The groundbreaking Walking With Dinosaurs hit the science show sweet spot with its educational yet entertaining episodes. But, part of you probably wanted to see its hyper-realistic dinos (a mix of top-shelf CGI and animatronics) go nuts and tear into the cameraman before going on a rampage through a city of your choosing. That would have been cool.
Enter Primeval into that ready-made niche of city-munching cool. The ITV British import, which hits U.S. television for the first time Saturday, takes those same prehistoric creatures (and a bunch more you haven’t heard of yet) and pulls them forward millions of years so they can chase your terrified auntie down the street.
Fortunately, the ruggedly brilliant Professor Nick Cutter (played by Douglas Henshall, pictured) is on hand to lead a secret team of scientists to discover how these time-traveling, easily merchandised monsters are entering the 21st century and how they can be stopped.
Tim Haines, Primeval’s creator and executive producer, was series producer on Walking With Dinosaurs. He brought his academic expertise in zoology to work for both shows, as well as Walking With Beasts and Sea Monsters.
"I left university with a zoology and entomology degree," Haines said from his London office. "I went on to become a journalist and worked for radio before moving into nonfiction television."
The success of Walking With Dinosaurs enabled Haines to start his effects-based, high-end television production company in 2002 — finally allowing his inner sci-fi fan to emerge.
"Like a lot of boys, Ray Harryhausen films caught my imagination," Haines said. "They had a certain charm — even though they seemed fairly primitive to me, even as a child. But I saw what could be done with technology when Star Wars arrived."
Haines’ first step into fiction-based TV was a successful remake of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World with Bob Hoskins. Haines explained that the Lost World production demonstrated how the CGI dinosaur technology developed by Hollywood could be imported from the educational realm and remarried to very entertaining "Hollywood-esque" stories.
Primeval is the next step in that "marriage." Now two seasons in on British TV, the series’ first six episodes begin on BBC America at 9 p.m. Saturday. British reaction has been enthusiastic, with the show rising above cynical early tags as a Doctor Who ripoff.
Critics give Haines and company credit for appealing to both adults and kids. But, to be honest, dinosaurs are a lock with the little ones. You could have a CGI triceratops read the federal budget from 1969 and kids would watch. Keeping the adults around is the trick.
"We put together a show like this for families," Haines said. "But it’s not just a children’s program. To make it appealing for adults, the drama had to work on its own. So, we ended working toward that PG-13 feel."
Haines is now deep into production on Primeval’s 10-episode third season. He says he’d like to see the show become more ambitious in the future, if budgets will allow.
"I’m glad we were able to offer something new for ITV," he said. "And, I’d like to see how the show plays out. I think it can turn out to be something special — something quite entertaining. So, we’ll continue to grow it — slowly."
Of course, a big factor in the show’s possible future growth will begin to play out Saturday night. An enthusiastic American reception could add up to bigger piles of foreign distribution money — making ITV, Haines and his ever-growing crop of extinct CGI carnivores very happy.
Images courtesy ITV, BBC America
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