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PRIMEVAL |
Nick Cutter - Douglas Henshall Jenny Lewis - Lucy Brown Connor Temple - Andrew Lee Potts Abby Maitland - Hannah Spearritt Stephen Hart - James Murray Helen Cutter - Juliet Aubrey James Lester - Ben Miller Oliver Leek - Karl Theobald Caroline Steel - Naomi Bentley 
OTHER PRIMEVAL SEASONS Season 1 Season 3 Season 4 PRIMEVAL CREATOR INTERVIEW Interview OFFICIAL SITE Official Site OTHER TIME TRAVEL SHOWS Doctor Who Journeyman Goodnight Sweetheart Life on Mars Ashes to Ashes Daybreak Doctor Who 
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Episode 1 - First transmitted 12th January 2008Professor Cutter emerges from his last trip through an anomaly to find that the world has changed. Claudia Brown has disappeared and nobody has ever heard of her, the team have a high tech building and resources he does not believe, he doesn't recognise half the people he is working with. On top of that, he is still coming to terms with the fact that his assistant Stephen had slept with his wife Helen. All of that, though is put on hold when the latest sighting comes through. There's a raptor in a shopping centre and....well that's it really. PRIMEVAL returns with a swaggering confidence in itself that certainly wasn't present in the last series. The plot - hah - such as it is has the team going into the shopping centre to hunt down their deadliest foe yet. From there on in it is a pure thrill ride. It's no JURASSIC PARK to be sure, but there is a lot of excitement, surprises, some blood and scares and plenty of humour as well. It's a slick package that entertains effortlessly and easily deflects the mind from the fact that none of it makes the slightest sense whatsoever. The episode is shot in a glass and steel shopping mall that looks fantastic (even when empty) and both the direction and the photography make the most of both the setting and the dinosaur of choice. There are slow motion shots of the team going into action that just make them look so cool, something that they wouldn't have dared try in the first series. It's glossy, it's slick and it just looks so fantastic. It's also a family show, so it's kept pretty simple, both in terms of basic plotting, but also in the human emotions on show. Cutter and Stephen's difficulties over Helen are paper-thin (a very thin piece of paper) and Cutter's angst over the loss of Claudia Brown is cut very short indeed. None of this, of course, matters a jot. This is popcorn stuff, but it's popcorn of the best toffee variety. Welcome back PRIMEVAL. The only question now is can the rest of the series live up to this opener? TopEpisode 2 - First transmitted 19th January 2008An anomaly appears in an upper storey of an office block and a foul smelling ground mist drifts in through the time breach. The team is called in after there are reports of creatures inside the mist. This second episode is a step down from last week's cracking opener, but still manages to be an entertaining hour passer. The use of the mist to provide a 'there's something down there' tension is a nice touch, although the possibilities are never completely exploited. They are also undermined by the reveal of the true shape of the creatures early on as giant carnivorous worms. Clearly borrowed directly from the insect pit sequence of the latest KING KONG, we weren't particularly impressed with them then and we aren't here, although the flurry of samurai sword action that is worked in is immense fun. Having them explode in a shower of baby boreworms is a step too far, however. More time is also dedicated to the characters with Connor finding himself an interested girl, much to Abby's chagrin and Helen Cutter emerging from the past back into Stephen's life. Most of Nick's bonding with Jenny (the replacement Claudia Brown) is done on the run, but the final surprise in that relationship won't come as a surprise to anyone over the age of 11. There are hints at plot arcs with Helen Cutter coming back and one of the soldiers in the team masquerading as the cleaner attacked by the baby dino last week, but they are hints at the moment. It's 'monster of the week' stuff at the moment, but bright and breezy 'monster of the week' stuff and all the better for it. Top Episode 3 - First transmitted 26th January 2008Connor's anomaly detector fails to locate the appearance of an anomaly even when a paintball player is savagely attacked by what might be a large cat. Cutter and the team mobilise, but the owner of the park that the cat is terrorising refuses to evacuate it. The culprit does indeed turn out to be a large cat - of the sabre-toothed variety. It also turns out to be getting help from a human source. Straight to the point - things with fur are much more difficult to create through CGI convincingly than things with scales or leathery skin. The sabre-toothed cat (it is never called a tiger) fails to convince from its first appearance on screen to its last. That's probably why it is kept hidden in the bushes for much of the time early on. It's a trick that worked for the unconvincing shark in JAWS, but it isn't so effective here where we're used to seeing the creatures up close and personal from early on. The later sequences with Cutter being chased around a house by the creature lack the tension of earlier episodes because the cat just doesn't seem real, and doesn't seem to occupy the same space as the actors. Speaking of JAWS the scene where the park owner refuses to evacuate the park in the high season could almost be taken verbatim from the film. Still, if you're going to steal then steal from the best.
The human element is ramped up in this episode. There are a lot more of them around and Connor gets a very nice moment with a man in a lion costume, but the fact that the cat has been getting help from a human and there are several suspects adds a bit more dimension than the usual 'team go up against the monster of the week in deserted area' theme. It also supplies the banter between Cutter and Jenny Lewis (it was her boyfriend she was with last week - sorry, fiance - so there's nothing permanent there) all based on relating to each other and other members of the public. It also comes as absolutely no surprise that Connor's new girlfriend is working for someone, but the question is who is the someone working for? TopEpisode 4 - First transmitted 2nd February 2008An anomaly appears on the Isle of Dogs in London during a tidal surge and something that has come through takes a young man down a manhole cover. The team swings into action on the canal and saves Jenny from being eaten by a shark with a tongue studded with teeth - a shark from the future rather than the past. The search continues and Abby is taken by the same creature that took the boy. Whilst Connor deals with her loss, Cutter is fired and Stephen takes over the search, in the wrong place. The action slows down for a week to allow for more character to be worked into the show. The relationship between Cutter and Jenny Lewis is deepening into almost respect whilst the rift between Cutter and Stephen remains lurking beneath the surface. Connor and Abby's relationship is also gathering pace, allowing for some strong work from Andrew Lee Potts as he mourns his lost flatmate. The source of the conspiracy around the cleaner who is a soldier is finally revealed. But the purpose of the show is its monsters and this week we get two. The JAWS connections continue as Cutter opens up a shark to see if there's a boy inside it and Jenny has to swim for her life as a dorsal fin cuts through the water. The second, more important creature is some kind of super-evolved seal. It's more intelligent, which doesn't quite explain why it takes humans without killing or eat them, but might give some hints. The CGI is at points singularly ineffective, mainly because of the presence of water which is always an element that the effects teams have had problems working with. This episode is more about the characters than the three before it, but there are still some quality action scenes as well. TopEpisode 5 - First transmitted 9th February 2008An anomaly appears, but the detector his hijacked, allowing a team of soldiers from the Helen Cutter team to get there first. Unfortunately, all they find on the other side is something big and nasty under the sand and a little girl who has sense enough to stay on the rocks. Nick and Stephen go through into the other side to get the girl and find themselves trapped there when the anomaly collapses. Connor's dumping of his girlfriend by text has unexpected consequences. Having the giant scorpions travel under the sand allows the production team to keep the CGI down whilst ramping up the JAWS-style 'there's something down there but we don't know what' tension. It also steals directly from the utterly brilliant TREMORS (if you haven't seen it then rent it now!) by having characters stranded on rocks whilst subterranean terrors roam around. The dialogue has some cracking moments, especially where the spiky girl is involved, but the continual appearance of Helen Cutter in Stephen's life without any sort of response from him is somewhat unbelievable. The giant scorpions aren't seen for a long time, but when they come out they are mainly seen in long shot fighting each other with enough speed to distract from the fact that they aren't the best quality. The giant millipede that Connor and Abby chase through the streets is much more fun. Next week's mammoths look like being great though. TopEpisode 6 - First transmitted 16th February 2008A mammoth (of the non-woolly variety) appears on a major motorway and causes some serious damage before the team show up. Following the successful conclusion of the emergency Cutter springs a trap to reveal the consipiracy leader inside the Anomaly Research Centre. Lester and his military spring into action, but it is Cutter and his team that find the real location, and secret, surrounding the operation. Having used the entire length of previous episodes to deal with the 'monster of the week' element of the show, this week manages to run it all off in less than half that time. It then gets down to what it really wants to be about, which is the conspiracy story that has been bubbling along in the background. All of the conspirators are finally revealed and the target (though not the ultimate purpose) of their games is finally revealed, setting up what is going to be a fine episode next week. The story might be a bit choppy due to its changing focus (mammoth here, future predator out to kill Lester there, conspiracy revealing traps everywhere), but it keeps the pace up and the action flowing. Quickly enough for you to not wonder about the silliness of it all. The mammoth effects work well, much better than anything in this season since the opening raptors, but it looks like the effects budget for the whole season might well have been swallowed up by next week's episode judging from the brief preview. The future predator, however, just doesn't cut it as a believable monster somehow, although its battle with Lester in the armoury is quite fun (although finally ripped off from JURASSIC PARK). Suffice to say that this episode has set up the plot well enough to make next week's unmissable. TopEpisode 7 - First transmitted 23rd February 2008The team are trapped in Leek and Helen's little headquarters and are about to be fed to the creatures, but not before Cutter learns of the plot to release creatures into the present to create havoc and Stephen gets called in for assistance. One thing seems likely, not everyone's getting out alive. The second season of PRIMEVAL goes out with a bang and a half. Following last week's set up, expectations for this finale were high and it didn't disappoint in any way. The sequence with a silurian scorpion being released onto a holiday resort beach is an exercise is suspense and terror (younger viewers beware) and Stephen's takedown of said monster is equally tense. Connor, Abby and Jenny faced with a sabre-toothed cat is also memorably suspenseful, not least for having a commercial break in the middle. Cutter on the run for his life from a future predator in the dark also ratchets up the action. Then there's the sacrifice. It's been worked up to throughout the season and is a powerful moment. Niggles, there are but a few. Helen remains a pantomime villainess (Cruella De Ville in Indiana Jones's wardrobe) whilst the real purpose behind Leek's plan (apart from wanting some respect) gets lost somewhere in amongst all the action. Not that this really matters. PRIMEVAL has grown in stature throughout its second run and is now firmly established as a quality family show. Hurry back please. Top |
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