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Series one introduction - Radio Times, February 2007 |
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Primeval sees prehistoric creatures - some cute, some fearsome - turning up in modern Britain. Writer Adrian Hodges and star Douglas Henshall discuss special effects and the possibilities of fantasy drama with Benji Wilson.
On the bare bones of the plot
"Effects and monsters can take you so far, but you've
got to have a human story that works
with it. I'd had an idea for a long time
about a man who'd lost his wife in
mysterious circumstances, but I never
had a context in which to put it. In
the fantasy genre, it suddenly clicked.
I thought, what if this man has not
only lost his wife in mysterious
circumstances but lost her millions
of years back in time? That would
certainly add something."
ADRIAN HODGES, writer
On special effects
"Somebody tells you that
there's a gorgonopsid chasing you at
30mph but, actually, it's our first
assistant director waving two balls on
a stick. He played all the monsters.
With his own sound effects to help us
out. Each one sounded exactly the
same, but no-one told him."
DOUGLAS HENSHALL, actor
On the action sequences
"For someone who
is playing an all-action hero, I have
a number of phobias, which aren't
particularly heroic. I'm a bit
claustrophobic, I've never done any
deep-water diving before in my life
and I have vertigo. We filmed these
underwater sequences in the tank at
Pinewood Studios. The people down
there were really good to me, as I had
a little bit of trouble. I thought, 'Oh
God, I'm supposed to be this Indiana
Jones kind of can-do figure and I'm
a total wuss who can't get down to
the bottom of the tank!'"
DOUGLAS HENSHALL, actor
Doctor Who's newest enemy?
"I've always had a fondness for
fantasy, but for a long time it was
something that British TV wasn't
doing. We went through a long
period where the Americans took the
ball and ran with it in that area with
shows like Buffy and Alias. But after
the new incarnation of Doctor Who,
once people saw that you can tell
ambitious stories in a fun framework
using fantasy, that changed the
playing field for everybody. Whatever
the comparisons that may be made
between Primeval and Doctor Who,
I don't mind that a bit."
ADRIAN HODGES, writer
**
Now take a look at our full Primeval guide.
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