Primeval

Not to be confused with Primevil or Prinivil.

This article is about the science fiction TV series. For other uses, see Primeval (disambiguation).

Primeval
Series 4 & 5 title card
Genre	Science fiction, drama
Created by	Adrian Hodges Tim Haines
Starring	Douglas Henshall Jason Flemyng Ciarán McMenamin James Murray Andrew-Lee Potts Lucy Brown Hannah Spearritt Laila Rouass Ben Mansfield Ruth Kearney Juliet Aubrey Alexander Siddig Ben Miller
Composer(s)	Dominik Scherrer James Hannigan (series 3) Stephen McKeon (series 4)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	36 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Cameron McAllister Paul Frift Tim Bradley Series 3-5
Running time	45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV Network (2007–11)/ Watch (2011)
Original run	10 February 2007 (2007-02-10) – present
External links
Website
Production website

Primeval is a British science fiction television programme produced for ITV by Impossible Pictures. Created by Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines, who previously created the Walking with... documentary series. Primeval follows a team of scientists tasked with investigating the appearance of temporal anomalies across Great Britain through which prehistoric and futuristic creatures enter the present.

First broadcast in the UK on 10 February 2007, it has since expanded to an international audience. Overall reception of the programme was positive during the first and second series, maintaining a 25% audience share in the United Kingdom during both series to date. Before it was broadcast on 9 August 2008 on BBC America, the programme received generally positive reaction from American critics as well. The third series, which ITV announced on 30 January 2008, began on 28 March 2009. In the US, series 3 premiered on 16 May 2009 on BBC America.

On 29 September 2009, it was announced that a deal had been struck between ITV, BBC Worldwide, Watch, Impossible Pictures and the German broadcaster ProSieben to produce two new series of the show for transmission in 2011.

Five webisodes were announced prior to the fourth series of seven episodes, which started airing on New Year's Day 2011 on ITV (ITV1/STV/UTV) in the UK and on BBC America in the US. The fifth series of six episodes aired on Watch in May 2011 and will be repeated on ITV later. Impossible Pictures has made no announcements about the show's future since production of Series 5 wrapped in November 2010. A Canadian spin-off, titled Primeval: New World, was announced on 15 September 2011, with production beginning in the winter.

Premise

Series 1 followed the efforts of Professor Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) and his associates, a friend and colleague Stephen Hart (James Murray), a student Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts), a zookeeper Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt) as they investigate the appearance of anomalies (called "earthquakes in time") that allow the passage to other times and places, allowing often-dangerous creatures from the distant past or future to threaten the lives of citizens. The British government's Home Office, under the supervision of James Lester (Ben Miller) and Claudia Brown (Lucy Brown), becomes involved after a Gorgonopsid travels through one such anomaly and wreaks havoc in the Forest of Dean. Professor Cutter's wife, Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey), presumed dead for eight years, was revealed to have been travelling in time through the anomalies. Cutter was unable to convince her to help as she had changed much from the woman he had once known, and he began to fall in love with Claudia. Meanwhile Abby began to take care of a Coelurosauravus she named Rex after he was left behind in the present, and was attracted to Stephen, who didn't completely reciprocate her feelings, despite Connor's attempts to get with her. The final episode of the first series involves discovery of an anomaly to the future in the Permian, allowing Predators from the future access to the past, and ultimately the present. Cutter, who travelled through an anomaly with Helen, came back to help with the predators and attempted a mission to secure the anomaly so that the future predators couldn't change the time-line, but ultimately failed. Upon returning he discovered Stephen had once had an affair with Helen before she had disappeared, and then learned that Claudia Brown never existed as the time-line had changed very slightly after their trip, and only he and Helen were aware of it.

Series 2 established that the camp discovered in the first episode was actually that of the team and that they had created their own past. Due to Cutter and Helen's visit to the camp, they affected the time-line, although this was the second time at the camp (the first was finding the camp, the second time years or months earlier setting up the camp so it can be found by them later), which had resulted in the disappearance of Claudia Brown from the time-line. In her place an assertive and quite different PR agent named Jenny Lewis joined the team in the Anomaly Research Centre or ARC, a building in the new time-line that deals with researching the anomalies. Having fallen for Claudia, a distraught Cutter was forced to start again with her look alike while Connor gained a girlfriend, Caroline Steel (Naomi Bentley), a woman with a hidden agenda whom Abby despised, but the two were drawn closer by an encounter with Mer Creatures. As Stephen and Cutter tried to repair their friendship, Helen also returned and began rekindling her friendship with Stephen, and eventually their affair. Taking Claudia's previous position was a man named Oliver Leek (Karl Theobald), who secretly worked with Helen to use the anomalies to gain political power by gathering some of the creatures the team had encountered, and also controlling the future predators, using an unwitting Caroline to steal Rex for him. The team were also faced with an unusual man (Tim Faraday) whom they first encountered as a cleaner and who worked against the team before he was killed in the Silurian by a Silurian Scorpion. The final conflict of the season resulted in the deaths of Stephen, who died to save the lives of the rest of the team, and Leek, who was torn apart when he lost control of his creatures.

Series 3 found Cutter continuing to investigate anomalies and attempted to find ways of predicting them with the help of Stephen's replacement on the team, Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield). Meanwhile Lester had to deal with an old rival Christine Johnson (Belinda Stewart-Wilson), an unscrupulous government official who hoped to obtain the power of the anomalies and the Future Predators for military uses. With the assistance of Sarah Page (Laila Rouass), a professor employed at the British Museum, Cutter begins to contemplate the origins of the anomalies based on folklore. Helen tries to invade the ARC with a group of clones of the mysterious cleaner. Cutter takes an artifact from Helen, and is shot and killed by her in the process. Connor obtains the artifact and discovers that it was in fact a map to predict anomalies. However, they are not able to get it to work, but they do manage to create a device to lock anomalies and prevent creatures coming through. Danny Quinn (Jason Flemying), a former police detective who became involved after discovering his brother had been killed by a creature from the future, becomes the team leader following Cutter's death, while Jenny departs after having nearly died. Connor and Abby's relationship grows, despite her brother Jack moving into her flat and going through an anomaly to the future. Helen returns near the season's end, with a device that opens anomalies at will, revealing that she will go back to eradicate the human race by killing the first hominids. She kills Christine and travels back to the future, followed by Danny, Connor and Abby. While Abby and an injured Connor are forced to remain in the late Cretaceous Danny catches up with Helen in the prehistoric past and Helen is killed by a raptor that had followed Danny into the Pliocene. The anomaly closes on him, leaving him trapped in the Pliocene and Abby and Connor trapped in the Cretaceous.

Series 4 was preceded by five webisodes which partially bridge the year that has passed. New team members are introduced, and intrigues are set up, with Sarah having been killed in one of several attempted rescue missions led by Captain Becker. The ARC has been updated and restructured with a new team leader Matt Anderson (Ciarán McMenamin), a man with a hidden agenda with the ARC and the anomalies, Jess Parker (Ruth Kearney), a coordinator for the field team and Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig) an entrepreneur funding the ARC in a public/private partnership with the government.

Connor and Abby returned from the Cretaceous after finding Helen's dropped anomaly device, which was later eaten by a Spinosaurus that followed them. They were forced to earn their old jobs back by ending the reign of a Kaprosuchus living in the docks, following a new policy established during their disappearance where only people with a military background could work in the field. Later a group of time travellers arrived, including the mysterious Ethan Dobrowski (Jonathon Byrne), and Emily Merchant (Ruth Bradley), who is from the Victorian era. Matt took pity on Emily and kept her in his flat so they could find Ethan together, only for her to be kidnapped by him first, tied up, gagged and placed in a coffin, before being rescued. Meanwhile Abby and Connor's new relationship, formed during their time in the Cretaceous, became strained under their jobs, particularly when Philip threatened to put Rex down and Abby going against him without Connor's support, and Connor agreeing to work for Philip on his own research team. The finale found Danny returning from the Pliocene, and it was revealed that Ethan was in fact his brother Patrick, who had been changed by his experiences through the anomalies. Patrick escaped into the Pliocene with Danny pursuing him, but not before telling Matt that Philip had known Helen. Matt admitted to a departing Emily that he was from the future, sent back to prevent someone interfering with the anomalies and causing the Earth to become uninhabitable along with his father, Gideon (Anton Lesser), who had just died. Meanwhile Connor had done research into anomaly patterns and told Philip that he has discovered the anomalies will grow more frequent until they cause a catastrophe. Philip agreed to help find a solution, but asked that they keep the looming disaster to themselves for the time being.

Series 5 took place almost immediately after, with Philip recruiting Connor to help in his secret project called New Dawn, which would take energy from the anomalies and use it to solve the world's energy crisis. Matt, now aware Philip was responsible for the end of the world, asked for Abby's help after she figured out he was from the future due to his knowledge of Burrowing insects during an incursion. As they attempted to find out what Connor was researching with his assistant April Leonard (Janice Byrne) the team continued to deal with the anomalies. When Matt ended up in 1868 while trying to recapture a raptor, he encountered Emily and convinced her to return after finding out she would be committed to an asylum by her husband. Soon Connor created the first man-made anomaly in the ARC, however it caused a swarm of Future Beetles to invade the ARC, during which Matt and Abby revealed they were investigating Philip. In the aftermath of the crisis Connor went through Philip's files and discovered he had actually known Helen and had created a larger version of Connor's anomaly machine. Later several anomalies began opening at once as part of Convergence, a natural phenomenon which would change the Earth's magnetic pole from the north to the South, and a Tyrannosaur's rampage made the anomalies public. Philip abandoned Connor to activate New Dawn's anomaly as it required absorbing the energy from open anomalies, and Connor and Abby repaired their fractured relationship. Matt failed to stop Philip as he activated New Dawn and Connor, attempting sabotage, fell through the large anomaly and ended up in the desolate future Matt had lived in. While being rescued, the ARC was invaded by mutated versions of Future Predators, resulting in Lester becoming injured. Philip's anomaly became unstable, and Philip realised Helen had tricked him into wiping out humanity and tried to set things right by imploding the facility with him inside. Connor came up with a plan to use his anomaly to make the larger one unstable, and Matt drove it into the New Dawn anomaly with the intention of fulfiling his mission while sacrificing his own life. The plan worked and Matt somehow managed to survive, with the future changing once again. Abby, having whispered it earlier to Connor during the rescue, proposed to Connor and they became engaged. While the team is alerted to a new anomaly and prepare to head out, Matt encounters another version of himself, warning him to return home.

Cast

Main article: List of Primeval characters

Fifth series cast (left to right): Ben Mansfield, Ruth Kearney, Ciarán McMenamin, Hannah Spearritt and Andrew-Lee Potts

Character name	Actor	First appearance	Last appearance
Nick Cutter	Douglas Henshall	1.1	3.3
Stephen Hart	James Murray	1.1	2.7
Helen Cutter	Juliet Aubrey	1.1	3.10
Connor Temple	Andrew Lee Potts	1.1	5.6
Abby Maitland	Hannah Spearritt	1.1	5.6
Claudia Brown	Lucy Brown	1.1	1.6
James Lester	Ben Miller	1.1	5.6
Captain Tom Ryan	Mark Wakeling	1.1	1.6
Tom	Jake Curran	1.2	1.4
Duncan	James Bradshaw	1.2	4.2
Oliver Leek	Karl Theobald	2.1	2.7
Jenny Lewis	Lucy Brown	2.1	4.6
The Cleaner	Tim Faraday	2.1	3.3
Caroline Steel	Naomi Bentley	2.2	2.7
Mick Harper	Ramon Tikaram	2.6	3.4
Captain Becker	Ben Mansfield	3.1	5.6
Sarah Page	Laila Rouass	3.1	3.10
Christine Johnson	Belinda Stewart-Wilson	3.1	3.9
Danny Quinn	Jason Flemyng	3.2	4.7
Katherine Kavanagh	Ruth Gemmell	3.3	3.4
Captain Wilder	Alex McSweeney	3.4	3.9
Jack Maitland	Robert Daniel Lowe	3.4	3.8
Matt Anderson	Ciarán McMenamin	4.1	5.6
Jess Parker	Ruth Kearney	4.1	5.6
Philip Burton	Alexander Siddig	4.1	5.6
Gideon	Anton Lesser	4.1	4.6
Emily Merchant	Ruth Bradley	4.3	5.6
Ethan Dobrowski	Jonathyn Byrne	4.3	4.7
April Leonard	Janice Byrne	5.1	5.5

Episodes

Main article: List of Primeval episodes

Series	Episodes	Originally aired (UK dates)
		Series premiere	Series finale
1	6	10 February 2007 (2007-02-10)	17 March 2007 (2007-03-17)
2	7	12 January 2008 (2008-01-12)	23 February 2008 (2008-02-23)
3	10	28 March 2009 (2009-03-28)	6 June 2009 (2009-06-06)
4	7	1 January 2011 (2011-01-01)	5 February 2011 (2011-02-05)
5	6	24 May 2011 (2011-05-24)	28 June 2011 (2011-06-28)

Production

Filming

The series was filmed at Pinewood Studios, Black Park, Buckinghamshire, London Underground, New Den Stadium and CEME (the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence near Ford's Dagenham) Whipsnade Zoo, London Zoo, the Canary Islands, Bentalls Shopping Centre, Thorpe Park, Bournemouth beach the Alexandra Road estate, Camden and the British Museum.

The Duke of Kent building at the University of Surrey, Guildford is used as the back-drop for the team's HQ, the ARC (Anomaly Research Centre).

Filming of the second series completed on 1 October 2007, and was broadcast in early 2008. Caroline Steel and Oliver Leek, portrayed by Naomi Bentley and Karl Theobald respectively, were two new characters for the second series, both of whom conspired with Helen Cutter.

In an effort to cut costs and avail of generous Irish Tax incentives for television production, filming for series 4 and 5 moved to Ireland, starting on 22 March 2010 at locations around Dublin and Wicklow. Locations Manager Dermot Cleary confirmed the first block was to be filmed in Powerscourt Estate, The O2, Dublin port, Grand Canal Dock and Park West Business Park.

Advertising

Primeval billboards and banners are often erected around London shortly before the airdate. Series 1 has several posters, most of which had exaggerated creatures from the show (the Arthropleura was depicted as being roughly human-sized in the show but was shown as being as large as a house in the billboards). Series 2 and 3 have also had prominent advertising campaigns.

Cancellation and revival

In May 2009, The Sun had reported that Primeval was to be axed owing to ITV's recent admission of a £2.7 billion loss (though not solely as a result of Primeval's budget). ITV strongly denied this claim, with a spokesperson stating "It's not true, it's not going to be axed, it just hasn't been recommissioned and it is not unusual to wait for a series to run before considering recommission". However, by June 2009, ITV confirmed the show was axed. On 15 June 2009, ITV announced that they had cancelled the show and that there would not be a fourth series. At the same time, it was suggested that the production team would attempt to keep "Primeval alive in other ways". An ITV spokesman is quoted as saying:

"After three very successful series of Primeval there are no plans at the present time for it to return to ITV. High-quality drama remains a key part of the ITV schedule although our current focus is on post-watershed productions."

A likely contributing factor to the show's cancellation was ITV suffering severe financial troubles during 2009, reporting a £105 million half-year loss. As a result some of its other popular shows including Heartbeat were axed. On 29 September 2009, it was announced that two new series of the show would be produced for transmission in 2011, retaining most of the Series 3 cast; Laila Rouass stated that she will not be returning. The new deal meant the seven-part series four aired on ITV1 in early 2011, before being repeated on UKTV’s Watch channel, while the six-part series five will get its debut on Watch before showing on ITV1. Filming for series 4 and 5 of Primeval started on 22 March 2010 and finished in November 2010, with January 2011 set as the new series 4 airdate. Filming for series 4 was confirmed to have finished on 25 June, with filming for series 5 starting immediately.

On 7 April 2010, three new regular characters were announced for series four and five. These were scientist Philip Burton, to be played by Alexander Siddig, Matt, the new field leader, to be played by Ciarán McMenamin and Jess, played by Ruth Kearney, who will run operations from the ARC Control Centre.

On 8 June 2010, in an interview with the only Irish director involved with the fourth series, Robert Quinn stated that in episodes 5 and 6 of series 4, one would feature creatures that would terrorise a seaside village (filmed in Wicklow) and in the other, creatures would attack a castle (filmed in Luttrelstown castle).

Spin-offs

Plans for a feature film version of Primeval were announced in May 2009 by ITV with Warner Bros. Having acquired the screen rights with Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster named as the producers.

On 15 September 2011, Primeval: New World, a Canadian spin-off of the Primeval series, was announced as being in development for the Canadian television channel Space. It is a co-production between Omni Film productions, Impossible Pictures, and Bell Media. Production is slated to begin in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the winter of 2011.

Merchandise

Toys and action figures

The master toy licence for Primeval was given to Character Options, the same company that created the Doctor Who toy line. Jon Diver, joint MD at Character Group, stated that the series one toy line will be "extensive" and was scheduled for release in October 2007, followed by a series two toy line released in January 2008 to correspond with the second series. The toy line includes all of the main characters and a few of the creatures. A large plush toy version of Rex was also put into production. It is unknown if the toys will be shipped over to America. The Primeval Toy line includes:

• Main Characters (Nick Cutter, Helen Cutter, Stephen Hart, Connor Temple, Abby Maitland, James Lester, Claudia Brown, Jenny Lewis, Captain Tom Ryan)
• Creatures (Rex, Giant Arachnids, Hesperonis, Dodo & Parasite, Anurognathus, Future Predator, Raptor, Sabre-Tooth, Mer-Creature, Giant Scorpion)
• Sets (Anomaly Incursion Set, Creature Incursion Set, Anomaly Detector Build-A-Figure)
• Plush Rex with sound
• Flying Rex & Anurognathus
• Handheld Anomaly Detector with lights & sound

Books

Main article: List of Primeval books and novelisations

Ladybird Books have published two sticker books (one of which is a glow in the dark sticker book) a poster book, a tattoo activity title, a wipe-clean activity book, and a summer annual for children from five to eight years old.

Puffin Books have published four Primeval paperback books named A Rip in Time, Dangerous Dimension, The Lost Predator, and Fight for Survival, based on the episodes in Series 1.

Four original novels have also been published by Titan Books, to behave more like extra episodes than novelizations. The first is Shadow of the Jaguar by Steven Savile, which revealed that anomalies appear overseas. The second novel, written by acclaimed fantasy writer Paul Kearney, is entitled The Lost Island. The third, Extinction Event is by Dan Abnett who has also written "Torchwood" and "Doctor Who" books. The fourth and thus far final novel, entitled Fire and Water, is by Simon Guerrier and features Danny Quinn as lead character.

DVD releases

Series 1 was released on a two disc DVD by 2 Entertain on 19 March 2007 in Region 2; a specially created "Making of Primeval" documentary was included in the volume. Series 2 was released on 17 March 2008, also containing two discs and a new documentary. In North America, series 1 and 2 were combined into a Region 1 four disc box set titled "Primeval: Volume One", which was released on 4 November 2008. Series 1 and 2 were not released individually in North America. Series 3 was released on a three disc set in Region 2 on 1 June 2009, with the finale included before it was aired on television due to its broadcast being postponed by a week; like the previous sets it contained a new documentary. It was released in Region 1 on 15 September 2009 under the name "Primeval: Volume Two". Series 4 was released on 21 February 2011 on DVD in Region 2 and on Blu-ray in Region B. 2 Entertain also released "Series 1-2" and "Series 1-3" box sets containing all of the DVDs released at the time. Series 5 was released by 2 Entertain on DVD and Blu-ray in Regions 2 and 4 on 4 July 2011. Series 4 and 5 will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD in Region1 on January 10, 2012.

Music

PRIMEVAL (Original Television Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by Dominik Sherrer
Released	20 September 2011 (2011-09-20)
Recorded	2007–2009 at Angel Studios, Hear No Evil Studios, Crimson Noise Studios
Length	75:45
Label	MovieScore Media
Producer	Mikael Carlsson, Dominik Scherrer

Music for the first three seasons was composed by Domink Scherrer. He spent ten days composing tracks and an additional three days to record and mix them for each episode. He opted to create music that was a hybrid between electronic and traditional orchestra, noting that the urban nature of the setting and the attitudes of the characters were an influence. Scherrer said that the CGI nature of the show was a creative challenge, as the themes he scored for the creatures were often based on incomplete images. He noted "sometimes a drawing of the creature, or just a description from the director may help me get a feel for the creature. The final look and texture can be very influential on the music".

On 25 August 2011, MovieScore Media announced that the Primeval soundtrack, containing songs from the first three seasons, would be released on 20 September 2011.

All music composed by Dominik Scherrer except "Dracorex", composed by Domink Sherrer and Angus Moncrieff.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Primeval Theme"	3:21
2.	"Rex"	2:12
3.	"Cretaceous Sea"	1:50
4.	"Silurian Scorpions"	2:06
5.	"Into the Late Permian"	2:01
6.	"Columbian Mammoth"	2:32
7.	"The Mystery of the Anomalies"	1:30
8.	"Chasing a Silurian Millipede"	1:51
9.	"Coming Home"	2:00
10.	"Connor and Abby at the Hospital"	1:38
11.	"Gorgonopsid vs Future Predator"	3:17
12.	"Stay with Me"	2:34
13.	"Pteranodon"	4:03
14.	"Tom Dies"	3:29
15.	"Infected"	2:51
16.	"Smilodon Attack"	2:09
17.	"Raptors at the Shopping Mall"	3:40
18.	"Firechief"	1:32
19.	"Taylor"	2:01
20.	"Carnivorous Worms"	4:36
21.	"Val Revealed"	3:27
22.	"Back to the Cretaceous"	4:10
23.	"Sabretooth Battle"	3:21
24.	"Jenny Lewis"	2:19
25.	"Contaminated"	3:23
26.	"Dracorex"	2:16
27.	"Helen, Where are You?"	1:19
28.	"The Merqueen"	3:38
29.	"Primeval Titles"	0:39

Viewing statistics

The first episode gained a final viewing figure of 7.09 million people. The series averaged 6.39 million viewers. When shown in Germany it gained a total audience of 2.78 million viewers. These figures do not take into account the viewing figures for repeats of the programme. After all 7 episodes, series 2 averaged 6.29 million viewers making a very slight drop of 100,000 from the series 1 average.

Although episode 3.3 received low viewer ratings in the UK, the second half of the show was aired during the opposing BBC transmission of a special edition of Doctor Who. Series 3 was also broadcast much later in the year than previous seasons so warmer weather could be a factor to explain a small decrease in viewership but little change in the percentage of audience share. Nevertheless, Primeval remains in the Top 30 most viewed programmes for ITV per week, beating many of the Top 30 for other stations as well.

Series 1

Episode	Overnight rating (share)	Final Rating
1.1	6.7 million (29%)	7.09 million
1.2	6.0 million (28%)	6.29 million
1.3	5.8 million (25%)	6.17 million
1.4	5.6 million (24%)	5.81 million
1.5	6.2 million (28%)	6.46 million
1.6	6.1 million (27%)	6.52 million
Average:	6.39 million

Series 2

Episode	Overnight rating (share)	Final Rating
2.1	5.8 million (26%)	6.32 million
2.2	5.6 million (25%)	6.05 million
2.3	5.7 million (26%)	6.27 million
2.4	5.7 million (24%)	6.39 million
2.5	5.8 million (26%)	6.33 million
2.6	6.0 million (27%)	6.45 million
2.7	5.6 million (26%)	6.20 million
Average:	6.28 million

Series 3

Episode	Overnight rating (share)	Final Rating
3.1	5.3 million (24%)	5.89 million
3.2	4.4 million (23%)	4.94 million
3.3	2.7 million (14%)	3.28 million
3.4	4.5 million (23%)	4.97 million
3.5	4.9 million (26%)	5.20 million
3.6	4.7 million (25%)	5.27 million
3.7	4.9 million (25%)	5.34 million
3.8	4.6 million (22%)	5.13 million
3.9	4.6 million (25%)	5.06 million
3.10	3.9 million (20%)	5.01 million
Average:	4.99 million

Series 4

Episode	Overnight Rating (share)	Final Rating			Total viewers
	ITV1 (including ITV1 HD)	ITV1	ITV1 HD	ITV1 +1
4.1	4.45 million (17%)	4.94 million	0.39 million	-	5.33 million
4.2	3.30 million (13%)	3.88 million	0.39 million	-	4.27 million
4.3	3.74 million (16%)	4.17 million	0.32 million	-	4.49 million
4.4	3.85 million (16%)	4.15 million	0.42 million	0.19 million	4.76 million
4.5	3.93 million (17%)	4.21 million	0.43 million	0.13 million	4.77 million
4.6	3.39 million (15%)	3.83 million	0.45 million	0.15 million	4.43 million
4.7	3.60 million (15%)	4.09 million	0.36 million	0.17 million	4.62 million
Average:					4.67 million

Series 5

Episode	Watch		Watch +1		Total viewers
	Viewers	Rank	Viewers	Rank
5.1	618,000	#1	76,000	#1	694,000
5.2	523,000	#1	65,000	#1	588,000
5.3	525,000	#1	67,000	#1	592,000
5.4	438,000	#1	109,000	#1	547,000
5.5	477,000	#1	71,000	#1	548,000
5.6	496,000	#1	77,000	#1	573,000
Average:					590,000

Reception

TV critic Charlie Brooker reviewed Primeval in the final episode of his BBC Four show Screenwipe, and gave it a rave review saying that it was "far better than Torchwood for instance" commenting "I hope you're listening, Russell T Davies". "Unashamedly Saturday night populist viewing for the masses" with "some of the best special effects [he'd] ever seen... in a British TV show" he went on.

First broadcast on BBC America on 9 August 2008, Primeval met with generally favourable reviews among American critics, earning 73 out of 100 on the aggregate review site Metacritic. Calling the show both child-friendly and entertaining for adults, Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune noted the unusual date of the American première, stating that "most networks...have shied away from launching shows during August, when the Beijing Olympics are expected to dominate the TV landscape." Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised Primeval's special effects and sense of humor. Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times criticized the music and emotional direction of the narrative, saying of protagonist Nick Cutter "I know your wife has been missing for years, but ye gods, man, that's a bloody dinosaur."

Comparisons have been made between Primeval and the popular BBC series Doctor Who, which is famous for its use of time travel. The producers of Primeval have consistently resisted comparison of the series with Doctor Who, calling Primeval more "reality-based." Actor Douglas Henshall instead compared the series to The A-Team, calling Primeval an ensemble piece featuring characters with different backgrounds who must work together. Torchwood creator and former Doctor Who head writer Russell T Davies commented on the show in 2007, criticising Primeval's lack of ethnic casting as "shameful," but then adding "apart from that, I think it's excellent". Sarah Page, played by the Moroccan-Indian actress Laila Rouass, joined the show temporarily as a member of the main team for Series 3.

International broadcasts

Country	Network	First broadcast
United Kingdom	ITV	10 February 2007
United Kingdom	Watch	May 2011
Ireland	Watch	2011
Belgium	Eén and Acht	7 September 2007
Brazil	HBO Family	2008
Canada	Space	4 April 2007
Canada	Ztélé	December 2008
Singapore	MediaCorp Channel 5 StarHub Channel 505 and Channel 558 (HD)	21 April 2011 30 May 2011
South Korea	KBS2	15 April 2007
Germany	ProSieben	4 June 2007
Germany	Kabel eins	2010
Hong Kong	TVB Pearl	14 February 2007
Australia	Nine Network GO!	28 April 2007 14 June 2011
New Zealand	TV2	11 July 2007
Norway	NRK3	December 2008
Spain	Canal+ & Cuatro	2007
Sweden	Kanal 9	3 September 2007
Iran	Channel 4	29 October 2010
Italy	Jimmy, Raidue, Rai 4	28 December 2007
France	M6	29 December 2007
France	NRJ 12	2 December 2008
France	Syfy Universal	3 May 2011
Romania	TVR2	2008
Mexico	HBO Latin America	2008
Hungary	RTL Klub, AXN Sci-Fi, AXN	6 January 2008
Taiwan	Public Television Service	6 February 2008
Denmark	DR	21 February 2008
Bulgaria	BNT 1, AXN Sci-Fi	10 March 2008, 7 April 2010
Malaysia Thailand Philippines	BBC Entertainment Fox (Asia)	15 May 2008
Croatia	HRT	7 July 2008
United States	BBC America SyFy	9 August 2008 10 April 2009 (HD)
Slovakia	Slovenská televízia	6 May 2008
Portugal	RTP1, Animax	2 August 2008
Russia	TV-3	15 November 2008
South Africa	BBC Entertainment	14 October 2008
Japan	NHK	2 January 2009
Slovenia	POP TV	19 January 2009
Poland	BBC Entertainment	3 June 2009
Greece	Skai TV	2009
Serbia	RTS 1	2009
Latvia	TV3 viasat	2008
Czech	ČT1	8 September 2009
Netherlands	Sci Fi Channel (Benelux)	December 2009
Finland	SuomiTV	27 April 2010

External links

• Primeval at itv.com
• Primeval at stv.tv
• Primeval at AllRovi
• Primeval at the Internet Movie Database
• Primeval at TV.com