ITV’s Primeval? Just Awful.
I missed the first series of Primeval, despite the rave reviews it received. So when I caught the season premiere over the weekend, I had high expectations.
For those of you who don’t know, Primeval is like Torchwood, but with dinosaurs instead of aliens. You’ve got some kind of obscure agency dedicated to capturing and containing stray dinosaurs.
The problems I had with this episode are many…
First, you’re hunting down dangerous prehistoric creatures. You’d assume some kind of protective clothing or first aid kit. But no, these guys run around in their jeans! And yet they expect us to believe that they’re part of a super-sophisticated secret agency?
Second, there’s virtually no chemistry between the characters. There’s no humor, they’re all far too intense. I found it very hard to get involved with the grim-faced crew.
Third, they dumped the raptors through some kind of time gate (they call them anomalies). No explanation as to how they ensure the creature is being dropped in the correct place and time. What if they drop a dinosaur off in a part of the world where the species didn’t previously exist? I can’t wait until some archaeological team discovers the little truck they left millions of years in the past – do you think it’ll have fossilised?
I might watch a couple more episodes, but so far the series doesn’t seem to have much going for it. Anyone else watching Primeval?
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Having read your comment, I felt I had to address the problems you mentioned. While I live in Florida, I managed to watch the first series & it was great. I highly suggest you take the time to see the 6 episodes!There was a lot of humour & chemistry between as they discovered the true nature of the anomalies.The Anomalies are rifts in time(a specific time-no moving in time unless you go through a different anomaly)The reason you didn’t get much out of the first episode is because in series 1,episode 6, something was changed in the past. This change made one of his crew, Claudia Brown, ceased to exist!! No one remembers her but him!! There are other changes as well, putting him in a state of shock,so he would be understandably distraught and grim?? I agree about the protective clothing and everyone should have had a tranquilizer gun, not just two. In the first series, there was a lot military support, but not much in this one. I do have one question, where did the cleaning guy that got bit in the neck go?? No blood on the floor//
Fair point about the cleaner – I think they very quickly wrote him off. For a fleeting second, I wondered if they’d be decent enough to put him out of his misery or if they left him there twitching!
More importantly the baby raptor that had been so quick to attack the cleaner suddenly became coy – Hannah S Club was out cold on the floor, an easy target, and yet it stayed under the bench for so long.
I loved primeval both the second series and the first they are amazing with great story lines they are funny and entertainig so stop taking it all so seriously and trying to find things wrong with it and just enjoy it
also hanna is called abby in the show and as raptors are inteligent it was probualy trying not to get shot
I love this programme and would like to know if ITV have announced the date when Series 3 airs.
Just because someone thinks the programme is great and enjoyable, doesn’t mean they should not look for ‘anomalies’ within it.
I’m sorry you don’t see the chemistry between the characters and you don’t find the humour. I personally do see it.
I think between the four main-main characters, Cutter, Stephen, Connor and Abby there is alot of chemistry. I completely believe it. They seam alot like a family; a father, Cutter, a big brother, Stephen, and two young ones seeing the world for the first time, Connor and Abby, with the help and company of their ‘big brother’ and ‘father’.
And the few others on the side, Claudia/Jenny, Lester, Leek, they have enough chemistry to show just how much they care (or don’t care) for another character.
Then the humour… There are two characters who carry the show on their humour; Cutter has his dry Scottish wit that makes me pee my pants, and there’s the dorky side-kick Connor that makes all sorts of dumb/funny comments. You get the smart laughs and the idiot laughs. Please give the show another chance during series three.
Primeval is just fab, myself, husband and 5 year old son and all addicts, its been my fave programme for the past two years and can’t wait to series 3!!!
PRIMEVIL IS BRILLIENT – ALL THE FAMILY IS TOTALLY ADDICTED WHEN THIS STARTS.. HAVE BOUGHT DVDS OF LAST TWO SERIES AND CAN’T WAIT FOR SERIES 3. NEXT TIME PLEASE MAKE LOTS MORE EPISODES.
I have just finished watching Primeval, conclusion? GARBAGE SQUARED. First, lets talk about the acting. How do you know when the atmosphere is tense? You don’t, because the actors are always tense they all have one look; furrowed brows, set jaws, staring off into the distance whilst talking to convey a look of intelligence. Someone’s been reading the Amanda Burton (Silent Witness) book of acting. They talk… in short phrases… never complete… sentences, this time to convey a sense of urgency. All this to cover up a complete lack of acting skills, or maybe they ARE good actors it’s the SCRIPT that stinks. On the accusation that this is ITV’S answer to Doctor Who Sir Michael Grade admits: “We have been very quick to copy other people’s formats … We’ve stuck the word ‘celebrity’ on the front of a copied format and pretended that’s good enough. It is creatively bankrupt, to be honest, and we’ve got to wean ourselves off the habit.” OOOH naughty boy, by the way the episode I watched was the one with the yellow sulphurous mist, by the end of the programme I realised that it wasn’t just the leeches that sucked…