|
BBC Entertainment
|14 October 2008
|-
|
|
Z Tele
|December 2008
|-
|
|
NHK
|2 January 2009
|
|-
|
|
POP TV
|19 January 2009
|-
|
|
BBC Entertainment
|3 June 2009
|-
|
|
Skai TV
|2009
|-
|
|
RTS 1
|2009
|-
|
|TV3 viasat
|2008
|-
|
|
ČT1
|8 September 2009
|-
|
|
Sci Fi Channel (Benelux)
|December 2009
|-
|
|
SuomiTV
|27 April 2010
|}
References
External links
Category:2000s British television series
Category:2007 British television programme debuts
Category:British science fiction television programmes
Category:Dinosaurs in television fiction
Category:ITV television programmes
![Primeval Series 3 - NEW Trailer [March 09]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110106221602im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xWbOLKBd94Y/2.jpg "Primeval Series 3 - NEW Trailer [March 09]")
