Primeval New World – The New World in Vancouver!

Welcome to our dedicated site to Primeval New World!

As previously reported, we here at WormholeRiders have long planned to cover this exciting new series since well before the announcement some six months ago that SPACE Channel would premiere Primeval New World in October 2012! We are ecstatic that the arrival of Dinosaurs in Vancouver has mow become a reality! 

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR NON CANADIANS:

This first episode of thirteen was directed by Martin Wood of Stargate and Sanctuary fame. Another  Stargate and Sanctuary alum, Amanda Tapping, will be directing several episodes later in the season as well.

Another personality of note is the very talented producer, Gillian Horvath who has been involved with series such as Sanctuary, Flash Gordon and Highlander.

Primeval fans may find the North Americanized version of the series not quite of the same pacing as the U.K version due to the different commercial breaks. However, the show holds true to most of the original version and, has the bonus of familiar names and faces if U.K viewers are fond of Vancouver based sci-fi such as Stargate and Sanctuary.

The episode begins with two adrenaline junkies who are base jumping (parachuting) off the roof of a high-rise. Unknown to them, they are being watched. We see the reflection of the creature, a ravenous pterodactyl, observing them in a window.

When one of the jumpers lands, a young woman, she excitedly attempts to contact her fellow jumper. He has landed a few blocks away, but he has company. Moments later, we discover why the parachutist has not responded to his friend’s radio message. He is facing down a leather winged dinosaur. It attacks, he screams… fade to black.

As the episode progresses, our hero, Evan Cross (Niall Matter) is running through a park, camera in hand, accompanied by an older man, long time friend, Tony Drake (Tom Butler), who is obviously struggling to keep up. They arrive at a destination in the park just in time to see a glittery hovering circle flash, then disappear. Too late to achieve whatever objective they are there for, they decide to go and have a drink. As they leave, it becomes obvious that they are being observed by someone.

After the opening credits, the show switches to a new scene, the discovery of the mangled body of the dead base jumper. So far, the show seems pretty much like a CSI type of police show with a dino as the bad guy. The elements of the new show that have been promoted are an increase in the adult-side of the show away from the more family style of the original Primeval and a bigger budget. So far, the show is doing okay.

Evan Cross arrives at his office where we find out he is President of Cross Photonics, and we are introduced to Mac Rendell (Danny Rahim) the token British character and motorbike aficionado. We also meet Ms. Finch (Miranda Frigon) who seems to be the one who is actually keeping the company together. Evan is the boy in the candy store who likes to run around chasing anomalies, while Ange Finch keeps the home front together and running smoothly.

Evan continues his walk with Mac entering the Special Projects Division where he introduces Toby Nance (Crystal Lowe), obviously another team member who spends lots of time in the field. Toby and Mac are added to Evan’s team of field operatives. I have a feeling that the three of them will not be the entire team and at least one more person will be added.

Shortly thereafter, as dino number two shows up and two more victims are added into the mix, our stranger from the U.K version of the show makes a second appearance. This time he is inside Evan’s building.  UK viewers get a treat as Connor Temple (Andrew Lee-Potts), a member of the Primeval U.K. team, breaks into the compound and discovers one of the anomaly detectors hidden behind a picture frame.

Mac and Toby are busy in the park setting up what Toby is calling a magnatomic array – something that will help them to pinpoint anomalies. Mac also uses the time to check out Toby’s physical features. Toby asks Mac how he got the job since he seems to know very little about what they are doing. He tells her that Evan just picked him and gave him the job. That must be a handy way to get employed.

Evan is busy putting up the magnometer array as well. The three of them are affixing the devices to trees. As he finishes with his device, he finds some blue fabric on the ground. I have no idea why he would find that interesting, I would just assume it was someone’s garbage. As he examines the cloth, he hears a twig snap, turns around and comes face to face with a woman named Dylan Weir (Sara Canning) who is wearing a Predator Control Patch on her sweater.

Naturally, they hear a noise in the underbrush. Dylan tells Evan she is going to, “call it in,” get Evan to safety and get a team into the area. I suspect that Evan will be protecting her shortly.

There is a magnetic spike which Evan chases after. They both come upon the anomaly where the two victims disappeared. As he busily snaps photos, Dylan discovers they are not alone. They have company in the form of a Utahraptor . The CGI is very well done here.

As the dino attacks, Dylan pushes Evan through the anomaly and into the Cretaceous era. The dino follows them. However, they are able to step back through the anomaly and back into present day, just before the portal closes. I suppose it would not be a good thing to be trapped on the wrong side. I hope they explain this part since I am left with a great many questions and not enough answers so far.

Evan and Dylan head away from the now empty and ordinary area. They are unaware that another dino like the one they just encountered has returned to the location of the portal. Let us also not forget that there is a at least one pterodactyl around as well.

Enter Tony Drake, who has discovered the second Utahraptor in a Skytrain service building. The bodies are also mounting. Drake puts a weapon together that he has pulled out of a duffle bag and a man’s voice can be heard inside the building screaming. He gingerly begins to hunt for the dino, unaware that the reptile is hunting him. We know that Drake is the next victim by the sound effects as the scene cuts to Evan, Mac and Dylan rushing to the location in a jeep. Now the loss becomes personal since Drake was close to both Evan and Dylan.

Later, Dylan forces herself to swallow her feeling to describe what is left of Drake before his body is taken away. Detective Harlow (Adrian Holmes) is with her, being supportive. I hope he gets let in on what is going on and has a larger role in future.

Connor Temple makes his last appearance at the scene of the death of Tony Drake. He refuses to identify himself to Evan, telling him it is better that Evan does not know who he is. Then he tells Evan to leave the problem alone. The anomalies are very dangerous, and if he messes with them, he could make things worse. Evan argues that he cannot just turn his back on what is happening.

Someone needs to deal with the creatures that are coming through the portal. Connor agrees, but he says,”if you go telling people there are dinosaurs down the road, you are going to create mass panic. You’re going to get tourists, and that means you are going to get more bodies. Not cool.”

Evan is not satisfied by the amount of information he has heard, so, Connor provides the most telling information thus far. “The creatures are the loose threads. You pull the wrong one, history unravels. You have to put everything back where it came from”. As Mac approaches, Connor leaves. That is all the information he will get. He will have to find out the rest for himself, it seems.

One of the glowing issues about this first episode, to me, is that Connor was concerned about tourists – people finding out about the dinosaurs wandering around. These reptiles are not small creatures. Surely people are going to see them as they move about looking for their next meal.

Ange is doing some research after she learned about Evan’s encounter with a raptor in the park. She has friends in the Defense Department who point her in the direction of a very small operation tasked with looking into strange occurrences. Enter a lone Canadian officer in an air force uniform. By the way, as the daughter and grand-daughter of past serving air force officers, I can tell you right now, his hair is too long.

Lt. Ken Leeds (Geoff Gustaffson) is established as the sole worker of a governmental project called ‘Operation Magnet’, housed in a rickety old archive. He is possibly one of the most interesting – and certainly weird – character and holds great promise for the series. Naturally, he is polite as all Canadian military boys should be. Having spent a great deal of time on his own, I hope he ends up being a bit eccentric.  It turns out that Lt. Leeds has a file on Evan Cross. Leeds seems willing and able to work with Ange and Evan, “to kick some alien ass”. Ange corrects him, “prehistoric”.

At Stanley Park, a child is missing. The police think it is a bear. Evan calls Ange to work her magic so they can have access to the park. Ange immediately calls Lt. Leeds who quickly and easily gives them what they want.

Leeds uses a rotary phone to reach out and touch someone, “This is the weather man, and I would like to report a storm front.” Yes, kids, you have to turn the dial with your finger. That is how it works.

Now that they have clearance to enter the park, Mac has helped himself to Tony Drake’s weapons telling Dylan that Drake would have wanted them to have the guns. Evan explains the significance of the blue fabric he found in the park earlier. It was part of the base jumper’s parachute. It seems they were close to a nest and did not know it.

It takes little time before they come across a weak signal from the lost child. He has a cell phone with him which they use to locate him. He tells Evan that he is, “with the monster”. It is obvious why the pterodactyl does not harm the child in this episode. The hero needs to save someone in order to do something positive.

Together, Mac, Evan and Dylan distract the reptile long enough to save the child and shoot it full of tranquilizer. Just as they think they have things under control, the other Utahsaurus shows up headed straight for Evan.

As the creature approaches Evan and the little boy, and things are looking grim, suddenly, the pterodactyl attacks the other reptile. They fight, but both fall over either injured and unconscious, or dead. When the two creatures get put in cold storage, it is safe to say that they are both dead and will be left until they can be returned to where they came from.

At the first show’s ending, a plot twist is set up what could be the most exciting element of the series. In Cross’ refrigeration area where the tranquilized creatures are stored until they can be returned to their time, we find a mysterious character. In a flashback, Cross and his wife are attacked by an Albertosaurus.

She is killed, but he is saved by an agent with the ARC logo on his jacket and we witness the anomaly detector smashed by the dinosaur. Is the agent who is now frozen cryogenically in the department, one of the agents from the British series? If so, is it Danny (Jason Flemyng), or Matt (Ciaran McMenamin), or could it be Connor if he went back in time?

The flashback shows us two things; that Cross took Connors advice about being careful with all the dinosaurs they come across, and that the building in which his wife was killed is also the building that he took possession of  in order to create his company.

Thanks to Kenn for final staging of the audio video embeds and images in this news article and thanks to you for stopping by WormholeRiders News Agency!!

We look forward to seeing more of you here at our review site dedicated to our wonderful science fiction series Primeval New World!

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Regards,

Thank you.

ArcticGoddess1 (Patricia)