Primitif

I didn't expect a great deal from Primeval which is perhaps why I now find myself pleasantly surprised by it. The casting is excellent and story lines, although sometimes far-fetched, are nevertheless highly enjoyable. It's the little gem on Saturday night TV which these days are pretty much few and far between.

For those who are keen to compare it to Doctor Who and Torchwood, I must say I personally don't think it's similar to either of them. Yes, it's the same genre but give the thing a chance! -- I'm not sure half the people who have slated this have even watched it.

At the end of the day, Primeval was never going to be groundbreaking - and, to its credit, I don't think it sets out to be anything of the sort - but it is a great piece of telly fluff that'll certainly keep me tuned for series two.

I watched this with some apprehension but I have to say I was presently surprised, I'm sure as the series progresses it will be a hit, good performance for Douglas Henshall as the moody professor searching for his wife. The cute flying dinosaur named appropriately "REX" steels the show I must admit I forgot that ex S Club Hannah was in the program you know what they say about working with Children and animals. A bit of Doctor Who & Touchwood mixed with a few dinosaurs and the time portal what more could BBC do!After seeing next weeks previews I'll be giving the DVD rental for the time being and be tuning in hopefully for more than two episodes.

Interesting premise - 'anomalies' popping up in diverse parts of London. These anomalies are naturally (one supposes) occurring portals to the past. The perfect plot devices - they remain for a limited time only. Just long enough for creatures to arrive and create a bit of mayhem. To date these have been prehistoric eras that ensure dinosaurs and other rabid fauna can come through and wreak havoc. We've had a diverse array of battling creatures that include giant centipedes, spiders and dodos. Yes, dodos. But, if you're looking for originality, you can stop reading and look elsewhere. Everything is game for these writers. Episode 4, with our rambunctious dodos, included hilarious thievery from Stargate, SG1.

The cast is adequate with stock characters. The suited bureaucrat who thrives on secrecy and SWAT teams; tousle haired professor who touts various theories; goofy geekoid student who insinuates himself into the proceedings. Et al. All moving under the premise, as with SG1, that all of this can be kept secret from a public sure to panic and riot if revealed. A rather more interesting character is the professor's long lost wife - found to be jumping among timelines and having the ability to predict where and when one will open.

But the bottom line is this: it's fun. It's not great, and it's not replete with originality. But you will probably go back each week for more. After all, what competition is there? Under these criteria I give it 6 out of 10.

Prior to watching it I had low expectations. It sounded like an afternoon kids show but I was very wrong.

The concept is well imagined and it seems to be aiming at an older audience. Curiously the first two episodes had a zero body count, then they suddenly seemed to change their mind and the bodies started stacking up.

The largely unknown actors put in pretty good performances. Surprisingly ex "S Club 7" member Hannah Spearritt is a capable actress. The DVD extras reveal she is less capable at throwing rocks though - the one she was meant to throw at a creature hits the cameraman! The CGI effects are excellent for a TV series with a strictly limited budget, almost film standard largely thanks to the previous ground breaking Walking With Dinosaurs, with only the occasional wobble.

However while the overall story is engaging the script writer ought to be fired for the details. Our belief in the characters is disrupted at regular intervals when they do something unbelievably stupid just to keep the story running. For example when being told to run for the trees the character can be clearly seen running along side them, and after armed special forces are driven off by creatures they are content to let unarmed scientists face them alone, not intervening even when hearing they are in trouble on the radio. Every episode has such incidents which require forceful suspension of belief.

The characters also need to be developed more and their strengths played to to justify their continued participation in the project, as some of them are tenuous.

Despite these script failings the series shows a huge amount of promise and I am delighted to hear a second series has been commissioned which I will certainly be watching.

I recommend you give it a try. You may be surprised.

I must confess I just watched this mini-series because I watch any film with monsters in it. I didn't expect anything much, but the 6 episodes of series 1 turned out to be a real surprise which left me wanting a series 2! PRIMEVAL is a flawless combination of comedy elements (with cute dinosaurs) and action elements (with big bad dinosaurs), and it manages successfully to appeal to both kids and mature viewers. The special FX are excellent, and conflicts make the human characters interesting. PRIMEVAL also has a whole bunch of really good ideas: let the creatures appear in the neighborhood, maybe next to your washing machine - not on a distant tropical island! Instead of the typical T-Rex, let's have a little known creature from the Perm age or even a predator from the future (so, they aren't even dinosaurs from the scientific POV). Instead of killing all the creatures, try preserve them and bring them back home to the age they came from, as any change in the past is potentially dangerous. Clever entertainment! Which also shows in the characters, since they are far from stereotypes. Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) for example. On one hand, she saves lives and gives help, but on the other hand she won't speak the truth, is unscrupulous and cannot be trusted. Primeval - haven't seen any better series recently!