2009 TV Preview: 'Primeval' series three

Next up for the preview treatment is Primeval, returning for an extended third series of ten episodes early in 2009.



As you can see from the new cast shot above, there are some new faces on board for the next run. Laila Rouass will play Egyptologist Sarah Page (Egyptology is a big part of the stories in series three), while regular readers will already be familiar with new security chief Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield).

Not pictured but a huge new character is Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng), a copper who works his way into the team following an incident involving his brother. Finally, real-life wife of Ben Miller, Belinda Stewart-Wilson, has a recurring role as a high ranking government official who makes life difficult for Lester.

Producer Tim Bradley teases at what else we can look forward to in series three.

How is work coming on the new series?
"I came on board for series three - I didn't do the first two - in December 2007, then scripts started arriving in February this year and we started shooting in April. We completed shooting towards the end of October and we're now in post-production."

What's different about series three?
"If I'm absolutely honest, we're making slightly tighter use of everything that's been set up in the first two series to drive the journey. In each episode we've tried to vary the creatures, so some will be different from those you've seen before. There will still be prehistoric creatures, like our G-Rex (Giganotosaurus), but there are a couple of other creatures you wouldn't imagine we would have in this show. It's easy to get a bit stale though: a creature will come through and terrify people, then either it gets shot, lured or kicked back through an anomaly. So we're changing that a bit. Also we do have a little more character development this series, and we do have some very dramatic plot points and a different grouping of characters. So the energy's there and we'll have a lot more story."

Last year we had creatures wreaking havoc in an office block, a shopping centre and a theme park. What sort of setups do we have this series?
"Our action scenes are very full-on this series. We have a scenario at an airport, with a G-rex running everywhere, and we have an Egyptology story, as well as a big sequence in the Arc!"

Is the Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) storyline continuing throughout the series?
"It would be fair to say that Helen Cutter has got quite a big agenda this year but you will see that come in and out. We do also have some dark horses this year that might take the series to a crashing conclusion!"

I hear the final three episodes will be set in a Futureworld. What can we expect from that?
"It will be a sort of green and blue pleasant land. It will be quite an interesting place to be, a wonderment! There will be elements of Futureworld that connect us to the present day, so it won't feel totally alien, but it might feel that our team are in a very strange place. The big series arc, which I don't want to say too much about, will unfold there. Arriving in Futureworld is a progression of the show - what is Nick Cutter's world about? What is his quest? And where does that take him?"

Have you prepared for a possible fourth series?
"I think it would be fair to say there is a definite cliffhanger at the end of the series. We place our team in a dire situation that requires resolving. We're very positive about series four, and I know that Peter Fincham (ITV director of television) has said he very much likes what he's seen of series three, so if there is a series four the cliffhanger will be picked up and taken forward."

Up next on Tube Talk's 2009 TV Preview: Minder is remade for the 21st century

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