Primeval (TV Series)

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''Primeval'' is a British science-fiction television programme produced for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

by Impossible Pictures. ''Primeval'' follows a team of scientists tasked with investigating the appearance of temporal anomalies across the United Kingdom through which prehistoric and futuristic creatures enter the present, while simultaneously trying to stop the end of the world. ''Primeval'' was created by

Tim Haines Tim Haines is a screenwriter, producer and director who is best known for his work on the BBC popular science shows ''Walking with Dinosaurs'', ''Walking with Beasts'', and ''Walking with Monsters''. He is co-creator and executive producer o ...

, who previously created the '' Walking with...'' documentary series, and

Adrian Hodges Adrian Hodges (born 4 February 1957) is an English television and film writer. He has won a BAFTA Award. Life and career He began his career in journalism for '' Screen International'' magazine

. It ran for five series, originally broadcast from 2007 to 2011. The idea for ''Primeval'' had originally been devised by Haines in the early 2000s, in the aftermath of the production of ''

Walking with Dinosaurs ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' is a 1999 six-part nature documentary television miniseries created by Tim Haines and produced by the BBC Science Unit the Discovery Channel and BBC Worldwide, in association with TV Asahi, ProSieben and France 3. Envi ...

''. Originally intended as a production for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

, ''Primeval'' was ultimately turned down in 2005 after several years of concepting due to being deemed too similar to the revived ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' by executives. Haines and Hodges then approached ITV, who were enthusiastic about the project. Before its initial broadcast, many early commentators dismissed ''Primeval'' as a ''Doctor Who'' ripoff. Despite this, the first series of ''Primeval'' met with an enthusiastic response, becoming both a critical and an audience hit. Also successful with international audiences, ''Primeval'' overcame its early dismissals and became recognised by critics as something unique in its own right. Though the second series met with a somewhat more lukewarm reception, ''Primeval'''s third series received high praise from critics as its strongest outing yet. Despite maintaining good ratings, ''Primeval'' was cancelled by ITV following the third series due to financial issues. After a few months in hiatus the programme was brought back through a co-production deal with

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...

, allowing for the production of a fourth and fifth series. Reception to the fourth series was mixed but the fifth series again garnered praise from critics. Though the fifth series was a success during its initial broadcast on the channel

Watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

in 2011, its disappointing ratings when it was broadcast on ITV the following year led to ''Primeval'' being cancelled again. The success of ''Primeval'' spawned an accompanying franchise of merchandise, including novels, games and toy lines. An American film adaptation was announced to be in production in 2009 but languished in development and was ultimately never made. A Canadian spinoff series, '' Primeval: New World'', aired in 2013 but was cancelled after a single 13-episode season.

Production

Conception

, who studied

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and had a background in science journalism, made his first television breakthrough in the late 1990s when he as a

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

at the

...
envisioned and created the nature documentary series ''

'' (1999). ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' was the first ever natural history series on dinosaurs to make use of extensive special effects to depict them as animals in their natural environments and was a massive success, becoming the most watched science programme in British television history. While working on ''Walking with Dinosaurs'', Haines came up with the idea of using the technology of the series to produce a science fiction drama. Although the BBC were receptive to the idea, they wanted a recognisable property rather than a new idea, leading Haines to produce ''

The Lost World The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The g ...

'' (2001), an adaptation of the

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

novel of the same name. According to Haines, the success of ''The Lost World'' showed that it was possible to take the technology of ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' and create "very entertaining Hollywood-esque stories". The successes of his programmes allowed Haines to co-found his own high-end television production company in 2002, Impossible Pictures. After the production of ''The Lost World'', Haines came up with the idea of ''Primeval'', though he at this point called it ''Cutter's

Bestiary A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history a ...

''. Among the inspirations for the idea were the old science fiction films of

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Might ...

, which Haines felt had a "certain charm". Another inspiration were fossil ghost lineages, which Haines imagined could be explained by animals "swapping times".''The Making of Primeval'' (behind-the-scenes featurette from the DVD of ''Primeval'' series 1) Other influences included ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

'' and ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

''. Commentators unassociated with the production team have also suggested that ''Primeval'' was partly inspired by series such as ''

'', ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'', ''

Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...

'' and ''

Quatermass Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the Brit ...

''. Haines wrote a script together with another writer though it ultimately led to nothing.

, a television writer who at this point had recently won a BAFTA for '' Charles II: The Power and the Passion'' (2003), met with Laura Mackie, the BBC Head of Drama to discuss possibilities of future work. Hodges turned down working on ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

'' (2005) due to wanting to do "something that's fun" in the vein of ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

''. Mackie then suggested ''Cutter's Bestiary''; although Hodges thought the title was "terrible" he thought the concept of dinosaurs in the modern day was brilliant. Hodges came up with the title ''Primeval'' and he wrote several scripts for the BBC with the concept going through several different iterations, at first envisioned only as a 90-minute television film. When Haines and Hodges began working on the concept they had strived to create something that was also akin to ''Doctor Who'', which at the time had not yet been revived. Once ''Doctor Who'' was revived by

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include '' Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scie ...

in 2005, ''Primeval'' was deemed to be too similar by the BBC and was turned down, four or five years after Haines had first pitched ''Cutter's Bestiary''. After being turned down by the BBC, Haines and Hodges pitched ''Primeval'' to

commissioner Nick Elliott. Elliott greenlit the series on account of liking the scripts produced by Hodges and out of a wish to replicate the success of the revived ''Doctor Who''. Additional funding for ''Primeval'' was also secured from the German

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

and the French M6.

Development history

With the production of the series secured and several scripts already written, the producers in January 2006 moved on to casting the lead actors. Hodges and Haines personally approached

Douglas Henshall Douglas “Dougie” James Henshall (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series '' Primeval'' (2007–2011) and Detective Inspect ...

, who played lead character Nick Cutter, for the role but the other actors were cast through regular auditions. Henshall was joined in the main cast by James Murray,

Andrew-Lee Potts Andrew-Lee Potts (born 29 October 1979) is an English actor and director. He is best known for his role as the quirky Connor Temple on ITV's British science fiction programme '' Primeval'' and Space's Canadian spinoff '' Primeval: New World'' ...

Hannah Spearritt Hannah Louise Spearritt (born 1 April 1981)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, , p. 478 is an English actress and singer. She is an original member of the pop group S Club 7. Spearritt is also known fo ...

Lucy Brown Lucy is an English people, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are ...

Juliet Aubrey Juliet Emma Aubrey (born 17 December 1966) is a British actress of theatre, film, and television. She won the 1995 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for playing Dorothea in the BBC serial ''Middlemarch'' (1994). She is also known for her role as ...

Ben Miller Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two serie ...

and Mark Wakeling. ''Primeval'' was envisioned as a family series that did not take itself too seriously and appealed to both adults and kids. The producers sought to ensure that it would not just be a children's programme by also making the drama work on its own, working towards a "

PG-13 The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...

feel". The production team also made the deliberate choice to set many of the episodes in familiar environments for the audience and give the series a "modern feel" with the intent that viewers would feel as if they could find "dinosaurs in their kitchen". In addition to following a "

monster-of-the-week "Villain of the week" (or, depending on genre, "monster of the week", "freak of the week" or "alien of the week") is an antagonist that only appears in one episode of a multi-episode work of fiction. A villain of the week is commonly seen in Bri ...

" format, ''Primeval'' also sought to touch on deeper themes such as

environmental preservation Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health se ...

and

ecological disaster An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity.Jared M. Diamond, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', 2005 This point disti ...

. When choosing directors for ''Primeval'', Haines and Hodges wished to hire people with good track records. The directors approached for the first series were

Cilla Ware Cilla is an English female given name, originally the diminutive form of Priscilla and less frequently Drusilla. It first appeared in the 20th century. People named Cilla include: People * Cilla Black (1943–2015), English singer, actress and ...

and

Jamie Payne Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and ...

. Neither director had much background with action scenes but both were experienced with directing drama. The visual style of the series got some inspiration from

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

films such as '' Captain Blood'' (1935) and ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de H ...

'' (1938). During production of the first series, the title was initially spelt ''Primaeval''. The production of the first series was announced by ITV on 27 December 2005, touted as a "six-part epic about scientists who travel into prehistoric times through black holes". Following the success of the first series, ''Primeval'' was recommissioned for a second series in March 2007, announced on 8 June. The entire first series main cast returned for the second series, with the exception of Wakeling. The second series also introduced the further main cast members

Karl Theobald Karl Julian Theobald (born 5 August 1969) is an English actor and comedian. He has played 'Landlord' in ''Plebs'' and Martin Dear in Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing''. Early life Theobald was born in Great Yarmouth, to Wendy Theobald. He grew ...

and

Naomi Bentley Naomi Bentley (born 1981) is an English actress known for her roles in '' White Van Man'', ''Primeval'', '' Grownups'', ''Dalziel and Pascoe'' and ''Casanova''. Acting career Bentley graduated from a three-year acting course at the Webber Dougl ...

. The third series of ''Primeval'' was announced on 30 January 2008. Henshall had felt during the second series that ''Primeval'' had become "simplified in its ambitions" and left the series during the third series, which necessitated extensive rewrites to the intended plot of the third series, also impacting the storylines of Jenny Lewis (Lucy Brown) and Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey); Henshall was replaced as the main lead of the series by

Jason Flemyng Jason Iain Flemyng''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 25 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for roles in British films such as ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' (1998) ...

as Danny Quinn. Further new characters were introduced in the third series, played by

Laila Rouass Laila Rouass (née Abdesselam) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Amber Gates in ''Footballers' Wives'' (2004–2006) and Sahira Shah in ''Holby City'' (2011–2012, 2021). She has also starred in ''Primeval'' and '' ...

Ben Mansfield Ben Mansfield (born 29 May 1983) is an English actor, best known for playing Captain Becker in the ITV sci-fi drama ''Primeval''. Career Mansfield portrayed Captain Becker in the ITV sci-fi drama ''Primeval'', depicting the Captain of a speci ...

and

Belinda Stewart-Wilson Belinda Stewart-Wilson (born 16 April 1971) is a British actress best known for her role as Polly McKenzie in ''The Inbetweeners''. Early life Stewart-Wilson was born on 16 April 1971 in Kensington, the youngest of three daughters of Lieutenan ...

Cancellation and a revival

Despite the third series being successful, ''Primeval'' was cancelled after its run on 15 June 2009 for financial reasons, ITV having come very close to

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. ITV declined to recommission ''Primeval'' for a fourth series despite Impossible Pictures, the production company behind the series, proposing numerous different options, such as producing the series cheaper (for £600,000 per episode) or offering first-run rights to a rival channel. The cancellation was likely primarily motivated by the effects budget; ''Primeval'' cost around millions of pounds per series and ITV could not claim all of the money earned by the series due to it being produced independently by Impossible Pictures. During the production of the third series, the producers had at no point expected that ''Primeval'' would not return for a fourth series, stating in subsequent interviews that they would not have left as many of character's fates up in the air had they known of the threat of cancellation. ''Primeval'' was recommissioned three months after being cancelled. The "resurrection" of the series was made possible through a new deal made by Impossible Pictures, in which the series would be co-produced by both ITV and

(with the costs shared), with additional funding also being provided by

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

and ProSieben. The deal secured the making of thirteen new episodes, split into a fourth and fifth series. The fourth series would air on ITV and then on the UKTV-owned channel

whereas the fifth series would air first on Watch. The production team were thrilled to be able to produce two additional series since it would allow them to resolve the plotlines of the previous series and move ''Primeval'' further. The fourth and fifth series had a combined budget of £15 million. Although most of the cast of the third season were announced as returning for the fourth and fifth series, the production needed to cast several new characters, due to the departures of several actors and the third series leaving several characters stranded in the past. New main cast members Laila Rouass and Jason Flemyng were also unable to commit to an entire further series. As a result, the fourth and fifth series brought in several new main characters, played by Ciarán McMenamin,

Ruth Kearney Ruth Delia Kearney (born 11 November 1984) is an Irish actress, best known for her roles as Jess Parker in ''Primeval'', Daisy in ''The Following'', and London in ''Flaked'', a series on Netflix. Early life Kearney was born in London, England, ...

Ruth Bradley Sharon Ruth Bradley is an Irish actress. She is best known for playing Emily Merchant in '' Primeval'' (2011) and Karen Voss in ''Humans'' (2015–18). She has also had recurring roles in ''Legend'' (6 episodes, 2006), '' The Innocence Project' ...

and

Alexander Siddig Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig. Siddig i ...

. Ultimately, poor ratings for the fifth series when it aired on ITV in 2012 caused ''Primeval'' not to be renewed for a sixth series, despite both the production team and the cast being interested in continuing the series.

Production schedule

Special effects

The visual effects of the first three series of ''Primeval'' were created by the London-based visual effects company

Framestore Framestore is a British animation, visual effects company and creative studio based on Chancery Lane in London. Formed in 1986, it acquired (and subsequently merged with) the Computer Film Company in 1997. It works on feature films and tele ...

, who were brought in due to being long-time collaborators with Haines and Impossible Pictures, previously having worked on ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' and the other '' Walking with...'' series. Christian Manz was hired as a visual effects supervisor due to the highly ambitious effects required for ''Primeval''. Each episode required about thirteen weeks of effects work, with eight weeks of animation, six weeks of

compositing Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously ca ...

and three weeks of lighting. Compositing was the most expensive portion, taking up about half of the budget. Usually multiple episodes were worked on at the same time. Framestore employed a crew of 60 people for ''Primeval'', including fifteen animators and fifteen compositors, about the same number of people as the crew that shot the series. The large crew was necessary in order to be able to produce the effects on time since production of ''Primeval'' was often very fast; the effects work on the first series began during filming in April 2006 and was finished in September. The producers did not initially have a clear idea for how the anomalies were supposed to look; in his scripts, Hodges simply described them as "shimmering in the air". The design was created by Haines and the effects team, with the goal to make it quite beautiful. The crushed glass-like final design drew on the idea that they were a fragmented version of what was on the other side―in scenes where people are depicted as going through them, the fragments gradually get bigger until they finally step into the world on the other side. Framestore were initially announced as also working on the fourth series, but ended up not partaking in its production. In their place, the visual effects of the fourth and fifth series were created by the visual effects company The Mill. According to Haines, the production team opted to work with The Mill due to shooting in HD, an area in which The Mill had a "superb track record". The pratical effects of ''Primeval'', including puppets and animatronics, were created by

Crawley Creatures Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

, a company which had previously worked with Impossible Pictures on both the ''Walking with...'' programmes and on ''

Prehistoric Park ''Prehistoric Park'' is a six-part nature docu-fiction television mini-series that premiered on ITV on 22 July 2006 and on Animal Planet on 29 October 2006. The programme was produced by Impossible Pictures, who also created ''Walking with Din ...

''.

Music

Dominik Scherrer Dominik Scherrer is a Swiss-British composer born in 1967 in Zurich, Switzerland, who has written prolifically for film, theatre and television. Career Scherrer has composed the music score for both seasons of the British television series '' ...

was the lead composer for the first three series of ''Primeval''. Scherrer spent ten days composing tracks and an additional three days to record and mix them for each episode. He opted to create music that was a hybrid between

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and traditional orchestra, noting that the urban nature of the setting and the attitudes of the characters were an influence. Scherrer said that the CGI nature of the show was a creative challenge, as the themes he scored for the creatures were often based on incomplete images. He noted "sometimes a drawing of the creature, or just a description from the director may help me get a feel for the creature. The final look and texture can be very influential on the music". On creating the theme song of ''Primeval'', Scherrer stated that "the central feel is that of majesty and adventure, reflecting the momentous occasion of mankind linking up with the pre-historic past and also the majesty of the creatures themselves – they are dangerous and wonderful." 75 minutes of Scherrer's original score for the first three series was released by

MovieScore Media MovieScore Media is a Swedish record label devoted to original film scores, founded in 2005 by former film music journalist Mikael Carlsson. The label has produced over 500 soundtrack albums, focusing primarily on scores composed by up and coming ...

both digitally and on CD on 20 September 2011 under the title ''Primeval: Original Television Soundtrack''. For the third series, composer

James Hannigan James Hannigan (born 23 July 1971) is a British composer with credits in the ''Harry Potter'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''Command and Conquer'' (including Red Alert 3's well-known Soviet March), ''Dead Space'', ''Warhammer'', ''Cloudy With ...

also wrote new music to accompany Scherrer's themes. Angus Moncrieff worked as orchestrator, synth programmer and trumpet player for the first two series and also composed, produced and mixed 35-40 minutes of new music for four episodes of the third series. Stephen McKeon was the lead composer for the fourth and fifth series.

Creature designs

Though the prehistoric creatures featured in ''Primeval'' were fundamentally rooted in science they were intentionally not fully scientifically accurate, often being exaggerated in size and made to look scarier. They were also often for cinematic purposes made more intelligent than their real-life counterparts to give them more character, such as predators deciding who and how to attack. The decision to not adhere to strict scientific rigour but to rather use science as an "inspiration for creative thought" was made by Haines, who after working on the ''Walking with...'' programmes (which had to adhere more strongly to scientific fact) wanted to be free of such restrictions. Fictional design details included decisions such as giving gorgonopsids four rather than two saberteeth. In addition to featuring real prehistoric creatures, ''Primeval'' also introduced several fictional creatures, some from the future. The decision to include future animals was made during pre-production of the first series, with the idea being that if anomalies connected the past to the present they could logically also connect the present to the future. The most iconic of ''Primeval'''s future creatures are the recurring future predators, giant flightless predatory bats. Though fictionalised, prehistoric creatures in most cases still greatly resembled their real counterparts, not only a design decision but also a decision made to make it easier for animators; real creatures were always easier to animate since their biomechanics could often be figured out and animated convincingly more easily than fictional designs. Scientific theories on the animals featured were also often used for deciding the behaviour and abilities of creatures. As an example, certain genera of therocephalians might have been venomous, a theory which was used as the basis for also making the therocephalians featured in ''Primeval'' venomous. The process of creating the creature models involved first creating concept artwork; many of the creatures were designed by

Daren Horley Daren is a hamlet bach in the community of Trefeurig, Ceredigion, Wales, which is 73.2 miles (117.7 km) from Cardiff and 174.5 miles (280.8 km) from London. It is represented in the Senedd by Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) and is part of th ...

. Horley was involved with the project very early on, before it was commissioned by ITV, and had produced some concept sketches for Haines's initial pitch of ''Cutter's Bestiary'' to the BBC. Horley also designed the texture maps for the finished models. Though his designs continued to be used, Horley ceased to work on ''Primeval'' after the third series. After Horley had created concept artwork, sculptors made maquettes out of clay based on his designs. These were then scanned into the computer using a very high resolution laser scanner.

Main cast and characters

Episodes

Series 1 (2007)

The first series follows the efforts of Professor Nick Cutter (

) and his associates, friend and colleague Stephen Hart ( James Murray), student Connor Temple (

) and a

zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

Abby Maitland (

) as they investigate the appearance of anomalies that allow the passage to other times and places, allowing often-dangerous creatures from the distant past or future to threaten the lives of citizens. The British government's Home Office, under the supervision of

James Lester Sir James Theodore Lester (23 May 1932 – 31 October 2021) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. Parliamentary career Born in Nottingham in May 1932, Lester first stood for Parliament in 1968 Bassetlaw by-elect ...

(

) and

Claudia Brown This is a list of characters in the ITV science fiction television series ''Primeval'', including supporting characters. The series originally features a cast of five main characters plus supporting cast who investigate time anomalies for the ...

(

), becomes involved after a

gorgonopsid Gorgonopsia (from the Greek Gorgon, a mythological beast, and 'aspect') is an extinct clade of sabre-toothed therapsids from the Middle to Upper Permian roughly 265 to 252 million years ago. They are characterised by a long and narrow skull ...

travels through one such anomaly and wreaks havoc in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

. Professor Cutter's wife, Helen Cutter (

), presumed dead for eight years, is revealed to have been travelling in time through the anomalies.

Series 2 (2008)

After returning from the past at the end of the first series, Cutter discovers that Claudia Brown has been erased from time and that the team now operates out of a large structure called the Anomaly Research Centre (ARC). In Claudia's place an assertive and quite different PR agent named

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child a ...

(also played by Lucy Brown) joined the team. Though Abby and Connor are drawn closer to each other, Abby is also forced to contend with Connor's new girlfriend Caroline Steel (

), a woman with a hidden agenda. Claudia's former position has been taken by Oliver Leek (

), who secretly works with Helen and plans to use creatures from the anomalies, particularly future predators, to gain political power.

Series 3 (2009)

The third series sees Cutter continuing to investigate the anomalies, hoping to find ways to predict their appearance. Following the death of Stephen at the end of the second series, the team is expanded with

Captain Becker This is a list of characters in the ITV science fiction television series ''Primeval'', including supporting characters. The series originally features a cast of five main characters plus supporting cast who investigate time anomalies for the ...

(

) and Sarah Page (

), a professor employed at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. James Lester has to deal with his old government rival Christine Johnson (

), who aspires to use the anomalies and future predators for military purposes. Helen invades the ARC with an army of clones and kills Cutter, whereafter he is replaced as team leader by

Danny Quinn Danny Quinn (born Daniele Anthony Quinn; 16 April 1964) is a Mexican-Italian actor. He is the son of Anthony Quinn.http://articles.philly.com/1997-08-20/living/25567777_1_kathy-benvin-fayed-dodi Since 1986, he has appeared in more than twenty fi ...

(

), a former police detective who became involved after discovering his brother had been killed by a creature from the future.

Series 4 (2011)

The fourth series takes place around a year after the third, and features many new team members following the deaths and disappearances of large parts of the team in the third series. The updated ARC includes, alongside Captain Becker, new team members Matt Anderson ( Ciarán McMenamin), a man with a hidden agenda with the ARC and the anomalies, Jess Parker (

), a coordinator for the field team and Philip Burton (

), an entrepreneur funding the ARC in a public/private partnership with the government. Connor and Abby also return to the team after having spent a year stranded in the Cretaceous. The fourth series also sees the appearance of a group of time travelers, including the mysterious Ethan Dobrowski (Jonathon Byrne), who is a serial killer, and Emily Merchant (

), who is from the Victorian era.

Series 5 (2011)

The fifth series sees Connor recruited by Philip for his new secret project "New Dawn", which aims to extract energy from the anomalies and use it to solve the world's

energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...

. Matt, knowing New Dawn will lead to the end of the world, recruits Abby to attempt to learn what Connor and his new assistant April Leonard ( Janice Byrne) are researching, all the while they are forced to deal with new anomalies and creature incursions.

Reception and legacy

Critical reception

''Primeval'' met with enthusiastic reactions during its original broadcast, becoming both a critical and an audience hit. The series was also successful with international audiences, airing in over 30 countries worldwide and for instance becoming very popular with audiences in both the United States and South Korea. ''Primeval'' has repeatedly been commended for not pretending to be something it is not and for its homages to classic science fiction.'''' On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

(using a scale of 0–100), ''Primeval'' scored 72, indicating generally favourable reviews. Though some later commentators saw ''Primeval'' as never fully realising its potential, the series remains fondly remembered as one of the greatest British science fiction series. It has often been described as a

cult series A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

. Though some reviewers found the characters of the first series to be insufficiently developed and some of the scripts to be "clichéd", ''Primeval'' succeeded in overcoming early dismissals of being a "''Doctor Who'' ripoff", with critics agreeing that the series was something unique in its own right. The first series garnered praise for its overall story arc and not being repetitive. Opinions differed on the quality of the special effects. Rob Hunter of ''

Film School Rejects Film School Rejects is an American blog devoted to movie reviews, interviews, film industry news, and feature commentary. It was founded by Neil Miller in February 2006. The site was nominated for Best News Blog by ''Total Film'' magazine and na ...

'' gave the series high praise as the "best monster-of-the-week show since ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''". Reception for the second series was more lukewarm, with opinions differing on whether the effects were superior or inferior to those of the first series and on the quality of the writing and character development. Reception of the later episodes of the second series, in particular the two-part finale, was more universally positive. The third series of ''Primeval'' met with high praise, with reviewers concluding that its greater number of episodes allowed for more extensive characterisation and character development, that it had a greater sense of thrill and suspense, that the actions of characters had consequences, and that its expanded central story was good. Several reviewers favourably compared the third series to the

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...

era of ''Doctor Who'' (1970–1974), owing to its altered team dynamic,'''' and several considered it the strongest year of ''Primeval'' yet. In contrast, the fourth series received a more mixed response, with reviewers criticising the introduction of the new characters, the speed of the central story arc, and its resolution. The effects of the fourth series received praise as the best of ''Primeval'' so far. The fifth and final series was praised by critics as ''Primeval'' "going out on a high"; particular praise was given to the final two episodes.

Criticism

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing ...

'' creator and ''Doctor Who'' head writer Russell T Davies commented on the ''Primeval'' after the airing of its first series in 2007, stating that although he thought the series was "excellent", its "lack of ethnic casting" was "shameful". Davies's criticisms were met with some backlash as he had only recently cast

Freema Agyeman Freema Agyeman (; born Frema Agyeman; 20 March 1979) is a British actress. She rose to fame with her role as the Doctor's companion Martha Jones in the BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2007–2010), and received further recognition f ...

Martha Jones Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, ''Torchwood''. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in ''Doctor Who'', afte ...

for ''Doctor Who'''s third series; Martha was the first non-white companion in ''Doctor Who'' history and commentators pointed out that similar criticisms could be raised at previous series of ''Doctor Who''. In a review of the first episode of the fourth series of ''Primeval'' for ''

WhatCulture WhatCulture Ltd. is an online entertainment news website and magazine which was launched in 2010. The site offers news in the field of professional wrestling, television, films, video games, and board games. History Originally started by Peter ...

'', Dan Owen also pointed out ''Primeval'''s "curious lack of racial diversity in its all-white cast" and worried that the antagonist Philip Burton, played by Sudanese-born

, would be painted as a stereotypical "Asian villain". Siddig's performance was however later praised by critics as "avoiding too many clichés".

was cast for ''Primeval'''s second series, but she was revealed half-way through the series to be a secret antagonist. ''Primeval'' then rectified its lack of non-white main protagonists in the third series with the introduction of Sarah Page, played by

, though Rouass could not return for the fourth or fifth series on account of their lengthy periods of filming. ''Primeval'' has also faced some criticism for its portrayal of female characters. In his review of the first series in ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

'', Iain Clark criticised ''Primeval'''s female characters as "strong, but only to a point" and that "when it comes to the crunch it's always the men who do the saving; even the nerdy men". Clark conceded that Helen Cutter was a strong character "who remains consistently independent and interesting" but also noted that she was also portrayed as "unlikeable right through to the finale". The first series was also criticised for contriving the plot to have numerous scenes of Hannah Spearritt in her underwear. According to Spearritt, the scenes were filmed in one block and then spread out over the series; both she and the producers were reportedly shocked when watching it back and noticing how many such scenes there ended up being; no such scenes were filmed for subsequent series. Both Spearritt's Abby Maitland and the later introduced Emily Merchant, played by

, were more positively received as strong female characters in later series.

Viewership

''Primeval'' was nearly consistently met with good ratings. The first and most watched episode of the series was watched by over seven million viewers,Weekly top 30 programmes on TV sets (July 1998 – Sept 2018)
''Broadcasters' Audience Research Board''. Retrieved 13 May 2022. over a million more than the usual viewing figures of its slot on ITV. Although ''Primeval'' was commissioned by ITV due to the success of ''Doctor Who'' and several commentators saw it as ITV's attempt at creating a rival series, the cast and crew of ''Primeval'' did not envision the series as a ''Doctor Who''-competitor. Douglas Henshall stated in a 2007 interview that ''Primeval'' had a completely different format and instead compared it to ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...

'', with influences from ''Jurassic Park'' and ''

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...

''. In a 2021 interview, Henshall stated that it would have been impossible to seriously compete with ''Doctor Who'', a sentiment echoed by Adrian Hodges, who stated that although it would have been great if they had been able to beat ''Doctor Who'', he "just wanted to do well". Though both Henshell and Hodges believed that ''Primeval'' would have done better if it had aired a few years later, Andrew-Lee Potts believed ''Primeval'' to have aired at just the right time based on its success. ''Primeval'' was for its first two series not far behind the viewership figures of contemporary ''Doctor Who'', with the first series having an average of 6.39 million viewers (compared to ''Doctor Who'''s 7.55 million) and the second having 6.29 million (compared to ''Doctor Who'''s 8.05 million). The third series averaged about five million viewers per episode; although this was down more than a million from the previous two series, the numbers were still considered successful both by commentators and by ITV itself. The series created after ''Primeval'''s cancellation and revival saw more seriously dropping viewing statistics. The fourth series averaged around four million viewers, which was considered somewhat disappointing. The fifth series first premiered on the digital channel

, where it averaged around 500,000 viewers. Although much less than on the terrestrial channel ITV, the numbers were a great success in comparison with other digital channels and ''Primeval'' was Watch's biggest series of the year. When the fifth series was later broadcast on ITV it had a considerably more disappointing run, with the first episode being watched by 2.55 million viewers and the last only by 1.38 million, the lowest ratings in ''Primeval'''s history.

Award nominations

Other media

Books

''Primeval'' was accompanied by both novelisations of episodes of the series and by original novels with new stories. The original novels took the team from the series and placed them in new locations and situations and were in many cases stories the producers had wished to do for the TV series but which would not have been achievable with their budget. The book ''Extinction Event'' by

Dan Abnett Dan Abnett (born 12 October 1965) is an English comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, sinc ...

was in particular a storyline that they had wished to film but which would not be possible without a feature film-level budget. The storylines explored in the novels were created through a combination of the producers telling writers stories they had wanted to do and the writers pitching storylines themselves. Although the novels were written to not have any large-scale impacts on the plotlines of the TV series, the writers made an effort to keep them within the overall continuity.

''Primeval: New World''

A Canadian spinoff series of ''Primeval'', '' Primeval: New World'', was announced on 15 September 2011 as being in development for the Canadian television channel

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

. ''New World'' was a co-production between Omni Film productions, Impossible Pictures, and

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

. Production began in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia, in the winter of 2011. ''New World'' was not a continuation of the original series, though it continued its mythology and saw some cameo appearances, and was envisioned as an "older, darker and scarier" version of the programme. ''New World'' was cancelled after only a single thirteen-episode season due to poor ratings.

Film adaptation

Plans for an American feature film adaptation of ''Primeval'' were announced on 15 May 2009, with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

reported to have acquired the screen rights in a "six-figure deal". The film was announced as combining the "dinosaur element of ''

'' and the time travel element of ''

''" and slated to be produced by

Akiva Goldsman Akiva J. Goldsman (born July 7, 1962) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making motion pictures and adaptations of popular novels. Goldsman's filmography as a screenwriter includes ''The Client''; ''Batman Forever'' and its sequel '' Ba ...

and Kerry Foster. The script was to be written by

Jeff Pinkner Jeff Pinkner (born November 16, 1964) is an American television and movie writer and producer. Life and career Born to a Jewish family, Unlike the TV series, the film was to be set in the United States and it would not be part of the same continuity, instead "start ngits own mythology" based on the themes and ideas of the series. All of the characters would be new but they would have similar roles and responsibilities to the characters of the series. Although Warner Bros. reportedly planned production of the film to begin in 2010 its script was still being revised in 2011. Ultimately, a film adaptation remains as of yet unproduced.

Other merchandise

The first and second series of ''Primeval'' were accompanied by a line of action figures, created by

Character Group PLC Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

and Design Works. The actors were all photographed from various angles to ensure that the figures were faithful depictions.''Through the Anomaly'' (behind-the-scenes featurette from the ''Primeval'' series 2 DVD) The toy line included all main characters and some of the creatures.

Cubicle 7 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd is an Irish games company that creates and publishes tabletop games. Best known for its ''Doctor Who'' and ''Lord of the Rings'' games, Cubicle 7 offers titles covering a range of licensed and self-developed properties ...

released a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

based on the first three ''Primeval'' series on 11 May 2011, with a 288-page rulebook written by

Gareth Hanrahan Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan is an Irish game designer and novelist who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Hanrahan was one of the game designers included in the experimental community connected to the Gaming Outpost. When Mongoose Pu ...

. The expansion ''Companion'', based on the fourth series, was released on 18 December 2013 with a 128-page book. ''Companion'' was followed by a second expansion, ''Evolution'', based on the fifth series. ''Evolution'' was released on 2 July 2014, also with a 128-page book. A line of greeting cards based on ''Primeval'' were released by

Gemma International Gemma or GEMMA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gemma (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Gemma (surname), includes a list of people with the name Science and technology Biology * Gemm ...

in January 2009.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Impossible Pictures 2000s British drama television series 2010s British drama television series 2007 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings British science fiction television shows ITV television dramas Television series about dinosaurs British television series revived after cancellation 2000s British science fiction television series 2010s British science fiction television series Television shows filmed in Vancouver British time travel television series