3 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:
*** May contain spoilers ***
Hugely enjoyable Saturday night hokum
Northernsky from ,
28th February, 2008
I was a little unfair on the first series of Primeval when i reviewed it on Amazon. I only realised that when it sunk in how much i was looking forward to the second series. Dr Who apart it’s far and away the best thing on TV on Saturday nights. The second series not too surprisingly picks up where the second series left off with Cutter (Douglas Henshall) knowing he is back in a parallel version of his old life , and everything seems to be the same except that Claudia (Lucy Brown) has disappeared and no one can ever remember her existing. Never mind because she soon re-appears except she is now called Jenny Lewis and is an aggressive PR representative for the powers that be , charged with ensuring that the existence of the shimmering anomalies stays secret. I would suggest that this storyline isn’t explored to the degree it should have been but then again it can be in later series so maybe the writers will explore it then. There is also an on-going plot involving Cutters (ex) wife Helen (Juliet Aubrey) ,which is also implicated in with shadowy blokes popping up at anomaly sites and the right hand man of the amusingly sardonic Lester (Ben Miller)- Oliver Leek(Karl Theobold) who looks shiftier than a weasel at the Tory party conference .Meanwhile Abby(Hannah Spearitt) and Connor(Andrew Lee Potts) continue their fractious but inevitable coming together though Connor is side-tracked for awhile by the romantic attentions of Caroline (Naomi Bentley) who is in the pay of the bad guys. Stephen Hart( James Murray) is clashing with Cutter and being manipulated by Helen. And of course there the usual menagerie of prehistoric beasties to deal with including a mammoth on a major road, a sabre toothed tiger in a theme park , velociraptors in a shopping centre, and strange mist dwelling worm creatures in an office block. There are also some bizarre aquatic seal like creatures from a possible future , giant scorpions plus the return of Primevals best creation- the future predators(The one time the CGI is really up to scratch) from series one. Its all cracking pacy fun .Complete nonsense of course and it’s best not to think too deeply about it or the numerous plot holes will have you questioning every thing that occurs and therefore ruin your enjoyment . The acting isn’t anything special but is good enough and the scripts are fairly sharp .In fact the only thing that really lets the series down are the special effects which are frankly lousy. Compare them to regular CGI heavy series like Dr Who or Enterprise and it’s like comparing Inter Milans defence to Derby County’s. The DVD has an extensive making of feature called “Through the anomaly” though like most of those they are not actually all that interesting but if you like that sort of thing there is plenty to keep you occupied here. Commentaries are also available. The great thing about Primeval though is that it’s an imaginative entertaining slice of hokum that you can watch with the kids on a Saturday night and gives you an alternative from interminable celebrity reality drivel and dull quiz shows. More programmes like Primeval and the recently acquired Dexter and ITV1 might start gaining a reputation as a half decent channel again.
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