Primeval News Series 2- and Site Updates - March 1st 2007 - December 30th 2007
Douglas Henshall is to be featured on the front cover of author Steven Savile’s new book, Shadow of the Jaguar to be published by Titan in Spring 2008. This is to be the first Primeval book ‘not aimed purely at a younger reader but for adult fans as well.’ I asked Steven about the book.
Read more here.
Next month’s TV Zone magazine published on January 9th 2008 will feature an interview with Douglas Henshall.
Whilst it was unfortunate that James Murray was not able to attend the Primeval press launch, due to a personal engagement, It was a for a very happy occasion , according to the Westen Gazette Sarah Parish and James were due to marry on December 15th 2007 at St. James church near their family home in Lower Wield, Hampshire.
More here.
Added another interview with Andrew-Lee Potts and a 'Primeval in Print' article from Deathray Magazine Christmas 2007 to the Primeval 2 Articles and Interviews section.
Another picture of Andrew and Hannah added to the Primeval series 2 gallery.
December 28th 2007
The trailer for the first episode of Primeval series 2 is now up on the ITV website.
Read more about the filming of the episode here.
December 27th 2007
Hannah Spearritt and Andrew-Lee Potts are due to appear on the Jonathan Ross Show on BBC1 on Friday 11th January 2008, the day before the launch of Primeval series 2 on Saturday 12th January 2008.
Read more here in an interview with Andrew.
The official website at ITV now has episode guides for Series 2, as well as character galleries, including one of Douglas Henshall as Nick Cutter.
More info.
December 21st 2007
A special treat for fans of Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts and Lucy Brown, I have added some pictures of them to the Primeval series 2 on set gallery. Lots more exclusive pictures to come!
As promised for December 21st, the official ITV Primeval (Arc) site has added some more to it's site. This morning it's a clearer picture of one of the rooms in the Arc. You can see some similar rooms in the background in this site's exclusive pictures of Douglas Henshall and cast on set and in TVZone magazine. On set, I saw other tables set up with various office equipment around the outside of the main room entrance to the Arc building.
Primeval on set gallery
Primeval Arc from TVZone
Primeval official ITV site
December 20th 2007
The official site from Impossible pictures put up some of Andrews-Lee Potts' 'making of' scenes today. They should be on the series 2 DVD. There is a very amusing clip about Captain Ryan! When I met Andrew on set, he said he had some short films to finish off, after he had finished filming Primeval. I don't know if he was referring to these or something else. He said he might be going to the Maldives after that. I wonder if he ever got there?
More info
December19th 2007
Primeval 2 cast interviews by digital spy have now been removed or are currently unavailable! Hope you all saw them!
December 18th 2007
ITV have sent a message to this site re. a new microsite for Primeval:
We’ve just launched a new microsite for Primeval - http://primeval.itv.com/arc/ - you won’t see much there at the moment, but keep an eye on it over the coming days and weeks as its going to give you all the latest news, sneak peeks and previews for series 2!
They also attached an image of one of the next series creatures; this image is utterly unique and numbered. There are only 50 and the top Primeval and sci fans are receiving them today, all getting a different image each. They all come from a scene in episode 3 of series 2. here one of the sabre tooth tiger for www.douglashenshall.com !
The tiger is rumoured to be at a theme park, don't forget this site's exclusive photos from Primeval being filmed at Thorpe Park and on set photos from the Arc.
Why not go round all the Primeval and sci fi sites and try and collect them all!
So now there are two official site for Primeval fans!
One from ITV and one from Impossible pictures!
December 17th 2007
The following statement is from ITV Publicity:
James Murray unfortunately wasn't at the press launch (neither was Juliet Aubrey). Juliet was filming for a different project and James unfortunately had a prior personal engagement. Obviously we always try to get everyone along to the press launch, but with this many actors it is always difficult to get everyone along!
December 15th 2007
The website digital spy has some videos of Douglas Henshall and other cast members of Primeval 2, talking about the new series. Everything you need to know about the new series is there. You can watch the videos here.
Many thanks to Jack at the Lucy Brown website for telling me about these.
December 14th 2007
Media Guardian spoke to Douglas Henshall at the press screening of Primeval series 2 this week.
Read more here.
December 10th 2007
Last week's exclusive pictures on the set of Primeval, included the first pictures of Douglas Henshall. This week you can see James Murray and the first pictures of Juliet Aubrey!
There is also a new Primeval series 2 gallery showing enhanced versions of the first official pictures.
ITV's new winter showcase 2008 video features a short clip of Douglas Henshall.
More info.
Karl Theobald will play Oliver Leek in the new series.
December 4th 2007
I asked ITV Publicity to confirm some of the news I picked up on the set of Primeval series 2 and also some of the things I have read in recent publications.
Here is a copy of the Q & A
Impossible Pictures now have an official Primeval site:
http://primeval.tv/index.php
Some shops are advertising the Primeval Series 2 DVD as due for release on February 25th 2008. If this is correct then Primeval series 2 will be shown as early as January 12th 2008, which would explain why the press conference is one month earlier than last year. There will also be a four DVD set of Primeval Series 1 and 2 available.
However ITV publicity cannot confirm any dates as transmission dates aren't announced until 10 days before transmission. This isn't because they don't want their fans to know, but because their competitors would try to schedule against them. All TV companies compete against each other for viewer ratings.
December 2nd 2007
Exclusive! Exclusive! Exclusive! Douglas Henshall who plays Nick Cutter on the set of Primeval series 2!. More exclusive pictures of the stars of Primeval to come!!!!!!!!!
November 28th 2007
Jack at the Lucy Brown fansite has given me permission to use his scan of the ARC in the December issue of SFX magazine. In return he has an exclusive picture of Lucy Brown on the set of Primeval 2!
May I remind you that Lucy does not have an official page at MySpace. It is someone pretending to be Lucy. Douglas Henshall does not have a page at MySpace either, but this site does.
The site Forever Hannah Spearritt, with which this site has been linked in the past has now closed down. Whilst I would like to emphasise that Hannah and Andrew-Lee Potts are interested in reading all sites about them, Hannah did tell me that she thought that Forever Hannah Spearritt was good and 'pretty accurate'.
November 26th 2007
It is no longer a secret that I was fortunate to be able to visit the set of Primeval series 2. I spent most of the time in the Arc (Anomaly Research Centre), which as the pictures show is a real building, unlike many TV sets which consist of a series of open plan rooms set around a studio.
It has been quite frustrating having to hold back information and photos I took whilst on set, but now news is out there I will be able to gradually release my photos and write a full report at a later date.
First of all I was told that when Cutter comes back through the anomaly, he finds that the Arc already exists. The first thing you notice about the Arc is the vast space inside the main part of the building, big enough to get the teams vehicles inside and out. In the centre is The Anomaly Detection Centre, which is meant to have been built by Connor. Anomalies appear in the Arc.
Above the main room are the offices and at the back of it is a door with corridors that lead to the rest area, gym and kitchen. Although the rooms are slightly open plan it seemed quite difficult to get all the filming equipment into a small space.
I watched several scenes being filmed and directed by Andrew Gunn. I understand that some of the scenes were for the episode written by Paul Cornell.
The crew kept saying how boring it must be standing around observing what was going on, but it wasn’t. It was a very exciting time! Everyone I met was extremely approachable and very kind.
Two more small cast pictures on blog.
November 24th 2007
I am now able to reveal some news about Primeval series 2. Claudia Brown will not be returning and neither will Captain Tom Ryan. However, Lucy Brown will return as a new character. Naomi Bentley will be playing Connor's girlfriend (but I cannot tell you anymore about that relationship).Helen Cutter will continue to move through anomalies 'like a god.' Karl Theobald's character will be working with James Lester.
The team now have an Anomaly Research Centre and you can read more about it here in an article from TVZone issue 222. Some of the photos included are not in the original article!!!!
November 2nd 2007
Whilst the Primeval Activity Book is definitely geared towards the younger market, the Poster Book should appeal to all fans of the TV Series. Also it does have a rather nice picture of Douglas Henshall as Nick Cutter on the front, as shown here. Both books are lovely glossy collectors items, with photos and facts of all the characters and the creatures.
October 21st 2007
On 1st November 2007, Ladybird Books are publishing the Primeval Sticker Book and Primeval Poster Book for children from 5-8 years old. They will be publishing a Primeval activity Book and A Glow in the Dark Sticker Book in March 2008 for 3-5 year olds.
The Primeval Funfax is to be published on November 8th 2007, for children 6-11 years old. This will contain diaries, posters, puzzles, quizzes bookmarks and stickers. You can view the Nick Cutter page here.
Also in March 2008, Puffin books are publishing four Primeval paperbacks, for children 9-11 years old. A Rip in Time, Dangerous Dimension, The Lost Predator and a Fight for Survival. A Rip in Time will feature Douglas Henshall as Nick Cutter on the front cover, shown here.
October 13th 2007
On Wednesday 10th October, Character Toys, who will be producing an extensive line of Primeval products, invited Hannah Spearritt and Andrew-Lee Potts to their Press Launch, at St. Mary's Church in Marylebone, for 'Dreamtoys 2007', which included a Primeval Remote Control Flytech Rex. The Flytech Rex is similar to Flytech Dragonfly. The Flytech Dragonfly is already available in toy shops, and as yet has nothing to do with Primeval. I am assuming that Flytech Rex is to appear later this month.
Pictures of Hannah and Andrew at the Flytech Rex Press Launch
Watch a video of Dragonfly here
The previously reported Sega game Primeval Hunt is not connected to the Tv series. It is an arcade game to be released in 2008. Primeval Hunt is a two player prehistoric hunting gun game, with players testing their wits by tracking and hunting dinosaurs across vast landscapes.
Added a report of Primeval filming in Bournemouth to the Primeval 2 Articles and Interviews page.
October 8th 2007
The whole Primeval page needed a revamp, there was just too much on what seems to have become a subsite. Therefore a lot of information, articles and interviews, character factfiles etc. have been moved onto separate pages. I added two new sections, a biography or credits for the cast members and a compilation of the best news items for Primeval Series 2. I hope this new Primeval site is easier to navigate.
October 5th 2007
Updated the Primeval page, added the original Press Release, the Press Pack list of 'monsters' under the title Here Be the Monsters and have started a scans page of some of the TV guide articles I have. A link back has been provided to the original text only articles!
October 1st 2007
Primeval 2, the second series of Primeval wraps today after a four months of filming, which began on June 1st 2007.
Douglas Henshall completed work on the series on Friday and was hoping to go on a well-deserved holiday, as were some of the other cast members.
Expect lots of publicity for the new series soon, as well as an exciting new website from itv.com.
In an earlier report I stated that Douglas Henshall once worked in the Glasgow Branch of John Lewis. This was incorrect Douglas Henshall used to work for a group of stores called Lewis’s, which went into administration in 1991. In Glasgow it is now a branch of Debenhams.
September 26th 2007
A message from Douglas Henshall:
Just a message to say how grateful I am to everyone who has been so generous about this website and Primeval.
Thank you very much.
Douglas Henshall
view original message
September 21st 2007
The SFX website also has the ITV interview with Adrian Hodges. The official Primeval Forum is now up and running again.
The Primeval Publicity and Merchandise gallery has two pictures of the potential covers for the Primeval Sticker Activity Book and Funfile.
September 11th 2007
Primeval fan Siggi has sent me some photos and screencaps of the German DVD cover and menu, I have added these to the Primeval publicity gallery.
September 2nd 2007
The new official Primeval website is now up and running!
http://www.itv.com/Drama/cult/Primeval/default.html
They confirm (despite all rumours to the contrary) that Series 2 will be shown next year after all!!
There is also an interesting article re. Series 2
More info.
August 28th 2007
I have now added a link to a Behind the Scenes Gallery on the Primeval page. The official ITV sites are currently unavailable. This is because the ITV website is being upgraded. It is now possible to watch ITV channels live online.
August 27th 2007
There is a possibility that Primeval series 3 will be filmed in January 2008. This would mean that there would be 20 or more episodes to sell to America in 2008 and the actors involved in the series would be free to work on other projects.
August 14th 2007
Actor Sidney Cole writes a report about working on the second episode of Primeval Series 2 (Sunday August 12th) on his website. He comments:
Douglas Henshall was the epitome of a leading actor and the manners to match, he made me feel welcome and encouraged me throughout.
More info.
Sid also reports that Primeval Series 2 is to be shown in the Autumn, as did Radio Times issue 21-27 July 2007 which stated a new series was to arrive 'later this year.'
August 9th 2007
Block 1 of Primeval wrapped on the 27th July at Qinetiq in Chertsey. Filming took place in the Canaries again, this time at Fuertaventura. It is rumoured that there is also a new and much bigger set for Primeval Series 2.
The September 2007 issue of SFX magazine also has a news report on the new series of Primeval. They seem to imply that it was a sabre-tooth tiger meant to be seen at Thorpe Park. There is also a caricature picture of 'Nick Cutter'.
More info.
On August 1st 2007, Paul Cornell reported that he had completed his episode of Primeval.
More info.
In November 2007 of a Primeval childrens funfax, a sticker book and a poster book are to be published. Thank you to Jack at the Lucy Brown fansite for this latest merchandise info.
August 1st 2007
Have added a new interview about Primeval series 2 with Adrian Hodges from last month's SFX magazine to the Production Team Interviews Section.
Have also made a new episode guide section with galleries on the main Primeval page, Some are new, some have alreaday been on the site.
July 16th 2007
There's another opportunity to vote for Douglas Henshall as Most Popular Actor, Hannah Spearritt as Most Popular Actress and Primeval as Most Popular Drama series at The National Television Awards. Voting closes on August 3rd 2007.
More info.
There's a rumour that Sega's new game registered under the title Primeval Hunt will be based on the TV series.
More info.
Ben Miller is to star in ITV's new soap drama Moving Wallpaper.
More info.
July 2nd 2007
Read an exclusive report and images of Primeval Series 2 on location at Thorpe Park on June 26th 2007. Here is the report. Here is gallery 2 and gallery 3!
On June 30th Paul Cornell wrote that he was working on a new draft for episode 6 (or episode 12 as some would prefer it) of Primeval Series 2
More info.
June 27th 2007
According to recent visitors to Thorpe Park (June 25th - 26th) they were able to watch Primeval being filmed there. Neptunes Beach and Tidal Wave were closed for filming. Hopefully more details to follow
June 25th 2007
On Saturday June 9th – Monday June 11th Velociraptors were filmed stalking their prey in John Lewis in Kingston for season 2 Primeval. The branch starred in ITV sci-fi drama Primeval along with Douglas Henshall (pictured here with young fans) and Hannah Spearritt.
Impossible Pictures has also shot scenes in the Bentall Centre, town centre and at a cinema complex in Feltham, all of which will be brought together in one rip-roaring on-screen rampage through a leisure centre.
John Lewis will donate its entire £4,000 to £5,000 fee to the Princess Alice Hospice, its chosen charity for the year.
Store manager Andy Leyton said: "The money for the hospice is fantastic news for the community, and how often do you get a dinosaur wrecking a John Lewis shop?"
Read the full story here.
June 11th 2007
BBC Worldwide has handed the master toy licence for Impossible Pictures' series Primeval to Character Options. The series is a coproduction between ITV, ProSieben and M6.
"We will be producing an extensive line of products that will include a Dragonfly Rex and Agnurognathus, which will be available from this October and will be TV-advertised, followed by a number of other action figures and creatures from series one and two being released in January 2008,"
said Jon Diver, joint MD at Character Group.
More info.
On Monday 4th June, the first episode of Primeval Series 1 was shown in Germany on Pro 7. Thank you to Hannes and Jessy for sending me the following viewing statistics:
Targetaudience 14- to 49- years old:
Marketshare 17,8 %; 2,02 Million viewers
total audience 2,78 Million viewers. Marketshare 9,5 %.
I have added or updated several pictures in the Primeval Galleries. There are new pictures in Gallery 1 (Cast), Gallery 3 (Nick), Gallery 4 (Abby), Gallery 5 (Stephen), Gallery 7 (Claudia) and Gallery 8 (Helen). I have replaced some of my original scans, but haven't replaced anything sent to me by other fans.
June 8th 2007
Two new cast members will be joining the Primeval Team. These are Naomi Bentley (The Mark of Cain) and Karl Theobald ( Green Wing).
Douglas Henshall, Hannah Spearitt, James Murray, Ben Miller, Andrew-Lee Potts, Lucy Brown and Juliet Aubrey will reprise their roles.
Tim Haines of Impossible Pictures says:
"The response to the first series of Primeval was tremendous, so it is a huge pleasure to start making the second.
"For Cutter and his team the new series will present them with a whole new set of problems. I only hope they make it to the end of the filming schedule alive."
More info.
June 3rd 2007
Primeval series 2 is due to begin filming this week.
Recently writer Paul Cornell has been working on the second draft of his script for Primeval. I'm sure we all enjoyed Paul's recent episodes of Doctor Who, Human Nature and The Family of Blood!
More info.
May 22nd 2007
In this week's TVChoice and TVQuick magazines there is an opportunity to vote for Douglas Henshall as Best Actor and Primeval as Best New Drama series in their 2007 awards.
More info.
April 28th 2007
Paul Cornell ( a novelist, and a comics and television writer (notably for Doctor Who).) has been asked to write the penultimate episode of the second series of Primeval Paul says:
I especially like the production team, how easy it is to work with them, and how they have a long term plan with some lovely twists (and a genuinely SFnal sense of dread and alienation creeping in around the halfway point next season).
He continues :
Now, before anyone says it, this isn't me 'joining the opposition'. The opposition in telly is what's on against you in the same time slot. And schedulers these days never try and fight like with like. I'll always be a Doctor Who fanboy at heart.
More info
April 26th 2007
Paul Frift ( who produced Instinct) is the Producer for the second series of Primeval and Jamie Payne returns as Director for episodes 1, 2 and 3. Two more directors are to be announced for episodes 4, 5, 6 ad 7.
April 25th 2007
There are now two more interviews with the cast of Primeval in the Australian press. This time with Ben Miler and Hannah Spearritt:
Hannah says response to the show in Britain had been fantastic, and agreed the ancient beasts seem to have an enduing popularity.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get away from that, the fantasy of dinosaurs will always be around,” says Spearritt.
“I love being involved in a physical show because it just adds a bit more to the day and just changes things up a bit — you have to be on your toes.” ( More interviews with Hannah on this site and a gallery.)
More info on the west.au.com
Ben Miller believes that Primeval is a story with which most people will identify:
"Those kinds of stories, which pit a person against something that could possibly eat them always hold our fascination," he says. "Jaws, Jurassic Park, King Kong - they're all the same kind of story. They're about people being chased by a monster." (More interviews with Ben on this site and pictures in the Primeval gallery.)
More info on news.au.com
April 24th 2007
Primeval begins on the Nine channel in Australia on Saturday 28th April at 7.30pm.
More info.
In an interview for the Sydney Morning Herald, Douglas Henshall was asked how he would react if he became a teen idol. He replied:
"I've never been famous enough to know whether it would be a problem. My breaks have always been small, and I've never done anything hugely successful. Who knows? You take the work you want to do. If it does well, it could do me good, but if it doesn't, it can set you back. I'm kind of sitting here, quietly waiting to be judged."
In the interview, Douglas mentions that as a Scottish actor, he has done the obligatory of Taggart! (you can see pictures of Dougie in a 1990 episode of Taggart here).
If you're a Scottish actor, I think it's in your obituary if you haven't been on Taggart," he says with a smile.
More info.
April 15th 2007
In an interview in today's Sunday Mail, Douglas Henshall talked about why he thought Primeval had been a success:
"People want to get back to being properly entertained. I don't want to watch another programme about 12 people losing weight! Recently we've had an upsurge of people going, 'OK, enough reality TV. It would be nice to remind people what was so great about Saturday nights and the best thing about Primeval is that it's good entertainment. It's not rocket science. It just has to be really good entertainment. We do that really well in this country."
The article confirmed that Dougie will be filming another series of Primeval at the end of May.
April 4th 2007
Primeval begins broadcasting on the Space Channel tonight at 9pm.
More info.
I have now made a page especially for the Primeval publicity pictures. This includes the spoof copy of The London Paper from February 16th 2007, with news of spiders on the London underground. Thank you to Jenny for telling me about this.
Also added one picture to the James Murray gallery, one to Juliet Aubrey, and two or three to the main Primeval gallery (including another of Mark Wakeling). Also added a profile of actor Ben Miller to his page and last, but by no means least! added an interview with Douglas Henshall adapted from an article in Starburst magazine. Thank you to Lisa for sending me some of these new scans and for the Ben Miller article.
April 2nd 2007
Primeval's writer Adrian Hodges has told Starburst magazine that there may be changes in the way the characters appear in the second series, due to the mysterious power of the anomalies:
More info.
March 30th 2007
Primeval's executive producer Tim Haines has told TV Zone magazine that the Second Series of Primeval should be ready by Spring 2008.
More info.
Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies has recenly given his views on Primeval.
More info.
Updated the James Murray interview page with a new interview from TV Zone, and from the same magazine an interview with Cameron McAllister and Tim Haines to the Production interviews section and finally Anthony Browns lovely review of all of the First Series of Primeval to the Reviews section.
March 10th 2007
Douglas Henshall was a guest on the Jonathan Ross show on Radio 2 this morning. Dougie laughed and joked with Jonathan about the series and the character of Nick Cutter. He confirmed that series 2 of Primeval will have seven epsiodes and that they will begin filming at the end of May.
More info.
March 7th 2007
Series two of Primeval is currently in pre-production. It is thought that ITV were hoping for a second series of 13 episodes. However, series two will consist of seven new episodes. Scripts for a second series were authorised as early as November 2006 ( see news for November 22nd 2006).
March 1st 2007
Primeval has been recommissioned!
More info.