Primeval

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.

Well, what can I say about Primeval? How about, that it's a very welcome breath of fresh air after all those godawful "reality" shows that we've had to deal with over recent years?

Great acting from a cast who gels well together, with at least one character you love to hate (and would happily push through an anomaly!) and several you come to care about throughout the series. With exciting CG dinosaurs and cleverly woven plot lines (which carry through each episode), this is an amazing new series that deserves to go on! Some have commented that the acting is poor, yet I think these guys and girls do extremely well, given that they are acting to CG for a large amount of time, and that is an extremely difficult thing to do.

The plot lines are well thought out and well written, throwing everyday people into the path of prehistoric monsters and seeing how they deal with it. A wonderful combination of acting, writing and our own desire to occasionally escape the "real" world makes this a gripping series that you have to tune into each week.

Great show, can't wait for series 2!!!

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!

When I was younger, this was by far my most favourite TV show ever! I used to be buzzing for every episode on a Saturday, record it and then watch it again on Sunday! The concept to me was fascinating and almost every episode there would be a new dinosaur and I was always questioning what if this happened for real, especially because it was places in the UK which made it so much more relatable.

I then started to rewatch it this year and I couldn't finish the first season, it just wasn't the same experience that I had when I was younger. As you watch more and more TV shows and films you can start to pick holes in them. This I didn't want to do that (I know I would). It's disappointing but I've stuck with the judgment to just leave it as the great TV show it is in my memories. If they make a reboot of this with up to date CGI and good casting choices (like before) then I would be on board!!