Les portes du temps: un nouveau monde

Primeval: New World is now set in Canada and very much like the UK series you have a main male character and something happens to his wife. This urges him to research about the anomalies and hunt dinosaurs with a few friends. Now in the first few episodes they established and created everything that first 4 series of the UK Primeval did. I mean it took until series 3 to point out that anomalies effect mythology whereas in New World they stated it in episode two. And also some episodes did feel like remakes - a lot; honestly, on some episodes it's like someone got the original screenplay and then just changed names and locations. But apart from all that it was very enjoyable; they kept making references to Primeval every now and again and the ARC plays an role in there too. So I think it is a pretty good spin-off to one of my favourite shows and it even brought new story-lines and events what were quite new but also a lot of plots that we'd seen before back in the UK. It did end on a cliff-hanger like pretty much every Primeval series did and unfortunately it has now been cancelled so we will never see season 2; but like I said, this spin-off was a good run and pays homage to its roots so that was good.

I suppose that's the end of the Primeval franchise all together now then but I hope people remember this great piece of entertainment.

I strongly believe in story/the idea, and I tend to believe that the story is everything. That this is not the case is proved by remakes. I am not in general against remakes, but most remakes do not add to the story, but take things away. Perfect examples are the remakes of Life on Mars and Primeval. Primeval may be overdoing it, but it does not add something more, quite the opposite, the new version has more gore, but no new ideas and the viewer painfully misses the charm, the fun, the soul and heart of the original version. This does not mean that the idea isn't still strong, but the original version is just a lot better. But as with all things: in the end it is a matter of taste and therefore there will be and should be fans for each version. I, personally, e.g., prefer the US-Version of Being Human, which is criticized by many fans of the original. I think the creators of the remake made great casting decisions in this case and the US-version has (still) a lot of soul and fun and charm. This is not (and cannot be) true in the case of Life on Mars - if something is this perfect, why change it? It is not 60 years old and outdated and even the language (and pretty much of the culture) is the same, so why bother and make things worse? So: the new Primeval has nothing on the original, but the idea is still strong and tastes differ, so a well-meant 6.

It's never worked so far. Try bearing Coupling US remake, Being Human US remake or this Primeval Canada spin-off. They've never been better than originals but for an unknown reason they keep coming. Casting is usually worse (therefore the acting is far worse), character development is poor and special effects -if there are any- are generally cheesier. There might be high expectations when it's a remake or spin-off to meet the original's standards and it's clearly a downside of remakes and spin-offs but it's a goal easier to achieve if you're doing a remake or spin-off of a North American original-North American remake / spin-off (as in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis) or UK original - UK remake / spin-off (as in Doctor Who). Primeval New World is a bit like watching Stargate Universe after Stargate SG-1 (skipping Stargate Atlantis). I liked Niall Matter in Eureka but here in Primeval New World -even if he tries his best in this poorly-written spin-off- I don't believe he can save the show. I liked Amanda Tapping as an actress in Stargate franchise, Sanctuary and Supernatural, but as a director in Primeval New World, I can't pay her a compliment. All in all, I wouldn't recommend you to waste your time watching this show or other remakes / spin-offs of UK TV series made by North Americans.

After the original Primeval was cancelled for a second time in the UK, Impossible Pictures turned to the international market to keep the show alive. In late 2012 we got Primeval: New World, a North American spin-off of the show that takes the action from London (and Dublin) to the rugged landscape of Vancouver.

I appreciate that New World is a spin-off rather than a complete reboot or remake of the series, though it largely ignores the events of Series 5 of the original show with only a short appearance of Connor and a nod to the ARC to tie the two shows together. As a result it's unclear if New World can be considered part of the same continuity or not.

The first (and only) season is 13 episodes long, making it even longer than Series 3 of the original show. This is not necessarily a good thing as it results in a lot of episodes feeling unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. It takes until episode 5 for the show to get going and until episode 8 for it to start getting good. I can't help but feel that cutting a lot of the earlier episodes would make the show more engaging and help the story flow better, especially when you consider that the first series of the original show managed to achieve far more in only six episodes.

The characters are fine and the actors do a good job playing them but they're not quite as memorable as the characters from the original. The standout characters for me are Mac Rendell who brings some familiarity with his British accent and Becker-like personality, and Lt. Ken Leeds who has some fun comedic moments and constantly tries to convince team leader Evan Cross that he's there to help, to no avail.

The creatures for me were a bit of a disappointment. Unlike the original show which made the effort to use varied and unique creatures in each episode, New World instead opts for using mostly generic dinosaurs. It may just be because of the higher resolution but the CGI creatures also didn't feel as convincing as they did in the original.

Overall Primeval: New World is a fine show and worth watching if you're desperate for more Primeval content but it lacks the heart and story that made the original work. It seemed to be getting somewhere with it's last few episodes and could have improved in subsequent seasons but as the show met the same fate as the original, I guess we'll never know.

Primeval started in 2007 and went for five seasons; The show opened up a great universe full on interesting stories that could be explored. Primeval: New World has picked one of those promising stories. It isn't the best show ever but it has the potential to be a great show, the original series took a few episodes to fully expand its potential and this show has definitely started doing that. It has an interesting array of characters,also has an interesting connection to the original and that story line will be great when it fully comes up. So Primeval: New World has some short comings but it has just started but it has a great potential and will no doubt get better and better through each episode. Recommend a watch.