SYNOPSIS
” Five years ago, I was put in charge of the ARC, a top-secret government project investigating rips in time known as anomalies. These anomalies allow long-extinct creatures from distant eras to cross into our own time. Our leading research scientist was murdered by his insane wife Helen, who planned to wipe out humanity. Danny Quinn, Connor Temple and Abby Maitland went through an anomaly to stop her. No one knows what happened to them. But as the human race survived, we must assume they succeeded. None of them ever returned; lost forever in a distant past, with no way home. All attempts at rescue failed. A new team was put in place and many changes made to the ARC. The battle continues. There is always a new threat. Whatever it is, we'll deal with it.”
- James Lester
CRITIQUE
I’d never watched Primeval before BBC emailed me in regards to this Series 4 and Series 5 Blu-ray release, so I was starting at a bit of a three season handicap before I slipped the first disc into the player. Less than a week later, I’d watched not only the 13 episodes contained on these four Blu-rays, but also every single episode that preceded it (thank you Netflix Instant Play) before watching all 13 contained in this collection for a second time. In short, I really, really liked this show, and as quality sci-fi/fantasy television is concerned this one has to be considered in the upper echelon.
For fans, they’ll be happy to know that Connor Temple (Andrew Lee Potts) and Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt) manage to find an anomaly back to the 21st Century and return to the ARC still under the supervision of James Lester (Ben Miller). But there have been changes, not the least of which is the fact the ARC is now partially under private control in guise of wealthy cybernetics financier Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig). There’s also a new team leader, Matt Anderson (Ciarán McMenamin), a mysterious character whose place at the ARC could be tied to coming apocalypse, while field coordinator Jess Parker (Ruth Kearney) runs the new anomaly tracking station originally invented by Connor.
What about Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng), you ask? He’ll return, but it’s better to discover when and where for yourself and not have me ruin it for you. The bigger over-arching questions are why is Burton so interested in the anomalies, what part does Anderson play in the potential apocalypse and will Connor figure out something is wrong before it is too late. Sure, the majority of the episodes are filled with the dinosaurs running amok madness, and for the life of me I can’t tell you how much certain subplots like the arrival of a 19th Century woman of mystery tickled my pink, but for the most part the show runners stick to their central narrative game plan start to finish, everything building to a rousing conclusion I thoroughly impressed by.
So some of it can get a little silly, and I can’t say everything ties together as well as it probably could. But there is little fat on this collection’s carcass, all 13 episodes flying by in the blink of an eye. These Brits prove once again that they do these types of science fiction/fantasy programs better than anyone else (just check out Fox’s rather anemic Terra Nova for proof on that front), Primeval nearly as great (if entirely different, and far less intentionally sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek) as the new incarnation of Doctor Who has been.
THE VIDEO
Primeval: Volume Three is presented on four dual-layer 50GB Blu-rays with a 1.78:1/1080p transfer.
THE AUDIO
This third volume of this popular BBC series comes to Blu-ray in English Dolby Digital 2.0 and includes optional English SDH. Would be awesome if BBC would supply Primeval with a lossless DTS 5.1 track because this show more than deserves one, be that as it may, this audio track is entirely serviceable in all the ways that matter and should please the majority of fans in most ways that matter.
THE EXTRAS
Extras here include:
· New Dawn: Making the New Primeval, Part 1 (Disc 2, 21 minutes)
· New Dawn: Making the New Primeval, Part 2 (Disc 4, 16 minutes)
· Webisodes: Series Four Prequel (Disc 2, 17 minutes)
The New Dawn featurettes are strictly okay, the first one far more interesting than the second in my humble opinion. The bigger, and far more entertaining extra, are the Series Four webisodes, each of them a great primer for the epic 13 episodes to come.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Having never watched Primeval before now, and having subsequently gone back and watched every single episode from the beginning, it’s safe to say I enjoy the heck out of this BBC sci-fi/fantasy series quite a bit. This four-disc Blu-ray collection, the first for the program, is a quality affair, and I couldn’t give it a stronger recommendation.
