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The fifth and final series of the British science fiction programme Primeval began on 24 May 2011 and concluded on 28 June 2011 after airing six episodes. Primeval follows a team of scientists tasked with investigating the appearance of temporal anomalies across the United Kingdom through which prehistoric and futuristic creatures enter the present. The fifth series kept most of the cast intact from the fourth series, the two series having been produced and filmed back-to-back in 2010.
Given that Primeval had been unexpectedly cancelled by ITV in 2009 following the broadcast of its successful third series, the producers did not wish the fifth series to end on a cliffhanger in case the same happened again and as such wrote it to have a "very satisfying conclusion" in case Primeval was not renewed. The fifth series was written to be darker than the fourth and to explore the motives of main characters Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig) and Matt Anderson (Ciarán McMenamin) as well as answer key questions set up in preceding series. The fifth series also sought to stay more focused and to develop the key main characters, now a more unified team, further.
As part of the co-production deal that ensured the fourth and fifth series would be made, the fifth series aired first on the digital channel Watch in 2011 and then on ITV in 2012. Although it was considered a success on Watch, becoming its most watched series of the year, it received the lowest ratings in Primeval history when later broadcast on ITV. The disappointing viewing figures led to Primeval not being renewed for a sixth series even though both the cast and the production team were eager to continue. Despite the low ratings, critical reception of the fifth series was positive, with praise for the visual effects, character development and many homages to classic science fiction. The last two episodes, which marked Primeval
See also: List of Primeval episodes.
The fifth series was envisioned as darker than the fourth.[1] According to Primeval co-creator Tim Haines, the overarching plot of the fifth series was exploring the mysterious motives of Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig), tying them into the main storyline and explaining why Matt Anderson (Ciarán McMenamin), revealed in the fourth series to be from the future, was working for the ARC in the first place.[2] Along with the fourth series, the fifth was also written to begin answering the key questions set up in the series, especially those surrounding the nature of the anomalies themselves.[3]
Unlike the cast changes of the third and fourth series, the fifth series largely kept the same cast as the fourth series. This allowed the producers to write the central team as more unified and develop the characters further. According to co-creator Adrian Hodges, the producers felt that they by this point could "really take the characters where we want them to go, and confront them with darker things". The episodes of the fifth series were also written to be more focused.
In February 2011, the producers teased the return of characters Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng) and Patrick Quinn (Jonathan Byrne) from the fourth series,[4] though neither ultimately appeared in the fifth series. A new main character introduced in the fifth series was April Leonard, played by Janice Byrne. April is a lab assistant hired by Philip Burton to work on experimental research. She was written as almost a female version of Connor; attentive and scientifically minded, but also to be someone who the audience should be doubtful whether to trust.[5]
The third episode of the fifth series was innovative in terms of plot for Primeval as it saw Matt travel back in time to Victorian London through an anomaly. Haines had always previously maintained that Primeval was "not to be a time travel show" but both he and Hodges liked the idea. Hodges pushed for the episode as a modest homage to Star Trek as he had always wanted to do a Star Trek episode. The storyline of the episode saw Matt and Emily Merchant (Ruth Bradley) track down a dromaeosaur loose in the Victorian era, mistaken as a murderer and as the infamous folklore figure Spring-Heeled Jack. In addition to featuring time travel, the episode also served to deepen the relationship between Matt and Emily and to, on account of its Victorian setting, "play up the melodrama".
The two final episodes were written as a two-part finale, uniting the series and the serial storylines and intended to "send this series out with a literal bang". Every character was written to have their own moment in the fifth episode.[6] The finale was written to be a definite conclusion and also to show new perspectives on much of what had been shown before. It was also written to include a definite and satisfying conclusion to the relationship between Abby and Connor, a television relationship well received by critics during previous series.[7]
Tim Haines teased the appearances of several creatures in the fifth series on 11 February 2011, revealing the return of previously used creatures such as dromaeosaurs and the inclusion of new creatures, such as a form of burrowing creature and the "biggest creature" yet. Haines also revealed the return of the future predators, a signature creature of Primeval absent since the third series, though in a "slightly different guise". Further teases in February also revealed that one of the episodes would feature a swimming dromaeosaur and that the series would feature a Tyrannosaurus rex.
The burrowing creatures teased were giant future burrowing insects, which made their appearance in the first episode and were based on modern mole crickets.[8] The swimming dromaeosaur featured in Primeval was revealed by Haines in a panel discussion on 7 February 2011 to be the Cretaceous theropod Balaur. Haines had wanted to feature a swimming theropod, picking Balaur since its native environment in Cretaceous Romania would have consisted of a group of islands (perhaps necessitating that it was adept at swimming). Balaur was given dark skin and red eyes in Primeval as an homage to Dracula since its fossils had been recovered in Transylvania.[9]
Like for the fourth series, the visual effects of the fifth series were created by the visual effects company The Mill.[10] [11] At times, the budget of the fifth series necessitated cutting down on the intended number of creature shots for some episodes.
The first three series of Primeval were filmed primarily in London, though production for the fourth and fifth series moved to Ireland. The move was done both because of Irish tax incentives for filming[12] [13] and the ability to use locations unused in the series thus far.[14] The urban scenes of the series were shot in Dublin. The fourth and fifth series were filmed back-to-back over a ten-month period.[15] After the filming of the fourth series, from 22 March to 26 June 2010,[16] the actors had a short break of a week and a half before beginning filming the fifth series.[17] The filming of the fifth series finished in November 2010.[18]
The production of the fourth and fifth series was announced by ITV on 29 September 2009.[19] A short preview clip from the opening episode was released on 5 May 2011,[20] followed by a full-length trailer on 20 May.[21] As part of the co-production deal which ensured the making of the fourth and fifth series, the fifth series first aired on the digital channel Watch from 24 May 2011 to 28 June 2011, where it averaged around 500,000 viewers.[22] Though much lower than previous series broadcasts on the terrestrial channel ITV, these were large numbers relative to other digital channels and Watch considered the series a great success due to being their biggest of the year in terms of viewing figures. Watch aired the episodes on Tuesdays, a change to Primeval
The fifth series met with disappointing ratings when it was broadcast on ITV in 2012. The first episode, broadcast on 16 June 2012, had 2.93 million viewers (a 16.1% audience share; 2.55 million viewers on just ITV). Although this was the best ratings of ITV of the day, it lost out to the television quiz show Pointless Celebrities on BBC One.[24] The finale's broadcast on ITV (21 July 2012) met with the lowest ratings in Primeval history, with only 1.38 million viewers (a 10.2% audience share).
The first episode was the most watched episode of the fifth series on both Watch and ITV (with 618,000 and 2.55 million viewers, respectively). Although the last episode marked the low point on ITV, the least watched episode on Watch was the fourth episode, with 438,000 viewers.[25]
The DVD release of the fifth series included the behind-the-scenes documentary New Dawn - Making the New Primeval Part 2.[26] The fifth series was also released on Blu-ray.[27]
| DVD Title | Number andduration of episodes | Release Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primeval: The Complete Series Five | 6 x 45 min. | 4 July 2011 | |
| Primeval: The Complete Series One - Five | 36 x 45 min. | 7 November 2011[28] |
Dan Owen of WhatCulture gave the opening episode of the fifth series a negative review, stating that the pace coming off of the previous series was washed away as the episode was "business as usual" despite the many reveals of the previous series's final episode. Owen criticised the plotline of the first episode as "weak and predictable" and felt that the cast of the fourth and fifth series was "by far [''Primeval''<nowiki/>'s] weakest line-up". Owen had a mixed perception of Primeval overall, though he praised the CGI of the series he felt that it "never achieved its huge potential to be Stargate-meets-Jurassic Park", that it failed to deliver substance in-between its action sequences, and that while it at times had fun ideas it was usually unable to implement them effectively.[29]
Contrary to Owen, Robert McLaughlin of Den of Geek gave the first episode a positive review, considering it a "great, action-packed premiere" for the fifth series, "mixing the right amount of intrigue, monsters, explosions and expositions". McLaughlin reviewed the fifth series episode-by-episode. He found the second episode to be "quite epic", with a nice claustrophobic and suspenseful feel. McLaughlin also considered the third episode to be "pretty good", though he found some of the action and plot to be contrived and forced.[30] He found the fourth episode to be akin to a "run of the mill 1980s monster in the shadows affair" but found it to "[rise] above the generic" for its subplot revolving around Connor and Abby beginning to plot against Philip; he particularly praised the cliffhanger at the end of the episode as the first on the series in a long time to be "actually tense".[31] The fifth episode received particular praise, as a "great, gripping episode that steps up a gear or three".[32] McLaughlin praised the visual effects of the series, writing that the CGI team had "excelled themselves". Though he found the series to not always "hit the heights of originality script-wise", he found the creatures used throughout the fifth series to be consistently "superb". He also sensed that many of the episodes of the series had been written as homages to classic films, with the second episode being an homage to classic aquatic horror such as The Abyss and DeepStar Six, the fourth episode to draw on The Mummy, and the opening of the fifth episode to be a "great homage to Harryhausen's The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms".
Paul Simpson of Sci-Fi Bulletin also reviewed each episode of the series individually. He found the first episode to be "nothing ground-breaking" but still enjoyable and a solid episode;[33] all subsequent episodes were given high scores of 8/10.[34] [35] [36] [37] Simpson offered particular praise to the development of the characters and their relationships. He greatly praised the final episode as the series "going out with a bang" and commended it for the reintroduction of the future predators and for tying up many loose ends, as well as Alexander Siddig managing to "avoid too many clichés" in his villain performance. Like McLaughlin, Simpson also saw the series as homaging classic science fiction works, with the creatures of the first episode evoking the Bugs of Starship Troopers, the second episode Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and the Doctor Who story The Claws of Axos, the fourth episode The Mummy and the opening of the fifth episode Godzilla.
Candice Grace of TV Equals found the first episode to be decent but predictable[38] and enjoyed the second episode more, which she thought would have served better as a series premiere than its predecessor.[39] Though viewing the four first episodes as mostly filler before the two-part finale,[40] Grace greatly enjoyed the third episode, finding it to be one of the best of the series.[41] She praised the series finale, finding the fifth episode to be the best of Primeval since the third series and the most "visually engrossing" in Primeval history[42] and the sixth to also be among her favourites as an "entertaining finale" that wrapped up the storylines of the past two seasons. The ending itself received particular praise for its ambiguity over whether the team had actually managed to save the future. Grace criticised some of the female characters on the show, finding April's clichéd "geek" portrayal annoying and Jess to be pointless, but enjoyed the characterisations of both Abby and Emily, a character she had initially not enjoyed during the fourth series. Like other reviewers, she praised the CGI of the fifth series, particularly in the fifth episode.
Dave Golder of GamesRadar+ gave the fifth series a largely positive review, especially praising the second[43] and fifth episodes.[44] He considered the series to be "going out on a high", but felt that the final episode was somewhat mediocre, finding it "rather dull" with "some flashes of greatness"; although "spectacular" at points and with good character moments, Golder felt that the episode disappointed as a satisfying dramatic conclusion, lacking in surprises and revelations and being too predictable.[45] Like the others, Golder also praised the effects as "top notch" and "excellent.[46]
The surprise 2009 cancellation of Primeval, despite its then successful run, in the wake of the third series ruined the potential of a number of plotlines and would have left the series ending on a cliffhanger had it not been recommissioned a few months later.[47] The producers, although they had "every desire to make Series 6", were determined that the fifth series would not end in a similar way and wrote the ending of the series as a "very satisfying conclusion" in case it ended up being the final episode and to ensure any hiatus between series would not have the same impact as prior.
At the time of the broadcast of the fourth and fifth series, Adrian Hodges indicated that it was unlikely that another series would air before January 2013. According to Hodges, the production of a sixth series would have required the fifth series to not only do well on Watch but also sell well on DVD and get high ratings when it aired on ITV in 2012. Members of the cast at the time remained hopeful that a new series could get commissioned; Hannah Spearritt stated in an interview that Primeval has "been known to come back from the dead before".[48] Ben Mansfield stated in 2017 that he did not feel that Primeval had run its course and that it still had potential to keep going after the fifth series even though it "wrapped things up nicely".[49]
While speculation still surrounded whether a sixth series would be made, a North American spinoff, was announced in September 2011. The low ratings of the fifth series on ITV in 2012 ensured that New World would be the only new Primeval media produced post-2011. New World was not a continuation of the original series, though it continued its mythology and saw some cameo appearances, and was envisioned as an "older, darker and scarier" version of the programme. New World was cancelled after only a single thirteen-episode season due to poor ratings.[50]
Though "a little bit sad", Haines stated in a 2021 interview that the series has "been and gone".[51] Also in 2021, Hodges stated that he would "do [another series] tomorrow, I'd do it in a heartbeat if I could"; though Andrew-Lee Potts was content with the ending,[52] both he and Spearritt also stated in 2021 that they were interested in revisiting their characters.