Every Single Thing We Thought We Knew About The Universe Is Wrong: The Hopelessly Addictive Primeval Comes to BBC America!

Finally!  U.K.’s Primeval is here!  Wheeeee! Saturday, Aug. 9 @9p. on BBC America
The promo:

Evolutionary zoologist Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) and his entourage converge on England’s Forest of Dean following reports of terrifying beasts afoot.  A Scutosaurus loose in the forest leads the scientists to an anomaly (or portal), a conduit to Earth’s late Permian period, 250 million years ago.

Prehistoric creatures slip through the portal, creating much real time havoc.  Cutters’ beloved wife also disappeared years ago in the Forest of Dean.

"Every single thing we thought we knew about the universe is wrong," says Cutter.

Whew!  To say the series premise is big and bold is something of an understatement.  Ten minutes into the pilot I was hopelessly hooked.  This show is addictive.  Yes, the premise is bold and predators seethe, but the characters will draw you in like a black hole.

Stargate comparisons are easy and perhaps misleading, because the concept is far more complicated.  In the Primeverse, "the past and the future exist independently of the present, in a fourth dimension."  (Moving into its third season in the U.K., Primeval has developed a cosmology.)   Byzantine storylines are probably a given here.

Anyway - never mind all that.  Let’s talk creatures!  The predators invade grocery store parking lots and toss around shopping carts and upend cars!  A Gorgonopsid breaks into the room of an eleven year-old boy. 

Think:  Spielberg/Jurassic Park.

Plotting sometimes takes a back seat to creature chases, since the pilot moves at a brisk pace.  The whole point, naturally, is to set up action sequences and creature encounters. 

In the pilot ep., team members Stephen and Connor are alone in the woods, tracking the vicious Gorgonopsid while their teammates meet with officials at the Home Office (the U.K.’s FBI, Immigration Service etc. all rolled into one).  

Of course, dispatching Stephen and Connor  into the Forest of Dean creates tension.  But why were these two tromping around in the woods sans back-up?

The pilot occasionally devolves into sentimentality.  The too-cute, perky flying baby beast gets loose in the Home Office,  all the while chirping merrily.  The little beast triggers a chase around the desks and up the elevators.  (There are a LOT of chases in this series.)  

The saccharine Home Office sequence consumed quite a lot of screen time, but the show probably appeals to children as well as adults.  (I wonder if Primeval airs during the family hour in the U.K.)

Part of me didn’t really care, though.  I was happy to sit back and watch the green, winged creature zoom around the glassy, modern office.

At the center of this series, however, is really its greatest strength - a very good cast.

Resident geek and Palaeontology grad student Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts) is, so far, the classic nerd.  He suffers from allergies.  He obfuscates and he’s often inappropriate.  His dissertation is based on fringe science (he believes alien spacecraft seeded all life on Earth).   He wears sloppy jackets and his hair is floppy.  Can you say a strange combo of Stargate’s Daniel Jackson and The Sentinel’s Blair Sandburg?  

Ah yes, I can see it now: the classic nerd taps into his true heroic mettle.  From Stargate’s Daniel Jackson to Chuck’s Chuck Bartowski  Yeah, it’s been done, but we love it every time.  If a lesser actor was playing the role, it probably wouldn’t work but Potts is very expressive.

I especially like Abigail Maitland, the reptile specialist played by Hannah Spearritt.  She conveys a sweet vulnerability. 

Henshall as Nick Cutter is the cast heavyweight, the first among equals.  Cutter’s first leap through the portal into Earth’s volcanic prehistoric past is a true wonder to behold.  Cutter’s speechless ecstasy simply oozes though the screen and it was a very exciting moment nicely conveyed by Henshall. 

In spite of the aforementioned weaknesses (plot soft spots going forward could detract), I’m still enamored with this show.  There are enough mysteries to keep me tuned-in.  (How did the anomalies come to be? What’s the story behind the disappearance of Cutter’s wife?)

Don’t have a big screen with home theatre system?  There’s still time to dash over to Best Buy before Primeval airs tomorrow night.  Like Stargate Atlantis, this show is the best excuse eva! to install a big screen.

And BBC America gave us a DVD with four - yes, four! - episodes to watch.  Thank you, BBC America.

P.S. I have a courtesy warning to my readers about Stephen Hart (James Murray), Cutter’s young Rob Lowe-ish assistant.  Enjoy for two seasons but maintain a reasonable fannish "heart" distance (FHD), ‘kay?  I’m just sayin’. …   

ETA:  I forgot to point out (if you haven’t noticed already): the guys of Primeval are a scruffy bunch.  In every photo I’ve come across, everyone (except the bureaucrats) is strategically stubbled.  heh.  Do these guys ever go out on dates?