There’s news on the next two series of the saved-from-extinction Primeval in SFX 202, and here’s a taster for you
ITV1’s dino drama Primeval was saved from extinction thanks to a co-production deal that sees ITV teaming up with UKTV, BBC America and German network ProSieben, to make 13 new episodes: the first seven will debut on ITV1 before transferring to UKTV’s Watch, with Watch having first dibs on the rest. In SFX 202 we talk t the cats and crew about where they will be taking the revamped series, are here are a couple of nippets to whet your appetite.
With most of the main characters stuck in the Mesozoic era, when the show returns there have been big changes back at base. The Anomaly Research Centre (ARC) is no longer just a government concern. “The ARC is under new management,” producer Tim Bradley tells SFX’ s Red Alert, “because the disappearance of key personnel has left Lester a bit stranded. So the old team is joined by new characters who deal with the situations that happened off camera between the two years. There’s this new character, Philip Burton [played by Deep Space Nine ’s Alexander Siddig], who’s a venture capitalist, and he’s been brought in to finance the new ARC set-up. One of his main areas of interest is investigating the science behind the anomalies. He’s really filling what Cutter’s demise left – a bit of a gap in the scientific journey.”
As for the tone of the new series, Bradley tells us that the new series won’t reinvent the wheel. “The majority of episodes will give you what everybody seems to want, which is a sort of tubthumping crashing beast to terrorise you. I think all our co-financiers want us to keep making the better show, but the same show. We don’t want to change the appeal of the programme, or take it in a direction that makes it harder for the younger audience to enjoy. That said, we are trying to make sure there are a few more adult beats for people, and we do perhaps want to push the creatures being a little more visceral.”
SFX 202 isn on sale next Wednesday.
