Primeval (TV series)

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Primeval
File:Primeval - intro.jpg
Primeval intertitle
Created byAdrian Hodges
Tim Haines
Starringsee below
Opening themePrimeval theme music
Ending theme"All Sparks"
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series1
No. of episodes6 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducersCameron McAllister
Tim Haines
Running timeapprox. 45 minutes
Original release
NetworkITV
ReleaseFebruary 10, 2007 –
present
Cast of Primeval: (left to right:) Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts, Douglas Henshall, Lucy Brown, James Murray and Mark Wakeling.

Primeval is a British science fiction drama television programme produced by Impossible Pictures for ITV. First broadcast in early 2007, the series has been renewed for a second season by ITV, to be shown in 2008.[1] The entire cast of season one will return for season two in 2008.[2] Also Karl Theobold who starred in Green Wing and Naomi Bentley who is best known for her role as Shelley in The Mark of Cain will be joining the current cast for Series 2.

The series follows a team of scientists who investigate anomalies in time and deal with the ancient creatures that come through, although they are not always prehistoric. The team of five is led by Professor Nick Cutter, a palaeontologist determined to find his wife who disappeared while investigating an anomaly in the Forest of Dean, England eight years previously.

The series was created by Adrian Hodges, who wrote the majority of the scripts, and Tim Haines of Impossible Pictures. It was produced by Haines and Cameron McAllister. Primeval features film-quality 2D & 3D special effects by London effects house Framestore CFC. It previously had the working title Primaeval.

Episode one was first broadcast in UK on ITV on 10 February, 2007 at 7:45pm. The episode was shown on Hong Kong TV channel TVB Pearl on 14 February 2007, only four days after the UK premiere.[3] The series also began to air on April 4, 2007, in Canada where it has been licensed by the channel SPACE[4]. It has also been licensed by the Australian network and premiered on 28 April 2007 on Channel Nine,[5] the New Zealand network TV2 on 11 July 2007,[6] and by the Spanish network Cuatro;[7] it will air on these some time in 2007. Dutch TV channel Tien started to broadcast the series on March 22 2007. It was announced that HBO Latin America acquired the show.[8] German TV channel Pro7 started to broadcast the series on June 4 2007.

ITV previously produced Prehistoric Park, a programme with the similar premise of the main characters travelling back to the time of the dinosaurs (or even earlier).

The opening theme song was made expressly for the show, whilst the closing theme song is All Sparks by Editors although on the DVD it is changed back to the show's opening theme.

Cast

The series features a cast of five main characters who investigate time anomalies for the British government:

The series also uses several minor characters, some of whom appear in several episodes.

Creatures

Main article: List of creatures in Primeval

Episodes

Main article: List of Primeval episodes

Filming locations

The series was filmed partly at Pinewood Studios and these locations:

Reception

"Episode One" was viewed by 6.7 million people, a 29% share of the available audience.[11] "Episode Two" was viewed by 5.9 million people, a 27.5% share of the available audience.[12] When shown in Germany it gained a total audience of 2.78 million viewers.[citation needed]

The show's creators deny that Primeval is a clone of Doctor Who, which is famous for its use of time travel. In an interview, Douglas Henshall stated it was different as Primeval is an ensemble piece which deals with what problems come to them. In another interview, Andrew-Lee Potts stated similarly.[13] While this is different from the time travelling pair in Doctor Who its spin off, Torchwood, has a similar premise to Primeval. Torchwood is set in modern day Cardiff and the team cope with threats that come to the city through a rift in space-time. Both teams also have pet prehistoric reptiles, a Pterodactyl in Torchwood, and Rex the Coelurosauravus in Primeval.

The show has been recommissioned for another series.[1] The penultimate episode of the second series will be written by Doctor Who scriptwriter Paul Cornell.[14]

Toy Line

The master toy licence for Primeval was recently given to Character Options. The toy line is a coproduction between ITV, ProSieben and M6. Jon Diver, joint MD at Character Group, has stated that the series one toy line will be "extensive" and is scheduled for release in October 2007, followed by a series two toy line released in January 2008 to corespond with Primeval series two.[15]

Trivia

References

  1. ^ a b "ITV goes for more 'Benidorm' and 'Primeval'". Digital Spy.
  2. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a58432/you-look-different.html?page=3
  3. ^ "Pearl Schedule". TVB Pearl. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  4. ^ MISSLACE (March 16, 2007). "Primeval premieres on SPACE this April". SPACECAST / SpaceBlog. SPACE: The Imagination Station. Retrieved 2007-03-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Michael Idato (4 January 2007). "2007 from the couch". The Age. Retrieved 2007-01-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  6. ^ "BBC Drama and Factual Titles Head to TVNZ". Scoop.co.nz. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  7. ^ De Pablos, Emiliano (January 16, 2007). "Cuatro stocks up on U.S. fare". Variety. Retrieved 2007-01-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "HBO Latin America Takes BBC Titles". World Screen. May 18, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ [2]
  11. ^ Joanne Oatts (2007-02-12). "'Primeval' swipes 6.7 million viewers". DigitalSpy. Retrieved 2007-02-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Joanne Oatts (2007-02-19). "Second 'Primeval' loses bite". DigitalSpy. Retrieved 2007-02-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ TV & Satellite | 6 February 2007
  14. ^ Cornell, Paul (2007-04-24). "Primeval". Paul Cornell's House of Awkwardness. Retrieved 2007-04-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ http://douglashenshallwebsiteupdates.blogspot.com/search/label/action%20figures

See also

External links

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