When it was a park or when it expanded into the world, the Jurassic franchise finds awe and terror in resurrecting life-sized dinosaurs millions of years after they became extinct. There are Netflix animated shows and blockbuster movies, with the new entry Jurassic World Rebirth stomping and roaring onto the big screen in just a few years since Dominion. But dinosaurs are too big to keep to one franchise. They can’t be the only ones who have fun with bringing prehistoric creatures into the 21st Century. That’s where the British series Primeval comes in.
A forgotten sci-fi classic, Primeval is an adventurous B-movie for TV. No mosquito is trapped in amber to extract dinosaur DNA, not when portals suddenly appear, and they become entrances to periods lost to time. A group of scientists must protect society when they come under attack by various beasts who are no longer just fossils displayed in a museum. Getting trapped on an island is part of the thrill of the Jurassic franchise, but that’s nothing compared to Primeval, where prehistoric life invades modern England.
What Is ‘Primeval’ About?
This underrated show ran for five seasons, with a creature-of-the-week formula that can bring to mind the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files, along with the fascination in Jurassic Park with seeing extinct creatures come back to life. Unlike those, Primeval didn’t have the same impact on pop culture, but it takes what viewers love about each for a unique plot. A ragtag group of scientists becomes a team that investigates anomalies (time portals) that appear at random and let in creatures from Earth’s distant past. Led by Professor Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall), the group soon joins a secret section of the British government’s Home Office to be the first and last line of defense to safeguard life in the present.
But the future is also a problem, and the revelation for Cutter, who finds out the anomalies are responsible for the disappearance of his wife eight years ago. The story gets intricate in a mythology that grows episode by episode while not forgetting the sci-fi fun with dinosaurs that makes Primeval so enjoyable. The Jurassic franchise makes you love and fear the de-extinct creatures, and Primeval does the same. But the case-of-the-week structure for the TV show opens the door to exploring different species rather than the usual ones featured in Jurassic Park.
Dinosaur Lovers Will See the Creatures Come Alive in ‘Primeval’
Season 1 of Primeval holds back from bringing out the fan-favorites that dominated the world millions of years ago. No towering Brachiosaurus reaches its neck up at Big Ben, and no T. rex rampages across the English countryside. There is the Gorgonopsian in the first episode, which causes havoc as it hunts down a local boy after catching the scent of his blood. The CGI can look cheesy, but don’t let that stop you from giving it a try. What Primeval lacks in a blockbuster budget, it compensates elsewhere. The monstrous design for the Gorgonopsian lurks through a school hallway to find its prey, with real tables being pushed out of the way to help the digital effect look tangible and behave like it’s truly in the room.
It’s not the only danger that can exist in the anomalies; there is the possibility of something adorable. The Gorgonopsian might terrorize, but the green, cuddly, flying Coelurosauravus is stranded once the anomaly closes and becomes a pet to one of the main heroes. Given the name, Rex, it might just be a close contender or even outrank the little dinosaurs in the Jurassic franchise in cuteness. That includes Dolores in Rebirth, the curious Aquilops who wanders into a human family. Cutter’s team can save the day frequently, and it can be lighthearted when they have to locate Rex or a flock of dodos.
The show isn’t afraid to get ruthless when there are more dangerous predators at large. A Pterosaur flock kills an unlucky golfer, then hovers over a golf course for the next meal. A Mosasaur leaves from an anomaly that appears in a swimming pool, then gobbles up a man whole after he leaps off a diving board. For a gross biology lesson, the Mosasaur regurgitates the body into a mass called a “bolus.” As soon as the second episode in Season 1, it’s not just dinosaurs that get the spotlight in this show.
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‘Primeval’ Has a Diverse Range of Prehistoric Life
In the subway, creepy crawlies that look like they sneaked away from Skull Island scurry around the tunnels. Even if someone is a bug enthusiast, a giant centipede with a venomous bite is a nasty surprise that no one would want to get near, and Primeval has it lunge at the screen to freak out Cutter’s team and the viewers watching. Putting in the creepy crawlies works better here than Jurassic World: Dominion handled the giant locusts. At least in Primeval, by the next episode, there will be a dinosaur or two. What anchors the prehistoric thrills is the human cast, led by Douglas Henshall as Nick Cutter. Confident, intelligent, and ready to be an action hero, Henshall’s performance has you buying the missions, no matter how outrageous. The rest of the cast can be lovable or quirky dorks, who are ready to be heroes and protect the dinos they can help.
The B-movie tone of Primeval is on the surface, without needing to be excavated. It knows what it is and makes good on its premise of seeing prehistoric life collide with the world that viewers recognize. The recent Jurassic movies haven’t truly explored the “world” implications too well or consistently, despite it being in the title. A very flawed installment, Dominion does leave an island as a central location, only for Rebirth to head back to one. This far into the series, a tropical landscape might be too ingrained in the franchise to be completely left behind. Primeval is an underrated sci-fi series that isn’t so restricted.
It uses England as a sandbox to let creatures loose in a subway, a swimming pool, and a shopping mall. Whether you watch the British show before or after seeing Jurassic World Rebirth, it offers more adventures for dinosaur lovers. One blockbuster franchise is not the only place to see gentle giants, carnivorous beasts, and beyond. When a new anomaly appears in Primeval, living fossils get to roam a world they no longer dominate. The Brachiosaurus and T. rex are beloved prehistoric creatures, but you might come away with a new favorite.
Primeval is streaming on Hulu in the U.S.
