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Nov. 22nd, 2006 @ 10:20 pm When dinosaurs attack!
Shifty
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Trying to capitalise on the BBC's success with the revamped Doctor Who, ITV are trying to get some of the family/Sci Fi audience with their series Primeval, launching soon, a time-travel series with Dinosaurs And That. I've got a preview DVD of the opening episode - why? Because I'm just so cool, that's why!1

The Forest of Dean, eh? Previously known only for producing EMF, apparently it now produces dinosaurs as well. The setup reminded me a bit of Sea of Souls, with Douglas Henshall in the lead as a University professor - what of we weren't told. I'm guessing paleontology, although that doesn't explain why his sidekick is some sort of great white hunter type. But he's played by the rather hot James Murray, so that's OK.

The first half of the pilot is a bit of a mess - trying too hard to be attention-seeking, and to introduce a big cast. The female totty is played by Hannah From Out Of S-Club, looking very much like Maxine Peake playing Myra Hindley. I take it that was unintentional. As for the CGI, in a series which is so reliant on it, it was decidedly shonky - including in our very first glimpse of a monster, in a pre-credits teaser that serves mainly as shameless product placement for ASDA. There's also some pretty predictable uses of recent music - you could have set your watch by The Automatic's Monster blaring out as a dinosaur gives chase. When Ben Miller is introduced as a government official who'll be overseeing the research into the monsters, his position in the group dynamic is so clumsily introduced, Douglas Henshall as good as strides up to him and says "Hello. We will wind each other up on a weekly basis." And one scene that's a direct lift from Jurassic Park is just asking for trouble.

Luckily in the second half things improve. The tone settles down a bit, as the focus is on Henshall's character, whose wife disappeared several years ago - as he realises that she probably vanished into the shiny time portal that the dinosaurs have been escaping from. The CGI improves as the producers learn the age-old lesson that keeping things in the dark where you can't see them properly is scarier anyway, and there's an interesting development as Henshall and a ex-Army bodyguard actually go through the time portal - only to realise they might get stuck there. There's even a pretty good visual gag as a dinosaur gets distracted in a school corridor, although prior to that attempts at humour had fallen flat on their faces. The preview of the second episode suggests that the portal doesn't always lead to the same period in time, which could open up some interesting opportunities as the series goes on.

In summary: The show is very shaky, but that could be down to the usual shortcomings of pilot episodes, and trying to cram in too much too soon. I'll probably give it a second go when it comes on properly, and it could be a big hit if it connects with the kiddie audience. Although it's probably a bit po-faced for the family audience - could do with some more laughs.

1Or, to put it another way, because I filled in a couple of online surveys about TV, and as a result got randomly picked to be in the preview group.
From:(Anonymous)
Date: November 27th, 2006 09:25 am (UTC)

I've seen the pilot as well and really enjoyed it

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Hello, i got picked to view this pilot dvd as well and I was glued to the screen. I thought it looked great fun, although a couple of times I thought Hannah from S-Club had a hand puppet rather than a CGI dinosaur in her arms. Think you were a bit harsh on her description though as I thought she looked quite grown up for a change and not a mindless killer as you describe.

I'll be on the lookout for this series as it kept me interested all the way through.


Nathan.
From:(Anonymous)
Date: December 1st, 2006 11:45 am (UTC)

Also seen ITV's Primeval:

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I saw the pilot also - thought it was great fun aimed squarely at a family audience, it has lots of potential and an interesting cast and left me wanting to see the next episode. I don't know which bit of the CGI you're referring to but if the special effects yardstick is Dr Who, then Primeval is way ahead - sure it's not film quality, but it's not a film. Consider the Gogonopsid(?) in the school - it looks very well done and what kid wouldn't want to see their school trashed by a dinosaur? I can't wait to see the rest of the series.
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From:[info]dinozore
Date: February 11th, 2007 02:59 pm (UTC)

Re: Also seen ITV's Primeval:

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In my opinion, some of the scence with the Coelurosauravus (Rex), Rex looked a bit toylike to me.
Coelurosauravus along with the Gorgonopsid were *not* dinosaurs see the following links for more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelurosauravus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgonopsid
From:(Anonymous)
Date: February 21st, 2007 07:20 pm (UTC)

Re: Also seen ITV's Primeval:

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Check out http://itvprimeval.blogspot.com/

Obviously the show is out now and we all know that the anomalies can open up into any period in time. Rex is sometimes an animatronic, so perhaps that's what you mean by toylike.
From:(Anonymous)
Date: February 23rd, 2007 08:02 am (UTC)

Re: Also seen ITV's Primeval:

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That's more than likely it.
(Though I'm not against animaltronics, as it does give the actors something to act against).