\u201cI\u2019ve always been obsessed by dinosaurs and monsters, all that kind of stuff, since I was a boy,\u201d says Douglas Henshall, explaining what drew him to a certain ITV drama, the first two series of which are available on BritBox<\/a> today.<\/p>\n \u201cPrimeval was kind of a hang-over from childhood, a way of vicariously satisfying the old childhood memories.\u201d<\/p>\n It was also a series that almost always seemed on the brink of extinction.<\/p>\n Following a team of scientists investigating the appearance of temporal \u201canomalies\u201d which delivers both prehistoric creatures and future predators to the present, Primeval began life at the BBC, under a very different title. \u201cI\u2019d made a [documentary-style series] called Walking with Dinosaurs for the BBC back in 2000,\u201d recalls co-creator Tim Haines, previously a science journalist with a background in zoology, \u201cand it struck me that all that technology [could be] used for a drama. Because the BBC wanted a recognisable piece of IP, we made Arthur Conan Doyle\u2019s Lost World first. I then came up with the idea of Cutter\u2019s Bestiary, and developed a script with another writer, which didn\u2019t go anywhere.\u201d<\/p> It\u2019s at this point that Adrian Hodges \u2013 who had recently won a BAFTA for Charles II: The Power and Passion \u2013 came on board. \u201cOne day I went into [BBC Head of Drama] Laura Mackie\u2019s office, and she asked me what I wanted to do next. She suggested Bleak House \u2013 I\u2019d already done David Copperfield, so I said no, I don\u2019t want to do another Dickens, thank you. I want to do something that\u2019s fun, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I\u2019d just watched all of Buffy, I thought it was a brilliant show. I wanted to do something with the same vibe, the same feel to it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe then suggested something called Cutter\u2019s Bestiary \u2013 a terrible title, but that\u2019s what it was at the time,\u201d continues Hodges. \u201cI spoke to Tim, and he said, \u2018I want to do dinosaurs in the modern day\u2019, which is brilliant. I\u2019d also just been to the Natural History Museum and I\u2019d thought, why on earth isn\u2019t anybody doing dinosaurs?\u201d<\/p>\n Several scripts were written for the BBC, as Primeval went through various different iterations (\u201cfirst it was made into a 90-minute drama, and then they asked whether we could make it post nine o\u2019clock\u201d says Haines) before eventually finding a home at ITV.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we started, there was no Doctor Who<\/a>, and we thought it was time for something like Doctor Who. But then Russell T Davies started Doctor Who, and we were deemed to be too [similar], so after what must have been about four or five years, the BBC finally turned it down,\u201d explains Haines, charting the complex evolution of the first series.<\/p>\n \u201cNick Elliott, the commissioner at ITV, had seen the success of Doctor Who and Robin Hood too and thought, well, maybe ITV has to try this out. Here he had a script with Adrian\u2019s talents behind it, so that\u2019s why they decided to go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n It was at this point that the show started to find its cast. \u201cThe audition came through like any other, but when I read the script, I realised it was something very different. I\u2019d never seen anything like it,\u201d says Andrew Lee Potts, who played Connor Temple in all five series of Primeval. \u201cMy first audition was the morning after a night shoot on another job. I was so over tired I think I became a little euphoric, which seemed to work for the manic mind of Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I finished S Club there were quite a few things that came through that I wasn\u2019t really ready for. I just needed a break, to escape the limelight in any way, shape, or form. Primeval came at a time when I was ready to come back into TV,\u201d remembers Hannah Spearitt, who played Abby Maitland in all five series of Primeval. \u201cIn my audition, we did an up-on-your-feet type thing, imagining Rex [her character\u2019s pet dinosaur], because Rex was going to be a massive part of Abby\u2019s character. That audition was a little bit different to a normal audition!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t do any auditions for Primeval,\u201d says Douglas Henshall, who played Nick Cutter in the first, second, and part of the third series of Primeval. \u201cIt was an offer. I went and met Tim and Adrian and had a natter with them, and that was it really. I liked the premise. I thought the idea that you could make a show that was smart and educational and fun, aimed at a family audience was a nice idea. I thought it \u2013 especially the first three episodes of the first series \u2013 was very well-written.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI had a choice between going to do Primeval or going to do another show, which was a particularly hard-hitting kind of\u2026 You guys would describe it as gritty drama, I suppose. I\u2019d been doing that for so long that I thought it might be nice to go and chase dinosaurs for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI had a lot of fun,\u201d says Spearitt. \u201cIt was cool to play a swashbuckling female role, for the younger girls [in the audience]. I loved that element to it, playing a strong female character. And the special effects were pretty high standard. I think they\u2019ll stand the test of time \u2013 the budget was quite high, I think a million pounds per episode? \u2013 so I think it will have aged well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMerging the live action drama and the CGI threw up challenges everyday, like a giant jigsaw, but when it all came together the end product was something very special,\u201d says Potts. \u201cCertain times as an actor you get lucky enough to have the opportunity to play a role that seems to fit like a glove (albeit a fingerless one), I\u2019m happy to say Connor Temple was one of those roles for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Primeval touched on ideas of ecological disaster and environmental preservation; looking back, though, there\u2019s a sense that it wasn\u2019t just ahead of its time thematically, but commercially as well. \u201cI think we were we were born for Netflix, frankly,\u201d says Adrian Hodges. \u201cNo disrespect to ITV, who were very good to us in their way. But I think I think it would\u2019ve been nice to have a bigger budget. Tim did miracles on a relatively small budget at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think if we\u2019d waited even another five years!\u201d agrees Henshall. \u201cWhen all the streaming networks started out, I think absolutely it would have done a lot better, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, argues Haines, \u201cBritish television\u2019s approach to genre was appalling. There was definitely a cultural snobbery towards it \u2013 we were lucky to get Primeval away. After Primeval, I ended up making Sinbad and Beowulf, but I have to say in retrospect, it was a bit sad to have to make [those] just because the audience recognised the name, rather than making something original like Primeval.\u201d<\/p>\n The series often seemed like it was itself an endangered species, and that uncertainty wasn\u2019t without its challenges. \u201cWe always got good ratings, but we fell victim to changing hierarchies at ITV, from memory. I don\u2019t know exactly what was going on in the background, but Tim did a remarkable job of keeping it on the air,\u201d says Hodges.<\/p>\n \u201c[Commissioner] Peter Fincham had the oddest relationship with us: he turned it down at the BBC. When he came to ITV, he cancelled it. And then he recommissioned it, and then he cancelled it again. He had four goes at the series!\u201d laughs Haines. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t ideal. But that was because of the 2008 crash: ITV was two weeks away from going bankrupt, and so they were slashing left, right, and centre. Our show unfortunately suffered because of that, after series three.\u201d<\/p>\n It was difficult, as well, to be up against Doctor Who. \u201cThere was no way that we could compete with Doctor Who, you know? Any time that we ever got matched up anywhere near them, we were completely squashed by them,\u201d remembers Henshall.<\/p>\n \u201c[Doctor Who] was a juggernaut at the time, it was a behemoth. We were competitive, of course we were, but I just wanted to do well,\u201d says Hodges. \u201cIf we could\u2019ve beaten them that would\u2019ve been great, but that was never really our goal particularly. It was too big a show at that point, it had too much publicity. And Russell T Davies was doing really well with that show at the time, it was brilliantly written. I felt it was a great show at the time \u2013 I think we\u2019d have a better chance today, let\u2019s put it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew Lee Potts, meanwhile, thinks Primeval found the right home. \u201cI think the time we hit the UK screens was just right, judging by its success. I think it\u2019s the nature of the beast (no pun intended) of being an actor or involved in a show like this [that there\u2019s some uncertainty]. The show was very expensive and prime time, so there was always a risk of it ending prematurely. I think most actors are just happy if it gets past series one!\u201d<\/p>\n Following the second series, Douglas Henshall opted to leave Primeval, and his character was written out at the start of the third. \u201cI thought it had become a little simplified in its ambitions,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt was becoming a slightly different show, more of a monster-of-the-week type thing. The first season, I thought was very exciting, but it became more standard by the end of the second season, and I thought they\u2019d probably be better served with someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, Jason Flemyng came in and then Ciar\u00e1n McMenamin after him. I know Jason and I know Ciar\u00e1n, I trusted that they would both do a great job, but [I never watched them in it]. I didn\u2019t want to do that thing of watching somebody who will go and be better than you were \u2013 I don\u2019t want to go and troll myself!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI learned a lot of lessons as to how to lead a show better. It helped me a lot going in to [BBC drama] Shetland<\/a>, just for myself,\u201d continues Henshall. \u201cBut I thought we made a pretty good show [with Primeval], we took something that could have gone very badly wrong, and it didn\u2019t. I think we did the writers proud.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDougie leaving was, of course, really disappointing \u2013 he\u2019s one of the best actors in Britain \u2013 but you have to adapt and move on,\u201d says Spearitt. \u201cHe was the heartbeat of the show, and it was very different after, but the show evolved. We lost quite a lot of people, but new energy comes in and sometimes that\u2019s what\u2019s needed.\u201d<\/p>\n In another timeline, the series might\u2019ve unfolded differently. \u201cAdrian did have a three series arc for Dougie. At the end, he was meant to be stuck with his wife in the past, but we had to change that,\u201d says Haines.<\/p>\n That ending would\u2019ve tied into one of Primeval\u2019s biggest unanswered cliffhangers: who was Jenny Lewis, and how had she replaced Claudia Brown? At the close of series one, Cutter returned from a trip to the past to find that his almost-love interest Claudia Brown (Lucy Brown) had disappeared, and no-one else remembered her. Series two introduced a new character, Jenny Lewis \u2013 again played by Lucy Brown \u2013 and it was only Cutter who noticed they were seemingly the same person.<\/p>\n \u201cJenny and Claudia were the same person, having evolved in a different way. Gradually, we were going to reveal that there were people all over the world with a similar situation,\u201d explains Hodges. \u201cWe only ever showed her at the time, but there were [going to be] lots of people in that same situation, and lots of prehistoric animals developing differently. Gradually Cutter would\u2019ve noticed small differences in evolution, and go to change things back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI liked that idea, and certainly Lucy went with it very well,\u201d says Hodges, thinking back. \u201cBut unfortunately, we never really got a chance to resolve it, it was too closely tied in with Dougie and [that plotline] was never the same again as well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a real shame. We didn\u2019t want to lose Dougie, but he felt he wanted to go and we couldn\u2019t hold him. Which is fair enough! I absolutely respected his decision making, he\u2019s a good guy, but I was very disappointed when he went,\u201d continues Hodges. \u201cI think he did really well on the show, and I\u2019d like to speak very highly of him. He brought a real gravity to the role.\u201d<\/p>\n With the first two series of Primeval arriving on BritBox today, how do the cast and creatives feel about audiences getting the chance to revisit the show?<\/p>\n \u201c<\/em>Primeval opened a door to the past in the present day and where that is concerned, in my opinion, that\u2019s timeless,\u201d enthuses Potts. \u201cOne of the things I feel Primeval did so well was mix drama, adventure and humour for the whole family to enjoy and I think that\u2019s why people remember it so fondly \u2013 it\u2019s lovely to think it\u2019s living on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was always a programme to escape reality, to enable the family to sit down and enjoy something together \u2013 it has those layers [that] young children and adults could enjoy it,\u201d says Spearitt. \u201cIt\u2019s dinosaurs, isn\u2019t it? They never age.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI saw it not long ago, I think it\u2019s very good \u2013 well, some of the haircuts aren\u2019t!\u201d says Hodges. \u201cBut I think it aged really well. I\u2019m very proud of that show, immensely proud. I think episode three of series one is one of the best things I\u2019ve ever written, funnily enough, the one where they find that Juliet Aubrey\u2019s character [Cutter\u2019s wife Helen] is still alive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt made me a better writer I think; it was the first real money show I\u2019d done, so the pressure was unbelievable. I realised how hard it is to write clever dialogue and a good plot in such a short space of time,\u201d he continues. \u201cI\u2019d do [another series] tomorrow, I\u2019d do it in a heartbeat if I could.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it would be very hard for me to say no to revisiting Connor if asked,\u201d agrees Potts. \u201cI will always have a soft spot for him and I owe a lot to the people who trusted me with the role.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be interesting to play her again someday, to see the mature version of Abby,\u201d says Spearitt. \u201cThat was the funny thing about it \u2013 we were all we were so young, it was almost unbelievable that we would be employed to [hunt dinosaurs]!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels a little bit sad now for me, because it was a lovely show to work on, but it\u2019s been and gone,\u201d says Haines. \u201cBut the Primeval fans, the groups of them \u2013 it\u2019s a lovely thing about the internet, the way these people and enthusiasts can find each other \u2013 whether they write stories off the back of the series, or whether they are creating new images for it, writing and talking about the characters, it\u2019s immensely flattering to get to see such enthusiasm still.\u201d<\/p>\n Is there anything in particular they\u2019d like people to take away from watching the show?<\/p>\n \u201cThat you\u2019re right to be absolutely still fascinated by dinosaurs, and science, and climate and all of those things that were in that show,\u201d says Henshall. \u201cOne of the best nights of filming that I\u2019ve had in a long time was when we did the night shoot at the British museum. We were in there all night by ourselves and we could wander around the museum in the dark, looking at the sarcophagi of mummified Egyptians.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was quite a magical thing to do, and I think very in keeping with what we were trying to do in that show. The possibility of all those things having been real once was very, very present. I think kids who were excited about things like that will still get a lot of pleasure out of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n Primeval<\/strong> series 1 & 2 are available on\u00a0<\/strong>BritBox<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 check out our Sci-fi<\/a> hub for more news and features<\/strong>, or see what else is\u00a0<\/strong>on with our\u00a0<\/strong>TV Guide<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n As the ITV sci-fi series comes to BritBox, we delve deep into the behind-the-scenes ups and downs of Primeval with the cast and creatives. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":3294,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/primevals-cast-and-crew-on-unanswered-cliffhangers-doctor-who-rivalry-and-dinosaur-co-stars.jpg",1620,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/primevals-cast-and-crew-on-unanswered-cliffhangers-doctor-who-rivalry-and-dinosaur-co-stars-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/primevals-cast-and-crew-on-unanswered-cliffhangers-doctor-who-rivalry-and-dinosaur-co-stars-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/primevals-cast-and-crew-on-unanswered-cliffhangers-doctor-who-rivalry-and-dinosaur-co-stars-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/primevals-cast-and-crew-on-unanswered-cliffhangers-doctor-who-rivalry-and-dinosaur-co-stars-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/primevals-cast-and-crew-on-unanswered-cliffhangers-doctor-who-rivalry-and-dinosaur-co-stars-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/primevals-cast-and-crew-on-unanswered-cliffhangers-doctor-who-rivalry-and-dinosaur-co-stars.jpg",1620,1080,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"As the ITV sci-fi series comes to BritBox, we delve deep into the behind-the-scenes ups and downs of Primeval with the cast and creatives.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/3293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Primeval"\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/Primeval-s1-e2-14332c6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Primeval\\"")
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