"Primeval" Episode #1.2 (2007)

Director:

Cilla Ware

Writers:

Tim Haines (creator) &
Adrian Hodges (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Primeval" (2007)

Original Air Date:

17 February 2007 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Connor and Abby join forces to investigate another anomaly suspected of being in the New Forest (Hampshire/Dorset)...

Plot Keywords:

London Underground | Spider | Snake | Eating Apple | Animal Attack

Cast

Emily Dobbs	...	Woman on Tube
Andrew Lee Potts	...	Connor Temple (as Andrew-Lee Potts)
Jake Curran	...	Tom
James Bradshaw	...	Duncan
Douglas Henshall	...	Nick Cutter
James Murray	...	Stephen Hart
Hannah Spearritt	...	Abby Maitland
Lucy Brown	...	Claudia Brown
Ben Miller	...	Sir James Lester
Stephanie Street	...	Dr. Lewis
Mark Wakeling	...	Capt. Tom Ryan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Juliet Aubrey	...	Helen Cutter (credit only)

Runtime:

Germany:47 min

Country:

UK | Germany | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:6

Company:

Impossible Pictures

Quotes:

Connor Temple: [having told incredulous fellow students of his episode 1 adventure] I saw a Gorgonopsid... But it's all true! All right: I swear on my Empire Strikes Back first edition poster signed by Luke Skywalker and Dave Prowse.
Tom: Careful! That's invoking a sacred relic.
Duncan: Yeah, like the Bible.
Connor Temple: Yeah, I know what a sacred relic is, Duncan. I have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark.
[Exits]
Duncan: He's lost it.
Tom: Totally! That's the saddest thing I've seen since Matrix Revolutions.

Movie Connections:

References "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987)

"That's the saddest thing I've seen since Matrix Revolutions." Decent second story.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Primeval #1.2 starts on the London Underground where a pest controller (John Gomez) is bitten by a large spider scorpion type monster, he is taken to hospital but dies later that day. Home Office official Claudia Brown (Lucy Brown) is informed & quickly realises that there may be another anomaly, she rounds up Professor Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) & the rest of the team who not only discover these spider things crawling everywhere but a huge monstrous centipede type creature which bites Stephen (James Murray). He is taken to hospital but the Doctor's need a sample of the venom to counteract it, somehow they need to get the centipede to give up a sample of it's venom or Stephen will die...

Episode 2 from season 2 of this made-for-British TV sci-fi adventure was directed by Cilla Ware this is a pretty decent way to spend 45 minutes & I thought was slightly better than episode 1. The script by Adrian Hodges obviously has been inspired by numerous giant bugs on the loose type horror films, it also seems to borrow from Aliens (1986) as there are a few scenes of armed soldiers walking through dark corridors as nasty things lurk in the shadows & it has a fair amount of Scream (1996) style self referential film geek dialogue, whether you want to describe it as a homage or a rip-off this episode does have a somewhat familiar feel about it. At a brisk 45 minutes in length it moves along at a nice pace, it's just about long enough to develop a story without outstaying it's welcome & there are some good sequences here particularly the ones involving the huge centipede creature. This is one of those show's where the character's are developed throughout the series in the background even though each show has a distinct storyline within it so it's advisable to watch the series in order otherwise there may a few things that are spoken about or referred too that won't make much sense in the context of a single episode.

Being made for British TV I expected the budget to be low & the special effects poor but that's not the case at all & the CGI computer effects are in fact excellent with the centipede again standing out as an impressive beast. Don't expect a history lesson though, the monsters used in the series up to now have been totally fictitious. It would have been cool if there were more attacks on passenger trains as it would have been more effective since millions of people use the underground & can relate to it rather than confining the action to a bland faceless room. The acting is alright but nothing overly special although the star of the show are definitely the monsters. Interestingly, or not as the case may be, the recap at the start of this episode contains footage that's not actually present in the first story.

Primeval #1.2 is a good episode, it won't change your life or anything but it'll pass 45 minutes harmlessly enough. Worth a watch if there's nothing else on.