Review: Primeval Series 5 Ep 4

Watch; June 14, 2011 

Connor’s artificially created anomaly brings a deadly invasion to the ARC – and Philip is determined that it won’t spread…

By the end of this episode, the battlelines are well and truly drawn, as Connor learns the extremely hard way that not only is Philip not to be trusted, but that he’ll sacrifice anyone and anything in order to achieve his goal… But is it too late to prevent his and Helen’s plan from coming to fruition?

It’s basically a bottle show – an episode filmed using just the standing sets, rather than with anything extra – which is usually a cost-cutting measure. But it works to the story’s advantage, as the ARC itself becomes increasingly claustrophobic with the team desperately trying to escape from the beetles that are pouring from the anomaly (themselves a terrific homage to the original Stephen Sommers Mummy movie).

Among the mayhem, there’s also time for some strong character moments, as Connor’s faith in Philip is slowly but surely eroded. Both Andrew-Lee Potts and Alexander Siddig make the most of the material, and Connor’s depression as he realises the depth of Philip’s obsession is palpable. The many Becker/Jess fans on the internet will also be delighted with this episode, which sees the couple get some important moments together, and we see that the attraction is definitely not one-sided.

Verdict: A cracking race against time that puts most of the pieces in place for the endgame.  8/10

Paul Simpson

Check out our reviews of episodes 1, 2 and 3 as well as Part 1 of our interview with Adrian Hodges. Don’t forget part 2 of the interview will be posted immediately after transmission of episode 5 next Tuesday.

And if you’ve not caught them yet, here’s our interviews with Alexander Siddig and Ben Mansfield.