PRIMEVAL: 5 Series, 5 Forgotten Characters

With the finale of Primeval having been over a week ago and no prospect of a sixth series in sight, we take a look back through the last five series at five characters who you may have forgotten, but were key players in the story of Primeval and the ARC.

Series 1: Claudia Brown/Jenny Lewis  (Lucy Brown)

Claudia Brown arrived on our screens in Series 1, Episode 1 as a Civil Servant working for the Home Office. After joining the ARC team she became a liaison between the Home Office, Lester and Cutter, but still got involved in many of the missions to prevent the creatures coming through the anomaly causing too much trouble. By mid way through series 1 Claudia had begun to fall for Cutter, making her suspicious of Helen Cutter and her motives when the wanderer returned through the anomaly.

After she and Cutter had admitted their feelings for each other, sealed by a kiss, he followed Helen through an anomaly to the Permian era, returning to find that Claudia Brown had disappeared without trace and the rest of the team had no memory of her – a consequence of his meddling in prehistoric times.

In episode 1 of series 2, Jenny Lewis appears as a new PR assistant for the ARC team. She looks identical to Claudia Brown although has a contrasting personality to her and seemingly has no recollection of her doppelgänger. After discovering the real nature of the ARC team’s work, Jenny became a key part of the team, keeping the press away from the areas of the anomalies and providing cover stories for the havoc caused by the creatures.

Jenny supported Cutter through the death of Stephen, admitting she was attracted to him mid way through series3. His subsequent death devastated her and she left the ARC team soon after. Our final episode with Jenny was at her wedding in series 4, when Hyaenodons and the team interrupted her wedding. However, she finally got her happy ever after when Lester married her and her fiancé via video link.

Series 2: Stephen Hart (James Murray)

The former sportsman acted as a lab assistant to Cutter having had long friendship with him and Helen for many years. The seemingly cold character proved his bravery and loyalty, saving countless lives over the 2 series he played a part in.

In the 2^nd episode of series 1, Stephen was left for dead by a venomous Arthropleura and was visited by Helen Cutter asking him to pass a message on to Cutter, but she also left him for dead, leaving Cutter with a race against time to get Stephen the antidote he needed.

At the end of series 1, it was revealed that Stephen had had an affair with Helen many years previously, a fact she used to try and persuade Stephen to leave the ARC to travel with her. However, Stephen resisted, realising Helen’s true colours. Stephen was also known to be the object of Abby’s affections although no 

relationship developed from this, aside from the offer of a couple of dinner dates.

In series 2 episode 7, Stephen showed his true dedication to the ARC by sacrificing himself for the good of the team by shutting himself in a room, full of dangerous prehistoric creatures, with a door which only locked from the inside to prevent the creatures escaping. His death devastated the ARC team.

Series 3: Sarah Page (Laila Rouass)

Sarah Page joined the team at the start of series 3 after an anomaly appeared at The British Museum, her workplace at the time. She was assigned to find out if there was any link between the anomalies and mythology but later joined the team on their missions. Sarah seems to become the confidante of Jenny Lewis as she tells her all about her apparent dual persona and Claudia Brown.

When most of the team are stranded in different eras at the end of series 3, Sarah helps Becker lead rescue missions to find them. She is not seen again and it is implied that she died on one of these rescue missions.

Series 4: Patrick Quinn (Jonathan Byrne)

Patrick Quinn disappeared through an anomaly as a teenager. He spent time travelling through eras alone, including appearing in 1902 Russia and murdering many people before joining the Time Tribe. His appetite for killing sprang from having to fend for himself by killing beasts to survive.

As part of the Time Tribe he met Emily and Charlotte, who he fell in love with. When Charlotte falls sick with smallpox, Patrick (known as Ethan) and Emily return through an anomaly to the present time to get her medical care. Unfortunately Charlotte died, leaving Ethan heartbroken and he blames Emily. Emily allies with Matt, the new leader of the ARC as Ethan is trying to kill her. He also wants to get revenge on his family for leaving him through the anomaly – including ARC member Danny Quinn. After being captured by the team, Patrick is reunited with his brother and the two hug. Patrick escapes the ARC after a fight and escapes through an anomaly. Danny follows him to make sure Patrick doesn’t kill anyone else.

Series 5: April Leonard (Janice Byrne)

The research assistant, hired by Philip Burton, turned into a weapon wielding fighter by the end of series 5. She was hired to help Connor with the New Dawn project. She seems cold and calculating by not getting on with the rest of the team, mainly as she refuses to tell them exactly what she and Connor are up to.

April helped Connor create the first lab born anomaly but, unknown to Connor, she is also working on a secret project with Burton. When Philip’s project comes to fruition in series 5 episode 5, April comes head to head with Abby. Their fight ends when April is killed by a flock of Anurognathus.

Primeval 5.06

‘This is what New Dawn did to the Earth, turned it into hell’

And hell was what the ARC team faced this week. After last week’s intense episode and dramatic cliff-hanger, we were expecting a lot from the series finale of Primeval and we definitely got it.

The opening wasteland Connor found himself in at the start of the episode painted a dramatic picture for what was to come; an intense and gripping theme was continued by Philip’s (Alexander Siddig) slimy persona continuing to execute his and Helen’s evil plan. The rapid camera movements throughout the episode also increased the tension and the frequent shaking of the shots increased the feeling of panic that the team were experiencing.

Abi’s (Hannah Spearitt) rescue of Connor (Andrew Lee Potts) and Matt (Ciaran McMenamin) gave a nice reference to last week’s episode and the development of their romance nicely rounded off their relationship which we have followed right from series 1. The romance aspects of the episode gave a nice respite from the thrilling action and gave the episode greater depth and emotion.

Similarly, the witty retorts which we have come to love from Primeval were in full flow tonight, despite the ongoing catastrophes. The humour of Connor’s analysis of the impact of merging the two anomalies and Lester’s ‘could Philip not afford to pay the electricity bill?’ was needed to maintain Primeval’s spirit and gratefully reduced the gravity of the predicament. The allying of Jess (Ruth Kearney) and Lester (Ben Miller) also provided some humour, with their father-daughteresque relationship quite a surprise yet the continuation of it from last week was nicely played out. The tension of the discovery of the monster in the ARC with a long, drawn out camera shot was heart stopping and Miller’s serious facial expressions provided a more serious side to his mainly comic character. However, between this pair, certain lines could have been delivered more convincingly – Kearney’s ‘anyone?’ for example.

For long time fans of the series, there were many recalls to earlier episodes. References to Helen Cutter reminded the audience of the origins of the ARC and Philip’s sacrifice was reminiscent of Stephen’s in an earlier series whilst providing the villain with a sense of redemption.

The ending gave a sense that the team could continue with their work by not giving a satisfying answer to the anomaly conundrum and frustratingly the appearance of another Matt provided the series end with a cliff-hanger which could provide a foundation for another series with the same team, one which we now know unfortunately won’t happen. However, after this sensational finale it seems that the spinoff Primeval: New World may well be worth tuning in for.

Will you be giving the new Primeval: New World a chance? Let me know in the comments box below.

Aired 21/07/2012

Primeval 5.04

'I hate insects, worse than spiders, worse than dinosaurs'

It was predictable that something was going to wrong with the Connor’s new found ability to spontaneously generate anomalies, and our predictions were quickly fulfilled.

This week, Primeval changed tact, moving from ferocious beasts to skin crawling insects. The sounds this episode’s creatures, being prehistoric beetles, made you squirm as did the CGI effects of millions of the beetles which were as good as always. Of course since insects seem relatively harmless it just so happened that one of the team was allergic to insect bites.

However, Jess’ (Ruth Kearney) new found insect bite allergy allowed the budding romance between her and Becker (Ben Mansfield), which seemed to have been forgotten about since last series, to develop. His protectiveness over the computer genius quickly revealed his true feelings and his choice to leave quickly after providing her with an adrenalin shot showed a more emotional, human and vulnerable side to the macho hero we’re used to.

Despite Connor’s (Andrew Lee Potts) irritating faith in Philip, this week Connor stepped up, realising his mistakes and becoming a bit of a hero. In the process he began to mend his relationship with Abi – something i’m sure we’ve all been waiting for. It was Abi’s (Hannah Spearitt) partnership with Matt which stood out this week though with the pairing becoming quite a force. Despite a few slip ups towards the beginning with her accent, Spearitt showed her growth as an actress with her delivery of the line ‘we had to, you wouldn’t listen to me’ and her harsh glare afterwards.

This episode was one in which many characters surprised and grew, providing Primeval with a stronger footing than simply a programme about dinosaurs.

Aired 7/07/12 ITV

Primeval 5.03

'This is not what you think'

After last week’s very different episode of Primeval - being unusually stationed in one location rather than having the characters running around - we were expecting a lot from this week’s episode. Once again Primeval didn’t disappoint.

The opening scenes set up a much darker version of the show, with the dark skyline and eerie Victorian streets providing an intriguing backdrop for the episode. Unusually this episode revolved around the Victorian era – a time surprisingly human for such a show. The tension was further increased by the return of an unsettling face in Emily (Ruth Bradley) who was accompanied by her husband and his Alistair McGowan look-a-like of a sidekick. Bradley’s portrayal of a feminist living in an era before her time was very convincing, clearly illustrating her anguish between being a faithful wife and a monster hunter. However, the Victorian era aspect of the show could have been further exploited to greater effect, with the potential for more of a murder mystery quality.

The tension from through the anomaly was let down by the dealings in the ARC this week. The lack of Connor’s (Andrew Lee Potts) usual comedic role was evident, leaving the character in a position where he simply became grating, with his delusions about Philip and his team overly mentioned. Equally, if not more irksome was April (Janice Byrne), his assistant. Her annoying over protectiveness, wariness and cold stares were only added to by her irritating voice. The darker tone of the episode was still continued though, as the underhand dealings and whisperings that took place between many of the characters emphasised. Despite the yearning to return to the Victorian era, the recurrent, yet often seemingly unnecessary ARC scenes provided a decent pay off with the final revelation of the programme.

The departure from the norm was very welcome this week and continued the run of gripping and surprising episodes which have provided a strong first half of the series. Despite such a move for the programme, the continuing story arc was still rapidly moved forwards this episode providing anticipation for next week and the rest of the series.

Aired 30/06/12 ITV1