PRIMEVAL, 5.6: tomorrow's world

This was easily the best episode of series 5 and possibly Primeval's most satisfying finale yet, despite the story feeling stretched to twice its natural length. Steve Bailie and co-creator Adrian Hodges are two of the show's best writers, and you can usually expect an increase in quality for the episodes they're behind. This was certainly the case here, as the finale delivered the action and jeopardy you demand of a monster-hunt show like Primeval, but also reduced the idiocy, delivered a few scenes of real emotion, and restored something the show lost this series: camaraderie between the characters.

Connor (Andrew Lee Potts) was last seen vanishing into Philip's (Alexander Siddig) super-anomaly, appearing in a barren future-Earth contaminated with a thin, noxious atmosphere, pummeled by erratic storms, and crawling with mutated Future Predators. Matt (Ciaran McMenemin) opted to go through the anomaly to rescue Connor, later joined by a gun-toting Abby (Hannah Spearritt), giving them both first-hand experience of his home: the dystopia Philip's "New Dawn" project is destined to cause. Back in the present, egomaniac Philip began to lose control of his man-made anomaly as it started to grow exponentially, eventually causing a bizarre atmospheric change in the skies above his facility, and a vicious Future Predator appeared in ARC for Lester (Ben Miller) and Jess (Ruth Kearney) to contend with.

There was a great deal to enjoy here, surprisingly, forgiving the fact Primeval lacks the budget to do a few ideas full justice—like the trip to the future. More importantly, I was surprised to see a genuinely good performance from Spearritt (her tearful reunion with Connor in an underground bunker was possibly the actress's best moment on this show), and even the terribly dry relationship between Emily (Ruth Bradley) and Matt was given some spice when Matt decided to sacrifice himself by altering history and potentially erasing his own timeline. The show works better, dramatically, when it’s less about wandering around trying to capture CGI monsters (that the actors can't see) and more about the characters facing things that test themselves. Siddig also looked more comfortable somehow, finally given a script that gave him something to play—as Philip realized the error of his ways and sacrificed himself to try and reverse the damage he's caused.

It's also worth mentioning the direction of Cilla Ware, who pulled off some decent sequences this week—in particular, there was a lovely shot when the camera pulled back from Lester and Jess to reveal the snarling jaws of a Future Predator before it started to prowl the ARC. Never underestimate how much a good camera move or choreographed action sequence can boost a show like Primeval, which demands a level of care and attention it rarely receives. The effects sequences of the intensifying super-anomaly, causing bizarre cloud formations and dragging entire buildings into its twinkling heart, were also notable highlights from a visual standpoint.

The story was largely unsurprising and could have ended a good half-hour early with some trimming, but overall series 5's finale was a great deal more exciting and watchable than every episode that's preceded it this year. I'm not sure what to make of the last-minute twist, however, when Matt encountered a bloodied doppelganger of himself in a darkened corridor who implored him to "go back". Primeval just broke a time-travel rule it established in series 1's finale (when meddling with history had an immediate effect on the present-day, and didn't result in an alternate timeline), so are we to assume there are two timelines now vying for existence? It doesn't make much sense right now, and to be honest I don't expect to provide a solid explanation from a show like Primeval, but I'm sure fans are just happy the ending suggests the writers expect to be recommissioned.

Whether the show deserves to come back after this frustratingly limp series is another matter.

Asides

• I never did understand Helen Cutter's motivations, or have forgotten whatever we learned over three years, so WHY did she manipulate Philip into causing the end of the world with his New Dawn project? How is causing the apocalypse in her interest?
• I seem to always mention this whenever the Future Predators make an appearance on the show, but they really are a great creature design. If you enlarged them, you almost end up with the Cloverfield monster, a good few years before that Lovecraft-inspired beast was conceived. The mutated versions here were perhaps even creepier because they sometimes moved around with a more human posture.

written by Steve Bailie & Adrian Hodges / directed by Cilla Ware / 28 June 2011 / Watch

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PRIMEVAL, 5.5: anomalous

Considering there were a few game-changing events in this penultimate episode, it's surprising how little I cared. A dinosaur appeared in the middle of a populated area (yes, finally!) and made the national news, shortly before anomalies started appearing around the world. Surely the cat's out of the bag now, and ARC will have to come clean about the existence of time-portals and creatures from other eras entering our world? This episode didn't have a chance to explore any of the logical repercussions of these events depicted, sadly. Instead, it was focused on having the ARC team stop Philip (Alexander Siddig) from turning on his New Dawn device, which Matt (Ciarán McMenemin) is convinced will cause the end-of-the-world...

Broadly speaking, episode 5 was reasonable entertainment, ignoring a clear instance of the show biting off more than it could chew with an unconvincing T-Rex attack. The rampaging dinosaur didn't appear to have any weight to it, and passersby were seen reacting implausibly or with wrong eye-lines. It was an ambitious scene for the show to attempt, but not one it managed to pull off.

The first half of the episode was strangely dull, but things perked up in the last quarter-hour once everyone converged on Philip's "lair" to turn his machine off. In particular, the reveal that New Dawn isn't what it was presented as worked rather well. A source of renewable energy using the power of man-made anomalies? Nope. Instead, it's a way to combine multiple anomalies into one super-anomaly, at a time when Philip's predicted the glittering portals will become abundant across the world (an event tied into the moment when the Earth's magnetic poles reverse). So anomalies have been early warning signs of a magnetic pole shift, and Philip's been attempting to prevent disaster by "converging" the anomalies to stop a devastating shift from happening. But that's something Matt doesn't agree with, as he believes a pole shift is a natural process that should be allowed to happen. So will Philip's action or inaction result in global catastrophe? Let's toss a coin...

One problem I have with Primeval is how tawdry the production can look, and how ineptly some of the action is delivered. There were some really idiotic or weird moments that spoiled this episode: the aforementioned T-Rex shenanigans; Abby (Hannah Spearritt) playing chicken with a dinosaur in a car park, lips quivering as she revved her engine (a worse Fast & Furious audition you will not find); a ridiculously staged "battle of the blondes" between Abby and April; Jess (Ruth Kearney) apparently wearing a Snow White costume to work, and the continuing charisma vacuum of Matt.

The fundamental idea behind Philip's plan was good, it's always appreciated when a villain actually has good intentions, and I'm hopeful the show will now take place in a world where everyone's aware of dino-spewing anomalies, but it's a shame so much of the episode was rather laughable. Series 5's been reminding me of a fan-made spoof, which is never good.

written by Michael A. Walker / directed by Cilla Ware / 21 June 2011 / Watch

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PRIMEVAL, 5.4: beetlemania

This was the most enjoyable episode of what's been a substandard series, if only because it kept things simple and played to the show's strengths. Episode 4 was a taught icky horror mostly set in the ARC, which was being flooded by thousands of giant beetles pouring through Connor's (Andrew Lee Potts) man-made anomaly. As Connor, Abby (Hannah Spearritt), Matt (Ciaran McMenemin), Emily (Ruth Bradley) and Becker (Ben Mansfield) grappled to contain the insect threat--complicated when insectaphobiac Jess (Ruth Kearney) was bitten and had an allergic reaction--Philip (Alexander Siddig) had to decide if he should incinerate the occupants of ARC before the teeming beetles escape into the outside world...

While this was a fun episode that, given its limitations, meant the story couldn't bite off more than it could chew. Primeval's on much surer footing when the plot is as simple as "avoid the beetles" (the CGI's usually more credible with creepy-crawlies, too), even if it still resorts to eye-rolling moments like himbo Becker shooting the queen beetle dead (against orders) or Jess finally leaving her desk... only to squeal, get bitten, and become a pale invalid. It would be more of an issue if the show didn't have some relatively strong female role-models in plucky Abby and tomboy Emily, admittedly. And they threw in a moment where the sickly Jess managing to shoot a bug dead, just to give her character a moment of courage.

And beyond the fun of seeing people hose down corridors crawling with beetles, it was the episode where Connor finally woke up to the fact his hero Philip's an egotistical megalomaniac, after realizing he was planning to kill them all to prevent the beetles getting out. It's an understandable concern, if you ask me, but there you have it. What else can you say about episode 4? I'm struggling with Primeval this year because the mythology of Philip's "New Dawn" project isn't very interesting (it obviously won't destroy the world), I couldn't care less about the Connor/Abby relationship, the show doesn't know what it's doing with time-traveller Emily, a plank of wood is more emotive than Matt, and it feels like this is just the dregs of series 4. The forward momentum with Connor now onside to stop Philip creating anomalies that may possibly destroy the world, is appreciated, but that's not a big enough hook to get me excited going forward.

written by Helen Raynor / directed by Robert Quinn / 14 June 2011 / Watch

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PRIMEVAL, 5.3: Victorianasaurus

I can promise you that when I suggested Primeval do something outside of its comfort zone (like actually sending someone through an anomaly, perhaps to Victorian times, to capture a dinosaur), I genuinely had no idea that would be the basis of the very next episode! I'm either psychic, or Primeval's writers are gradually tuning into my wavelength! Unfortunately, this was a pretty unremarkable hour's entertainment, especially given the apparent juiciness of its concept, and just made you realize how much better Doctor Who does this kind of thing...

The basic idea had some fun elements, with the ARC team discovering an anomaly where a Dromaeosaurus (raptor) has travelled through to the 1800s, leading Matt (Ciarán McMenemin) to volunteer a trip into the past to capture the creature. Arriving in 1886, Matt soon discovered that the dinosaur is to blame for a spate of London killings the press are blaming on "The Beast", and that lost love Emily (Ruth Bradley) is likewise trying to capture the dinosaur and has become mistaken for the legendary Spring-heeled Jack. Meanwhile, in the present-day, Abby (Hannah Spearritt) became more resolved to dissuade boyfriend Connor (Andrew Lee Potts) from working on Philip Burton's not-so-secret project, and realized their relationship may not survive the process.

A malaise has struck me about Primeval just lately. I've never truly loved the show, and simply liking it can often be a struggle because it's so willfully dumb, but series 5 feels like the last dregs of series 4 are being squeezed out in the digital hinterland. Maybe a summer schedule on Watch is partly to blame (as I'm not in the mood for Primeval on a warm Tuesday evening), or if it's simply because Primeval continually does a disappointing job with a fantastic Hollywood-style concept. How can a romp through Victorian London, with a man from the distant future and a beautiful lady armed with twin knives, both chasing a prehistoric beast that's been mistaken for an iconic boogieman, be so strangely tedious? It's probably a combination of the fact the budget couldn't allow for much beyond chases through the "streets" of the Black Country Museum, and one muddy CGI vista of Tower Bridge from 125 years ago, but also because it was so hard to care about Matt or Emily. We're supposed to believe they're a compelling romantic couple, but it's never really worked for me, and even the side issue of Emily's husband (Stephen Hogan) wants to have her committed to the renowned mental asylum Bedlam didn't really interest me.

Not for the first time this year, the ARC-based storyline was more appealing in some ways, although again the writing's not strong enough to make you believe Connor wouldn't trust Abby after she warned him against working for Prospero Industries. And I still don't understand why Matt can't convince Connor the same way he convinced Abby (by showing him actual footage of the future he comes from, where anomaly-based experiments have caused global catastrophe.) It helps, I guess, that Spearritt and Potts are in a relationship in real life, as they connect quite well on-screen, but it's just a shame Primeval lacks the quality of writing a show like this needs. We're halfway through series 5 and Jess (Ruth Kearney) has been given nothing to do beyond sit at a desk, and Philip (Alexander Siddig) seems to have vanished—even when Connor's making breakthroughs in science that would make Einstein erect, he's only on the end of a phone? Incidentally, all this pioneering science from the kid in the porkpie hat who owned a laptop loaded with a dinosaur encyclopedia from series 1, whoever would have imagined!

Overall, episode 3 was a big disappointment considering what its one-sentence synopsis stokes in your imagination, but as the likes of Doctor Who becomes almost cinematic in their complexities (both visually and narratively), poor Primeval's looking increasingly tired. Even the CGI monsters rarely convince you the creatures are interacting with anyone, and instead look pasted into the environments and sometimes given almost cartoonish mannerisms. And I haven't even mentioned the laughable moment when Emily's husband stepped through an anomaly into a 2011 exhibition of modern art and didn't even bat an eyelid over the matter!

We're halfway through series 5—what are your thoughts?

written by Paul Mousley & Gabbie Foster / directed by Robert Quinn / 7 June 2011 / Watch

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PRIMEVAL, 5.2: dinosaur on a submarine

There was a muted response to my premiere review of Primeval last week, so either people don't care about the show now, aren't aware of its return, or don't subscribe to Watch--the digital channel with the UK premiere ahead of ITV. I don't have much to say about episode 2, beyond the fact I was pleased it demonstrated some creativity--with an anomaly appearing deep in the North Sea and being discovered by a nearby British submarine...

The ARC team were sent aboard to seal the anomaly with a specially rigged torpedo, but after coming under attack from a liopleurodon (think Nessie) they found themselves dragged through the magnetized anomaly and into prehistoric waters. With no main power, a skeleton crew (of expendable cardboard cutouts), a propeller tangled in cable, a school of liopleurodons swimming around wondering if the sub's food, and a recovered eustreptospondylus (think velociraptor) gaining consciousness inside the sub, matters were actually made worse when a Navy Admiral monitoring events at ARC relinquished Lester (Ben Miller) of command and ordered the anomaly to be sealed using a nuclear-tipped torpedo.

Snakes On A Plane has nothing on Dinosaur On A Submarine, which is exactly what this was. It was a ludicrous hour, but knowingly so, and made more "slipshod sense" than most Primeval plots. It was enjoyable to have a story that managed to make the standard formula feel fresher, basically--with a deep sea environment and unusual circumstances the show hasn't tackled before. If anything, I was just disappointed the action sequences inside the submarine weren't very exciting with the on-board dinosaur, but that was off-set by some diverting exterior moments: such as Matt (Ciarán McMenamin) and Abby (Hannah Spearritt) in a submersible trying to untangle the giant propeller, and the giant dinosaurs slamming into the sub's hull.

Given the general competence of the week's plot, the side-order of mytharc was the least compelling element of the episode. I'm not sold on the idea Connor (Andrew Lee Potts) can't be taken into Matt's confidence about the fact he's come from the future and believes Philip Burton's going to cause a global catastrophe with the anomalies, as the writers have no persuasive argument for why Abby can't tell her boyfriend what she knows. The idea that Connor's spending the majority of his time working in secret for Burton doesn't quite work either, as the show's at pains to ensure Connor's around to participate in every adventure. It would make more sense if he was absent for awhile entirely, consumed by the "New Dawn" project, but obviously the show can't do that because ARC is staffed by a total of seven people.

A little better was the late reveal, via an old newspaper cutting, that Emily (the Victorian time-traveller who endeared herself to Matt in series 4) returned to her own time and was thrown into a mental asylum over her tall story, 12 Monkeys-style, I'm hopeful this means Matt will try and change history by going back through the next available anomaly to the late-1800s, or at least rescue her from the nuthouse, which would be something out of the show's comfort zone. Isn't it about time we had some adventures where the gang were capturing dinosaurs and monsters in the relatively recent past? Chasing a raptor through Victorian London or '60s Carnaby Street is exactly the kind of thing it's a shame Primeval is reticent to do--perhaps because it would be a strain on the budget.

Overall, episode 2 succeeded because the setting was unique for the show and, consequently, certain elements weren't entirely predictable. It didn't rewrite the rulebook, but it was something more imaginative than we usually get, with a claustrophobic tone and a story that justified its time nicely. Just don't ask too many questions: like how did that dinosaur get aboard the submarine, and why did the captain apparently decide it was a great idea to bring it aboard? Then again, the Royal Navy came out of this whole thing looking like blithering fools--compared to the ARC's own blithering fools.

written by Steve Bailie / directed by Robert Quinn / 31 May 2011 / Watch

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Review: PRIMEVAL, 5.1

Burrow over to Obsessed With Film, where I've reviewed the series 5 premiere of PRIMEVAL, which  received its UK premiere on Watch last night.

As part of ITV's co-financing deal with BBC America, Germany's Pro Sieben and UKTV, that allowed the return of their axed sci-fi drama Primeval, it's UKTV's digital channel Watch who receive the British premiere of series 5. This results in mixed fortunes: loyal fans get new episodes mere months after series 4 ended on ITV, but it’s no longer accessible to everyone and isn't being simulcast in HD. It also strikes me as odd that Watch have moved Primeval from its customary Saturday timeslot, as I suspect they could have lured a sizable post-Doctor Who audience their way... Continue reading...

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'Primeval' series 5 to debut 24 May

The action-adventure sci-fi series Primeval is returning for a fifth series on 24 May. As part of ITV's co-financing deal with BBC America, ProSieben and UKTV, the digital channel Watch will get the world premiere, with ITV1 repeating series 5 as a terrestrial premiere in early-2012. Watch will also be showing series 4 from 3 April @7pm, just prior to premiering brand new episodes.

It's a rather unique situation, isn't it! Doctor Who will also be splitting its series in half this year (the first seven episode airing from 23 April, followed by the remaining 6 in the autumn), but viewers will always find it on BBC1. In Primeval's case, I wonder how many ITV1 fans will be unaware new episode of Primeval are being broadcast on Watch this summer. I guess it depends on how much marketing Watch give the show's return, but I assume they'll be pushing this quite strongly. It's almost definitely going to be a ratings winner for them.

There's no word on BBC America's schedule. Primeval premiered on the same day in America earlier this year, before slipping to being a few weeks behind the UK, so will they have a similar arrangement with Watch? Or, worst case scenario, will BBCA viewers stay tethered to ITV1's broadcast, and consequently have to wait until next year?

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'PRIMEVAL' 4.7

Even with expectations duly lowered, Primeval's series 4 finale could only muster a subdued sigh from me. I think the truly frustrating thing about Primeval is watching a fantastic premise go to waste in the hands of writers who rarely deliver competent weekly stories, let alone effective plot arcs across a whole series. This year involved: a mysterious old man warning against doomsday, an enigmatic new member of the team, two rogue time-travellers from the 19th-century, and an inscrutable science maven whose company finances the ARC, but none of it coalesced into anything interesting or surprising. It's the kind of show where your own drifting imagination, trying to make sense of what each episode throws up, generally delivers more interesting theories than the show's so-called answers, which is an incredibly frustrating position to be in as a sci-fi viewer.

As ever, an anomaly opened in another auspiciously unpopulated area (an old prison that's become a tourist attraction), and the ARC team were called to investigate the glittery incursion. Abby (Hannah Spearritt), Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts), Becker (Ben Mansfield), Emily (Ruth Bradley), and various grunts descending on the penitentiary, later discovering a new type of anomaly that's able to spawn duplicates of itself that Jess (Ruth Kearney) can't detect separately. And through each unstable anomaly came some Phorusrhacids (aka series 3's "terror birds"), accompanied by former ARC hero Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng), wearing a red checked shirt and clutching a giant bird's thigh bone like some bizarre fusion of a caveman and lumberjack. In addition, Ethan (Jonathan Byrne) returned, drawn to the abandoned prison by a makeshift anomaly-detector he's created, with the intention of escaping back through time.

There's really nothing to discuss about this finale from a storytelling perspective, as it was just another variation on the gang running around an empty location, clubbing and shooting giant animals while Connor spouted pseudo-science behind the anomalies. The only things of interested was how the show handled the return of Quinn and attempted to explain and resolve some of the year's big storylines.

To be mildly positive, I'm glad Flemyng assumedly found time in his schedule to return to Primeval, so the writers could explain his character's absence from the show, with a role that was certainly more worthwhile than last week's return for Lucy Brown. However, Quinn's comeback also felt like a slightly annoying way to explain Ethan's entire back-story in one messy swoop, when the story delivered its one major surprise: Ethan is actually Patrick Quinn, the 14-year-old brother of Danny who was lost through an anomaly in series 3's second episode. That reveal felt quite promising when it became known, partly because of its total unexpectedness, but then it grew less impressive when you started to question its logic. Why did Patrick changed his name to Ethan? Why has he spent the past 18-years convinced his older brother left him behind to die? In addition, the explanation for Ethan having become a callous murderer was reduced to the suggestion a lifetime spent slaughtering prehistoric animals has given him the distorted belief that all life is cheap, and that extends to humans. Really?

Quite how a 14-year-old managed to locate other anomalies and, at some point, arrived back in the late-1800's and allied himself with Emily to journey through time together, was glossed over. Why would Emily spend time with someone like Ethan? It's mentioned that she was a bride-to-be, for no apparent reason, unless she's due to return for series 5. And what was Ethan's plan in the present, beyond visit his family home last week and realize he doesn't belong in this time anymore?

The late Helen Cutter was an infuriating character for other reasons, but you at least knew she had access to future technology that gave her command of the anomalies, but how could a young boy and a Victorian woman come to have developed similar mastery of these anomalies? None of it makes sense to me, and I'm pretty sure Primeval's writers know it doesn't make sense, too. Will they manage to explain the plot holes during series 5? Maybe so, but this isn't a show that gives me enough solid, logical answers to have faith in that. I'm still unclear about many things regarding Helen Cutter that Primeval had three years to clarify, but didn't manage to.

By the end of this finale, a popular theory that Matt (Ciarán McMenamin) is from the future was proven true, although nothing that happened here had any bearing on his mission to prevent a future apocalypse that will force mankind to live underground a scorched surface. Emily also vanished into an anomaly leading back to her own time, making you wonder what the ultimate point of her character ever was. The intended Matt/Emily "lovers across time" vibe just didn't work, not helped by zero chemistry between the actors and the broad failure of McMenemin to assume the mantle of the leading man. In fact, with the effortlessly more charismatic Flemyng on hand for this finale, clubbing giant ostriches around the beak with a giant leg bone, it reminded me just how much Primeval needs an actor like him at its heart. Most of the cast play the material so straight it's ridiculous, as if they think this is deep sci-fi and not just a knockabout excuse to show some antediluvian monsters running around modern times. For me, there's a reason series 3 was the best year of Primeval, in hindsight: it killed off the restrictively somber Douglas Henshall, and gave us Jason Flemyng battling a Gigantosaurus with a helicopter.

Overall, this was a tepid finale that didn't really end any of its storylines in a very compelling way, and ultimately found a way to put some of the bigger questions on the backburner. Matt still doesn't know who causes the anomaly-based global disaster, but it's likely to be Philip's (Alexander Siddig) company Prospero, because it's revealed he knew Helen Cutter, and it looks like Connor's becoming the Anakin Skywalker to Philip's evil Emperor. I get the impression a lot's been left open intentionally, because the producers knew they have the luxury of a fifth series (which has already been filmed), so hopefully they manage to pull this together for some decent pay-off.

What did you think of series 4, ultimately?

written by Paul Mousley / directed by Mark Everest / 5 February 2011 / ITV1/HD

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'PRIMEVAL' 4.6

After last week's relative triumph, it was back down to earth with a bump for the penultimate episode of what's been a disjointed, frustrating comeback year for Primeval. The only indisputable success has been the enhanced quality of the CG (by virtue of the show's upgrade to HD), even if the creatures still rarely look like they exist in their environments or interact believably with the actors.

This week, an anomaly was detected at a stately home, so Matt (Ciarán McMenamin), Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts) and Abby (Hannah Spearritt) were sent to investigate, with time-traveller Emily (Ruth Bradley) tagging along under Matt's supervision. Arriving at the site, the team realized a group of Hyaenodon's (prehistoric hyenas) have been let loose in the building, which is currently the venue for a lavish wedding. And, coincidentally, the bride-to-be was none other than former ARC member Jenny Lewis (Lucy Brown), who it's revealed has kept her dino-fighting past a secret from milquetoast fiancé Michael. Meanwhile, Becker (Ben Mansfield) was tasked with hunting down errant Victorian desperado Ethan (Jonathan Byrne), eventually discovering his warehouse hideout, but finding himself in a precarious situation when he blundered inside and tripped one of Ethan's booby-traps. Fortunately, Jess (Ruth Kearney) was available to help him defuse Ethan's bomb, having accompanied her beloved Becker on his stakeout.

Unsurprisingly, this was another Primeval formula of "unusual setting" + "primitive beasts". The location and Hyaenodon's didn't offer anything terribly compelling, however, and to be honest the episode struggled to make this situation work. Why would Jenny want her big day to go ahead, if she's been made aware by her former colleagues that there's a pack of ravenous Hyaenodon's on the premises, who could easily attack and kill one of her guests? Why were the ARC team willing to go along with Jenny's idea of quietly continuing their mission without interrupting proceedings, knowing the clear risk to human life? And why did Abby and Emily seem to forget themselves and join Jenny for an impromptu girl's night in, before slipping on some slinky dresses and becoming part of the wedding ceremony the next morning? It also stuck out as being very rude of Jenny not to have invited Abby, Connor and Lester (Ben Miller) to her wedding to begin with, and the episode suffered from its chronic budget issues of being unable to populate any location with characters beyond the regulars. The sense of peril was therefore drastically reduced, as the wedding guests seemed to vanish into thin air until they were required for a few brief scenes.

This isn't croquet, this is "Extreme Croquet"

Putting aside the myriad nitpicks of this episode, it was mildly enjoyable to see the lovely Lucy Brown make a guest-starring return, despite the fact her drippy character was never very interesting and did nothing here to dissuade me otherwise. Jenny's relationship with Michael could have been the emotional backbone to the episode (a storyline about a woman keeping secrets from her betrothed), but it wasn't written to a standard that made this anything but a stock situation. Superficially, I guess it was nice to see Emily and Abby looking rather fetching in figure-hugging dresses, getting to work together as a mace-wielding duo during a Hyaenodon attack.

The subplot with Ethan continued to shuffle along, even though this is the penultimate episode and I was hoping for some clarity. The mystery of his character has been spoonfed ineptly, as I'm just puzzled by his behaviour and motivation. The clues each episode gives us about Emily/Ethan are so ambiguous, it's as if each writer doesn't know what's going on either but have been told to include certain things. I just hope next week's finale explains why someone so disturbed was travelling through time with Emily, and what his backstory is -- but to have reached this stage in the series without knowing Ethan's goal is just bad writing. It's impossible to care about him because we have no idea who he is, what he's doing, what he wants, or what he's planning. We're just told by Emily he's a threat and have to make sense of his actions (trying to kill Emily, setting booby-traps at a warehouse lair, visiting what appears to be his family home and getting recognized by an elderly neighbour, etc.) It seems likely that Matt and Gideon (Anton Lesser), who was unsurprisingly revealed to be his father, are time-travellers from the future, on a mission to stop Ethan instigating an apocalypse using the anomalies, but the show's target audience of 10-year-olds must be totally confused. Doctor Who does a far better job of gently unspooling its year's mytharc.

What did you think? I know Primeval splits opinion; some people lap up the cheesiness and creature capers, others gnash their teeth at the illogical plots and weak characterization. It rarely hits a happy medium for me, and series 4 has been especially hamstrung with its mishandling of characters and unclear mytharc.

WRITER: Matthew Parkhill
DIRECTOR: Robert Quinn
TRANSMISSION: 29 January 2011, ITV1/HD, 7.20PM

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'PRIMEVAL' 4.5

After a hopeless run of wretched episodes, Primeval delivered a competently-told story with an agreeable mix of imagination, silliness, decent action, tongue-in-cheek homage's, and clarity with most of its storytelling. The script was co-written by creator Adrian Hodges and John Fay (Torchwood); two writers evidently more talented than the scribes who churned out the previous four hours, although there were still elements beyond their abilities to repair -- like the abortive subplot with the Victorian time-travellers.

Opening with a clunky pastiche of The Blair Witch Project (the first of many pop-culture references this week), we were swiftly presented with another of Primeval's standard setups: an anomaly giving off a fluctuating signal was detected by the ARC, so Lester (Ben Miller) sent Matt (Ciaran McMenamin), Connor (Andrew Lee-Potts) and Abby (Hannah Spearritt) to investigate the source at a small coastal town. Arriving to scout the location, Connor and Abby discovered a local legend about a man-eating "worm", which may in fact be a prehistoric Labyrithodont that's been visiting the area for centuries, and was responsible for the recent murder of a backpacker (shades of An American Werewolf In London, not least in the presence of an oppressive, murky pub.)

Primeval's a show that usually cuts to the chase quickly, and literally in this week's case. It was a monster hunt set around iconic British locations (seaside town, idyllic riverside, caravan site), but the story progressed smoother than usual this series. Hodges and Fay's script stuck to what's expected from the show, but proved that it's how you tell a story that matters. There was nothing particularly original going on here, but there was a feeling of comfort because the plot was delivered in a less choppy, more satisfying way. Simply ensuring the week's creature didn't appear on-screen for 25-minutes helped buuld some tension and mystery. The episode also tipped its hat to movies such as Deliverance, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, for the amusement of its older audience.

I also liked the clarity with Philip (Alexander Siddig) and Lester's relationship is representing, with brainiac Philip stressing his interest lies with the science of the anomalies, whereas Lester's focused on protecting people from the creatures that tend to wander through them. The story was primarily focused on Abby and Connor trying to locate the errant Labyrithodont around the eerie town, with a little help from Matt, who was eventually drawn away to rescue Emily (Ruth Bradley), who has been kidnapped by time-hopping oddball Ethan (Jonathan Byrne) and taken to a nearby cemetery.

The Emily/Ethan storyline has been series 4's biggest frustration, as I sense it's a decent idea that's been poorly handled. It's too unclear who Emily and Ethan are, what they both represent, and thus impossible to care about Ethan's mania over the death of their sick friend Charlotte -- who was a character that died minutes after her on-screen debut. While I understand a few vagaries are intentional, designed to provoke a sense of mystery, the writers haven't given us enough information to engage with these characters or this storyline.

I'm still utterly bewildered about Ethan, in particular. Who was Charlotte to him? Why is he the villain? If he's so unhinged, why were Emily and Charlotte hanging around with him? What is his plan, now he's in the 21st-century? And before you say the remaining episodes might explain all of this -- that's beside the point. You shouldn't be introducing characters in a situation that are impossible to engage with because of so much confusion, but expect audiences to put aside their complaints and wait for answers that aren't even guaranteed. Right now, it feels like Ethan's a variation of Helen Cutter, the time-travelling supervillain of series 1-3, who was likewise written awkwardly and illogically, before being killed off without giving us many satisfying answers. That I can remember, anyway. Feel free to elucidate me, Primevalites.

Overall, episode 5 was another step in the right direction and has me mildly optimistic the worst is behind us. Nothing here excuses the weak introduction of Matt (who's failed to leave his mark as the show's new lead), and the time-travelling vagabonds have been totally mismanaged by the writers, but the action-adventure at the heart of this week's episode was far more palatable. It even restored some semblance of intelligence to the series, when Connor realized the unstable anomaly was actually jump-started by an acidic pool of water in a seaside cave. This was a good episode of Primeval, particularly because it rediscovered its sense of humour and thus felt more likeable than it has done in awhile -- best demonstrated in a brief scene with Lester struggling with some tracking software on a laptop with Jess (Ruth Kearney). It's the little things, but they add up and can make a show appealing.

Asides

• Watch are currently airing repeats of Primeval in the UK. I never thought the sight of Douglas Henshall grumbling as he traipses up an office stairway, armed with a leaf blower, would feel like the good ol' days. Well, the better ol' days.
• I'm sorry if you're a Ben Mansfield fan, but this episode was noticeably better without Becker's character charging around with a stoical expression, clutching his gun.
• A minor observation, but it was nice to see Jess wearing something less pointedly kooky.

WRITERS: John Fay & Adrian Hodges
DIRECTOR: Robert Quinn
TRANSMISSION: 22 January 2011, ITV1/HD, 7PM

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'PRIMEVAL' 4.4

We're halfway through series 4 already, and duly rewarded with another episode that reeked of by-the-numbers storytelling, offering us little new or surprising. However, as prescribed as it undoubtedly was, writer Paul Gerstenberger's plot was the best iteration of chase-the-dinosaur we've had this year, locating the action to a fortuitously empty school after hours.

Things began promisingly, as they often do with Primeval's jump-scare teasers, with a vague Breakfast Club vibe as three teenagers (two "geeks", one "mean girl") were seen being kept in detention by a teacher quickly eaten by a prehistoric therocephalian -- illogically able to get inside a vending machine for the purposes of attack. The anomaly was detected by Jess (Ruth Kearney) back at ARC, whose perky cuteness is beginning to defrost my disdain for her character, and a team comprised of Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts), Becker (Ben Mansfield) and Matt (Ciaran McMenamin) was sent to the school to close the gateway. Back at the ARC, Philip (Alexander Siddig) shocked Abby (Hannah Spearritt) by planning to euthanize some of the Menagerie's creatures they've been unable to return to their respective eras (do they ever try?), which inspired Abby to ignore her boss and find a way to smuggle the animals out of the facility to a private zoo.

I feel like I've written about this episode already, such is the feeling of déjà vu you get with this show. It's a shame the show doesn't have the budget or strength of premise to involve a fully populated school being attacked by mammalian crocodiles, but I can excuse that. What's hard to excuse is giving us three young guest stars that were so badly written and weirdly anachronistic. I swear the two geeks were wearing clothes from 1992. The "mean girl" was particularly badly served by the story, although I have to applaud the fact the show was brave enough to have her eaten by the beast-of-the-week while trampolining in a darkened gym. Primeval ususally shies away from killing sweet innocents. But still, these characters were written so thin they made Becker look like Hamlet, which completely robbed the denouement of its intended impact, when the two geeks deleted the embarrassing school-wise screensaver of the mean girl, out of respect for her passing. Shame we knew next to nothing about her, so it was hard to care, although I'd love to see how the school explains the death of a teacher and pupil during Monday's school assembly. Freak vending machine and trampoline accidents?

The series appears to have settled on the idea of splitting its time between the field missions to protect the public from time-travelling beasties, and some ARC-set shenanigans. Abby's crusade to protect the Menagerie's animals from death wasn't a bad story to tell, and certainly had value for younger viewers because of its ethical theme, but it didn't really amount to much. It was hard to see how Abby could achieve anything, even with inside help from Jess, although I quite liked the development that Jess eventually refused to assist Abby after witnessing the therocephalian eat the trampolining student via CCTV.

Overall, episode 4 was just another hour of people running around a building with flickering lights, armed with unconvincing high-tech guns, reacting to waddling CGI monsters. It handled that stuff fairly well, with enough pace to keep you engaged with its mild thrills, in-between your eye-rolling at the dumb teenagers making matters worse every step of the way. In the background of this episode, Victorian time-traveller Emily (Ruth Bradley) was captured in Matt's apartment by Ethan (Jonathan Byrne), who must rank as the most puzzling screen villain of the past decade. Beyond some understandable grief that his friend died last week, it's hard to know where Ethan's motivation is coming from, or what his deal is. These two characters are suffering even more than Matt, Jess and Philip this year, with the writing so unfocused that it's impossible to see what the point of them is.

Asides

• Matt doesn't like to talk about his childhood. Why do you think that is? Our of desperation for something interesting to happen, I'm going to theorize that Matt's a time-traveller like Emily and his childhood occurred in the future. C'mon, Primeval -- I dare you to top that.
• You can tell Ethan's a villain from the past very easily: he wears a cravat.

WRITER: Paul Gerstenberger
DIRECTOR: Cilla Ware
TRANSMISSION: 15 January 2011, ITV1/HD, 7PM

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TV Ratings: 'Primeval', ITV1

Can you say "Stargate"?

ITV1's Saturday sci-fi series Primeval is having a tough time in the ratings. Its New Year's Day premiere only managed to pull in 4.4 million viewers, while the next-day audience for episode 2 dropped to 3.29m. The most recent third episode only marginally increased to 3.7m. At this rate, ITV will be wondering why they bothered bringing it back from cancellation, as I'm sure Primeval's still costing them a pretty penny, even if they're splitting costs (between BBC America, UKTV, Pro Sieben) and filming in Ireland for tax breaks.

So what's gone wrong? New Year's Day was a prime timeslot for Primeval's return, and the decision to debut two episodes that weekend wasn't bad. Maybe it would have helped if those episodes had been a more overt two-parter, spending some time introducing the new characters? More likely, I think the main reason Primeval's struggling with audiences is simple: the idea's exhausted itself, because the writers haven't risen to the challenge of giving the show a mythology that deepens and strengthens things. Why aren't the ARC team travelling into the past/future through those anomalies? Why haven't they got more control over these portals, to allow such adventures? Why are most episodes happy to be a slight variation on the basic monster-hunt scenario?

The fact Primeval's been off-air for 18 months is another contributing factor, as the show can't help feeling like yesterday's news. The fact it didn't explain the loss of characters Danny Quinn and Sarah Page (as the actors couldn't return) may have also rubbed some people up the wrong way. Quinn and Page were both new additions for series 3, so there's been an unfortunate lack of consistency for half the show's existence.

So is Primeval doomed? Well, not for awhile. There's definitely going to be a fifth series, because it was filmed back-to-back with the fourth (Watch have the UK premiere later this year.) But after that? I can imagine ITV pulling the plug, if ratings don't start to rise. A big show like this needs to be averaging 6m every Saturday, really. When you remember that Primeval's supposed to be ITV's equivalent of Doctor Who (in terms of popularity), it's not getting anywhere close to Who's average of 8 million last year.

Maybe if Primeval continues to be an overseas success and a ratings goliath for digital channel Watch, it'll get a sixth series -- but its survival is far from assured, based on its UK performance so far.

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'PRIMEVAL' 4.3

Well, there was early promise, but it didn't last very long. Since this show began I often wondered why more people didn't come through anomalies (if they're not confined to prehistoric times), and Primeval has only ever explored that possibility once -- in the disappointing episode that wasted Tony Curran as a medieval knight. This episode returned to the idea, with three Victorians coming through an anomaly into a modern-day theatre, hoping to find medicine to save their sick friend. To add some of Primeval's usual spice, a bizarre "tree creeper" (think a lizard-y Michael Phelps with the head of a small T-Rex) followed them through, setting the stage for another ho-hum monster hunt, but with a character-based subplot. Sadly, this was all lost in a confusing and annoying storyline...

Primeval's always been a tough show to review, as it's plots and characters are paper thin and its aspirations low or beyond its skills. I could simply recount my reaction to the week's special-effects, list the plot-holes, and that would pretty much cover it. I think the big problem series 4 has is how the new characters are terrible, adding nothing to an already weak ensemble. Matt (Ciaran McMenamin) is excruciatingly earnest and boring, Becker (Ben Mansfield) has turned into a grade-A idiot, and Jess (Ruth Kearney) is only there to wear short skirts, bright shoes, and smile. Philip (Alexander Siddig) is easily the best new addition, but he's stuck behind a desk at the ARC, apparently filing in whenever Ben Miller's unavailable. Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts) and Abby (Hannah Spearritt), in particular, have never been that great, but they're benefiting from the fact their characters are the only ones with personalities of any description.

The episode itself was business as usual: a freaky monster let loose in a strange modern environment, requiring capture and, if possible, a safe return home. This being a kid's show at heart, the many options to kill creatures rarely get a look-in, although the beasts sometimes accidentally top themselves. Regardless of the tree creeper silliness, I was more intrigued by the possibilities of Victorians finding themselves in a modern society, but most of that was undone by the reveal they're seasoned travellers through "gateways", so didn't even bat an eyelid at the existence of enormous glass buildings and automobiles. To be honest, a lot of this storyline washed over me as it was so hard to care. In particular, the resolution of Matt deciding to keep Emily (Ruth Bradley) a secret from everyone after she'd helped them defeat the tree creeper, letting her move in with him, was very silly. I think there was supposed to be sexual chemistry between their characters to sell this development, but it didn't come across. And suddenly having Emily's friend Ethan (Jonathan Byrne) be referred to as a dangerous villain, now he's loose in the present-day, was even sillier.

Slightly more competent was a subplot at the ARC, even if it was ripped from the jumbo book of sci-fi clichés, with Connor accidentally triggering a building-wide lockdown when a security program he's testing for Philip detected pet dino Rex and sealed every door of the ARC. Of particular concern, Philip is trapped inside a room with Rex, where the air supply is quickly diminishing. Who creates a security program that, upon detecting a non-human creature, locks every door of the entire building, preventing any escape from said beast? Why does the system have no option to reverse this lockdown when the all clear's been given? Why does the system take 20-minutes to remove the oxygen from a room where a beast has been detected? And what a design flaw to have the lockdown happen, knowing it's trapped someone inside with the creature it's supposed to protect people from! I could go on. There was nothing new or surprising here, but it was at least harmlessly predictable fluff, and delivered a tiny clue about series 4's big picture mystery when Philip mentioned his top secret project "New Dawn".

Overall, this was a very unsatisfying episode from writer Debbie Oates, jumping between three boring subplots (catch the monster, the Victorian interlopers, and the ARC lockdown). I appreciated seeing Matt venture through the anomaly into ancient times (the show should really be embracing its time-travel possibilities), and the lockdown scenario was made bearable thanks to Siddig and Potts, but everything else felt meandering and too loose. This appears to be part one of a mini-arc, as Emily is still around for next week's episode, so maybe episode 3 will feel clearer in retrospect... but I'm predicting not.

WRITER: Debbie Oates
DIRECTOR: Cilla Ware
TRANSMISSION: 8 January 2011, ITV1/HD, 7PM

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'PRIMEVAL' 4.2

I complained about the lack of character development in the premiere, so it was nice to see this follow-up episode place an emphasis on Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts) and Abby (Hannah Spearritt), but the results were as feeble and boring as you could hope for. They just aren't very interesting characters, despite Potts obvious commitment and passion to his paper-thin role, and I can't be alone in thinking the writers needed to really nail the new characters in these early hours.

In this episode, Connor and Abby are told their services are no longer required on the frontline of ARC duties, as paymaster Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig) prefers a militaristic approach to the base's operation. As recompense, Lester (Ben Miller) gives Abby a job in the ARC's new Menagerie (a giant hangar full of primitive animals they've captured but haven't returned home yet), and Connor goes to stay at Jess's (Ruth Kearney) flat to search the internet for a new home. However, after getting distracted with a search for "creature sightings", it's not long before Connor's sniffed out a prehistoric crocodile called a Kaprosuchus that's been surviving in the sewers for the past five years (after it was dropped into the toilet as a hatchling), and teams up with his geeky friend Duncan (James Bradshaw) who's witnesses the creature roaming a homeless district.

This felt like a money-saving episode at times, as nothing really happened for the first half-hour in terms of dinosaur action, and the show just isn't compelling or even intriguing when it's having to rely solely on its characters. Jess was more engaging this week (think Peep Show's Dobby crossed with 24's Chloe), although the extent of her quirkiness is becoming a joke (she owns four old-style telephones that spell out her name), but it felt like a wise move to setup the idea she fancies Becker (Ben Mansfield).

Comparatively, Matt (Ciaran McMenamin) is still an oddly distant and boring addition to the show. I suspect they're trying to bring back a calm and controlled core to the show, in contrast to the high-energy monster attacks, but it's not really working. The fact Matt occasionally disappears to report to an elderly gent called Gideon (Anton Lesser) about the ARC's activities -- with the insinuation being that one of the group will be responsible for a future catastrophe -- just makes us treat Matt as a snake in the grass. So without him as the clear hero (well, for now), the weight of the show has been put on Connor's shoulders; a character who staretd the series as comic relief. And while it shows growth that he's almost become the heart of the show now (forever determined to continue his mentor Cutter's research), I'm not sure I really want Potts as the focus. You can't take him very seriously in that role.

Overall, this was an episode designed to have Abby and Connor prove themselves as invaluable team members, by helping to stop the marauding Kaprosuchus. It achieved that aim (as if there was any doubt they'd fail), so hopefully the remaining episodes will start to give Matt, Jess and Philip a chance to shine, while developing this year's mystery about Matt's relationship with the enigmatic Gideon. But still, considering the fact Primeval has such a brief seven-episode run, series 4 is off to a very awkward and disappointing start. I don't expect storytelling genius and character depth to a lightweight show like this, but you do want imaginative stories, lively action, some degree of logic, regular surprises, and lots of excitement. The best that can be said about Primeval so far this year is how the high-definition quality of the CGI has given the creatures more tangibility.

WRITER: Steve Bailie
DIRECTOR: Mark Everest
TRANSMISSION: 2 January 2010, ITV1/HD, 7PM

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'PRIMEVAL' 4.1

Stomp over to Obsessed With Film, where I've reviewed the series 4 premiere of ITV1's dinosaur action series PRIMEVAL, brought to you by the makers of foil survival blankets:

The opening titles of Primeval involve triangular shards of light with various dinosaurs and monsters emblazoned on them, synchronized with the appearance of each cast member’s credit. This speaks volumes about the show itself, which has always placed an emphasis on CGI beasties over characterization and acting. Continue reading...

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'Primeval' - Series 4 Trailer

Primeval returns in January for a fourth series, having survived the axe in summer 2009 thanks to a unique co-financing deal struck between ITV, Watch, Pro7 and BBC Worldwide. The official trailer has just been released, featuring an introduction from star Andrew-Lee Potts, which you can see embedded above. My reaction? Same old, same old. An impressive special effects showrell, and not much sense of anything else. But 80% of Primeval's enjoyment is gawping at the dinosaur/monster action sequences, so that's no big surprise. What do you make of it?

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'Primeval' goes Canadian

The creators of Primeval, Impossible Pictures, have agreed a franchising deal with Canadian independent company Omni Film Productions. This means a Canadian version of the series will now be made, with Judy and Garfield Reeves-Stevens (Star Trek Enterprise) expected to deliver scripts.

Jonathan Drake, Managing Director of Impossible Pictures:

"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."

Impossible Pictures and Omni Film Productions previously worked together on Defying Gravity.

The original UK version of Primeval is currently filming its fifth series, having already wrapped on the fourth, in preparation for a 2011 return to ITV and Watch. The rights to a movie are still owned by Warner Bros, having been sold in May 2009, but there's been no firm movement on that separate project.

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