Review: Primeval Series 2 Ep 4

Something has come through an anomaly underwater near Canary Wharf…

Many of the cast have singled this episode out for praise, and it deserves the plaudits. It’s a tense drama that uses its humour effectively for relief, puts its leads in peril and allows one of the lighter characters to gain some dramatic weight. It’s still Primeval, with all the requisite monsters and action, but it’s the character moments that you remember as the episode finishes.

Douglas Henshall and Andrew-Lee Potts are given scenes that wouldn’t necessarily have fitted very well in the first season, but which work given the way the characters have been fleshed out this year. There’s some very raw emotion on display in their confrontation on the quayside.

The ending wanders into Ray Harryhausen territory with the monsters apparently fighting over the girl but it’s sold by the amount that the creatures interact with the actors, as well as the character moments that are happening simultaneously.

Nobody should be too surprised by the new member of the conspiracy seen talking to Leek at the end of the episode, but it adds a new twist to Claudia’s disappearance.

Verdict: The best episode of the show to date. 9/10

Paul Simpson