Creature Feature

[caption id="attachment_536" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dealing with all things prehistoric, cuddly as well as deadly, is the cast of Primeval. Left to right: Hannah Spearritt (as Abby Maitland), Andrew Lee Potts (as Connor Temple), Lucy Brown (as Jenny Lewis), Douglas Henshall (as Prof. Nick Cutter), Ben Mansfield (as Captain Becker) and Laila Rouass (as Sarah Page). Photo courtesy of BBC America and copyright Impossible Pictures Limited 2008"][/caption] When was the last time you arrived at work and had to deal with, let's say, a gigantic aquatic creature with a huge appetite, a family of raptors who have made the local shopping mall their new home sweet home, or a sabertooth tiger getting his kicks at an amusement park. All this and more is just another day on the job for Primeval's Professor Nick Cutter and his team of  experts who are recruited by the British government to handle threats by prehistoric creatures that are appearing through rifts, or anomalies, in time. On May 16 @ 9:00pm EST/PST, season three of Primeval makes its U.S. debut on the BBC America. According to the network, fans can look forward to new cast members, horrifying monsters, stunning special effects and a rare location shoot in London's British Museum as well as a U.S. feature film in the works for 2010. Joining the regular cast are Jason Flemying (Doctor Finlay, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as D.C. Danny Vernon and Laila Rouass (Hollyoaks, Footballers Wives) as archeologist Sarah Page. The season also brings to the small screen an unusual new monster designed entirely by a Primeval fan. [caption id="attachment_542" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Jason Flemying as D.C. Danny Vernon. Photo courtesy of BBC America and copyright Impossible Pictures Limited 2008"][/caption] As season three opens, Nick Cutter is still trying to cope with the death of his former colleague Stephen Hart (James Murray) and the aftermath of his wife Helen's (Juliet Aubrey) betrayal. At the same time, he must continue to work with his team as more and more anomalies pave the way for prehistoric creatures, as well as those from the future, to come into our present-day world. Among the more dangerous predators that our heroes face is the Giganotosarus, or G-Rex,  which is even bigger than the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a deadly flesh-eating fungus, and a Megopteran, a giant carnivorous insect.  Other creatures linked to ancient folklore also begin to appear through the anomalies, including a Pristichampus, which bares a striking resemblance to the ancient Egyptian crocodile demon Ammut, and a Dracorex, which is being hunted by a deranged Knight who is convinced that it is a dragon he must slay. As Cutter and his people continue to risk their lives to protect the world from such dangers, their work is threatened by a growing conspiracy that could mean the end of the team, not to mention the human race. [caption id="attachment_549" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Abby (Hannah Spearritt) and Connor (Andrew Lee Potts) on the hunt for yet another dangerous creature. Photo courtesy of BBC America and copyright Impossible Pictures Limited 2008"][/caption] Created by the same talented individuals behind the riveting documentary-style TV series Walking With Dinosaurs and its sequels, Walking With Beasts and Walking With Monsters, season three of Primeval continues to boast big screen-quality CGI (computer-generated image) effects that have become a hallmark of the series. "It's always been our ambition on Primeval to deliver an exciting, character-driven, action-adventure show that feels in every way like a mini-feature film each week," notes series co-creator/executive produce/writer Adrian Hodges in a recent BBC America press release. "We truly believe this third season matches that ambition as never before. "This is the biggest and most thrilling series we've done, and Tim [Haines, co-creator/executive producer/writer] and I are convinced that there are many more stories to tell yet. Primeval is still growing and our goal each time is to surprise ourselves by what we can come up with. If we can do that, the audience will be surprised and gripped as well." Keep checking back with this blog for more Primeval coverage. As noted above, all photos courtesy of BBC America and copyright of Impossible Pictures Limited 2008, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any form. Thanks!