Primeval - Series 2 on DVD (2008)

Mickey Mouse from Dorset, England [Highly rated reviewer] , 15/03/2008

Is this really the very best we can do? Lame cgi & effects, dodgy acting, poor scriptwork, dreadful screenplay, certain irritating characters and a plot with more holes in it than a block of swiss cheese. Excluding Abby, the 'sexy' female characters aren't sexy at all. It's a damn site better than the god-awful Doctor Who and Torchwood, but even so it fails miserably in so many ways. Most of the characters are likeable and have a certain onscreen connection. The humour is good most of the time and it can be minorly enjoyable. But it really is dire in too many aspects to ignore. There is so much potential with the basic idea to make an amazing series. And it's not like they didn't have a good budget. When you consider they spent about as much on this series (6 part show) as they did on 6 episodes of the legendary '24', it's a joke. Against all odds, I quite like this show at times - god knows why, but I live in hope of us brits one day making a decent action series. Maybe in 50 years we will finally catch up with the US standards of tv/film.

  5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

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dougthom from Crawley,UK [Highly rated reviewer] , 19/01/2008

Series one was a shameless copy of Torchwood. In series two they are finding their own way and is now a nice compliment. Ok if we accept rifts in time are common place (not just in wales). Primeval is now showing promise as its not just t-rex that that have to deal with. Their are monsters from the future, mistakes in time (time lord problems). Has a lot of attraction for the kids.

By series3 with luck it will be quite different fron Torchwood.

It is a pitty ITV felt they had to copy the BBC so closely and dont have the same writer originality, but still worth watching and never missed on a Saturday :)

youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Wigan , 12/04/2008

The kids loved it, a cracking series,beats Dr Who hands down.

  3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

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* * * This review contains spoilers * * *

Northernsky from Halifax [Highly rated reviewer] , 28/02/2008

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.

  3 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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dougthom from Crawley,UK [Highly rated reviewer] , 19/01/2008

Series one was a shameless copy of Torchwood. In series two they are finding their own way and is now a nice compliment. Ok if we accept rifts in time are common place (not just in wales). Primeval is now showing promise as its not just t-rex that that have to deal with. Their are monsters from the future, mistakes in time (time lord problems). Has a lot of attraction for the kids.

By series3 with luck it will be quite different fron Torchwood.

It is a pitty ITV felt they had to copy the BBC so closely and dont have the same writer originality, but still worth watching and never missed on a Saturday :)

youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Wigan , 12/04/2008

The kids loved it, a cracking series,beats Dr Who hands down.

  3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

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