“Anomalies have started to appear. Doorways in time to a world we can barely imagine. The anomalies are conclusive proof that the past exists, a fourth dimension that is as real and solid as those we already know. Our job is to predict and contain them.” – Professor Nick Cutter

Investigating reports of a creature roaming the countryside, evolutionary zoologist Professor Nick Cutter, his lab technician Stephen Hart, student Connor Temple and lizard expert Abby Maitland are amazed to discover that portals in time are beginning to appear, windows into the past that are inadvertently allowing dinosaurs from Earth’s history to step into the present. Joining forces with Home Office officials Sir James Lester and Claudia Brown (later Jenny Lewis), Nick and his team must track down these prehistoric monsters before they can cause untold death and destruction, whilst trying to determine what is causing the anomalies to open. Meanwhile, Nick’s wife, Helen, whom he believed to be dead for the last eight years, is still very much alive, and is using the portals as part of her own secret agenda…

‘Primeval’ is produced for ITV by Impossible Pictures, and was created by Tim Haines, producer of the BBC’s ground-breaking ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’ series, and Adrian Hodges, whose writing credits include the 2001 adaptation of ‘The Lost World’. Having seen what computer animation could achieve in his prehistoric documentary-style programmes, Haines was keen to use cutting-edge technology to make an exciting high-budget action-adventure series that would appeal to dinosaur lovers of all ages.

Although occasionally taking itself far too seriously, ‘Primeval’ is great fun: its cast of characters are engaging, the action speeds along at a frenetic pace, there are plenty of surprises along the way to keep viewers both young and not-so-young entertained, and, most importantly, the dinosaurs are absolutely amazing! As the seasons progressed wider story arcs were introduced, surrounding the nature of the anomalies, Helen’s secret agenda and the implications of interfering with history. Some shocking plot twists saw lead characters come and go, and season three ended on a series of major cliff-hangers…

Unfortunately, despite achieving ratings of five million per episode, ITV decided to axe the show, mainly due to the high-cost of production at a time when the company was suffering from heavy financial losses, and even Impossible Pictures’ proposal of a co-funding agreement with the Sci-Fi Channel failed to save the day.

However, the show’s story doesn’t end there; a further two seasons of ‘Primeval’ were later commissioned under a new co-production deal between ITV and UKTV that also involved BBC America and German broadcaster ProSieben: a seven-episode fourth series was shown on ITV early 2011, and a six-episode fifth followed in May, premiering on UK digital channel Watch.

The show continued in a spin-off series, 'Primeval: New World', which premiered in Canada in October 2012, with a U.K. transmission on 'Watch' to follow in 2013; produced by Omni Film Productions in association with Bell Media, ProSieben and Watch, and filmed in Vancouver, this thirteen-part series features a new cast as a specialised team of animal experts and scientists who discover dinosaurs and other dangerous predators emerging onto the streets of modern-day Vancouver through anomalies in time...


Primeval - Season 1
Primeval - Season 2
Primeval - Season 3
Primeval - Season 4
Primeval - Season 5
Primeval - Novels

Primeval: New World - Episode Guide

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Legal Bit: 'Primeval' is a registered trademark of Carlton International Media Ltd. The 'Primeval' logo and all images from the television series are copyright Carlton International Media Ltd. unless otherwise stated; music is copyright the original composers and producers; no copyright infringement is intended. All specially created images and text are copyright © Clive Banks; please do not use these without my permission. All rights reserved. No profit is made from this website, and any revenue made from using the banner-links featured goes straight back into the costs of maintaining it, which comes out of my own pocket in the first place. No profit advertising is accepted. This website was created purely to entertain and amuse, and any references to persons living, dead, comatose, in suspended animation, not born yet, falling through a time rift or a figment of someone's imagination is purely coincidental. All opinions expressed are my own, so there...

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