#6. Primeval

We go from Superheroes to Comedy and now we hit the Sci-Fi themed double. Primeval is a science fiction show following a group of characters on the lookout for anomalies which are basically tears in the fabric of time which allow creatures from the past and sometimes the future to cross into our time and cause all sorts of havoc. Sounds like a good time right?

What makes or breaks a show like Primeval is first and foremost the creatures and how they look, luckily the CG employed in the show is pretty high quality for a television production. You know that they aren’t real but they look good enough so that you can just sort of go with it. The cast of human characters are all good in their roles with standout attention going to Andrew-Lee Potts as Connor and Abby Maitland (of S-Club 7 fame) as Hannah, the two just have great chemistry (probably due to the fact that they are a real life couple) and are really likeable.

As far as actually story goes Primeval is actually pretty interesting. Basically Dinosaurs and other such beast are traveling through anomalies into our time and a team is put together to stop them before they cause too much trouble. As the series continues through the second series the monster of the week formula starts to fade in favor of a larger story which is much welcomed. As you can imagine Time Travel means some interesting stuff happens along the way.

The show has run 3 full series so far and was originally was not picked up for a 4^th. If that had stood I would have been really pissed as the 3^rd season ends on a massive cliffhanger but luckily the show has been picked up for a 4^th AND 5^th series so ideally they plan it out and don’t get ahead of themselves in the story department.

The shows 3 seasons are out on DVD in the U.S. and it has been on BBC America in the past so it’s not really an out of left field kind of show. The show has also been optioned to be turned into a movie in the U.S. which is an interesting concept but I don’t see it ever coming out and if it does I don’t see it working as the idea really is better realized in a television format. I would suggest getting your hands on it if you haven’t seen It already as it’s an easy show to just turn on and lose yourself in.

Primeval on Amazon

Final Verdict

8 out of 10

#5. Being Human

I had originally had Being Human at 6 and Primeval at 5 but then I watched the second series premier and it got the bump. This is another science fiction show which leans a bit on the supernatural side of things, actually it more then leans on it considering the show is about a Vampire, Werewolf and Ghost living together.

The show follows the day to day lives (or deaths) of John the vampire, George the Werewolf and Annie the Ghost. The 3 live (again not sure if we can actually say live?) together in a house in Bristol while trying to maintain a normal life (?) which as you can imagine is not the easiest thing for such a diverse group. The 3 leads are FANTASTIC in their roles; the pilot episode originally had different actors in the roles of Mitchell and Annie but they were replaced which no offense to the original actors was the right move to make.

The story line for the first series involved a vampire plot to take over the world, that’s the bullet pointed version anyway, there are lots of fun revelations along the way and lots of the standard stories you’d expect from this kind of genre are turned on there head. The second series has just started and has ratcheted up the awesomeness of the show several notches, like honestly I thought the first series was awesome and then the 2^nd series premier just upped the ante.

The show has some amazing effects, especially the werewolf transformations which have defiantly taken a page from the American Werewolf in London book which is THE book to take a page from if you were doing such a thing. The vampires are a different kind of vampire then your used to as are the ghost, actually the ghost’s take the most liberties in terms of changing up the same old same old.

The show is only available on DVD in the U.K. though I expect that to change soon as the show has aired on BBC America and is pretty popular, another show that is awesome and deserves to be watched and loved. I look forward to every new episode they plan to produce and dread the U.S. SyFy Channel remake that has been announced. WATCH IT!

Being Human on Amazon.co.uk

Final Verdict

9 out of 10