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, while simultaneously trying to stop a terrorist plot to bring about the end of the world.

Originally intended as a production for the BBC, Primeval was ultimately turned down in 2005 after several years of concepting due to being deemed too similar to the revived Doctor Who by executives.

After a few months in hiatus, the programme was brought back through a co-production deal with UKTV, allowing for the production of a fourth and fifth series.

[1] According to Haines, the success of The Lost World showed that it was possible to take the technology of Walking with Dinosaurs and create "very entertaining Hollywood-esque stories".

[7] Commentators unassociated with the production team have also suggested that Primeval was partly inspired by series such as Doctor Who, Lost, Stargate and Quatermass.

Adrian Hodges, a television writer who at this point had recently won a BAFTA for Charles II: The Power and the Passion (2003), met with Laura Mackie, the BBC Head of Drama to discuss possibilities of future work.

Once Doctor Who was revived by Russell T Davies in 2005, Primeval was deemed to be too similar by the BBC and was turned down, four or five years after Haines had first pitched Cutter's Bestiary.

Elliott greenlit the series on account of liking the scripts produced by Hodges and out of a wish to replicate the success of the revived Doctor Who.

[1] Hodges and Haines personally approached Douglas Henshall, who played lead character Nick Cutter, for the role but the other actors were cast through regular auditions.

[1] Henshall was joined in the main cast by James Murray, Andrew-Lee Potts, Hannah Spearritt, Lucy Brown, Juliet Aubrey, Ben Miller and Mark Wakeling.

[11][12][13] The production of the first series was announced by ITV on 27 December 2005, touted as a "six-part epic about scientists who travel into prehistoric times through black holes".

[17] Despite the third series being successful, Primeval was cancelled after its run on 15 June 2009 for financial reasons; ITV almost filed for bankruptcy during the Great Recession.

[44] The practical effects of Primeval, including puppets and animatronics, were created by Crawley Creatures, a company which had previously worked with Impossible Pictures on both the Walking with... programmes and on Prehistoric Park.

He opted to create music that was a hybrid between electronic and traditional orchestra, noting that the urban nature of the setting and the attitudes of the characters were an influence.

Though the prehistoric creatures featured in Primeval were fundamentally rooted in science[30] they were intentionally not fully scientifically accurate, often being exaggerated in size and made to look scarier.

[6] Horley was involved with the project very early on, before it was commissioned by ITV, and had produced some concept sketches for Haines's initial pitch of Cutter's Bestiary to the BBC.

The first series follows the efforts of Professor Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) and his associates, friend and colleague Stephen Hart (James Murray), student Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts) and a zookeeper Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt) as they investigate the appearance of anomalies that allow the passage to other times and places, allowing often-dangerous creatures from the distant past or future to threaten the lives of citizens.

After returning from the past at the end of the first series, Cutter discovers that Claudia Brown has been erased from time and that the team now operates out of a large structure called the Anomaly Research Centre (ARC).

In Claudia's place an assertive and quite different PR agent named Jenny Lewis (also played by Lucy Brown) joined the team.

Claudia's former position has been taken by Oliver Leek (Karl Theobald), who secretly works with Helen and plans to use creatures from the anomalies, particularly future predators, to gain political power.

Following the death of Stephen at the end of the second series, the team is expanded with Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield) and Sarah Page (Laila Rouass), a professor employed at the British Museum.

James Lester has to deal with his old government rival Christine Johnson (Belinda Stewart-Wilson), who aspires to use the anomalies and future predators for military purposes.

The fourth series also sees the appearance of a group of time travelers, including the mysterious Ethan Dobrowski (Jonathon Byrne), who is a serial killer, and Emily Merchant (Ruth Bradley), who is from the Victorian era.

Matt, knowing New Dawn will lead to the end of the world, recruits Abby to attempt to learn what Connor and his new assistant April Leonard (Janice Byrne) are researching, all the while they are forced to deal with new anomalies and creature incursions.

[29][73] Several reviewers favourably compared the third series to the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who (1970–1974), owing to its altered team dynamic,[74][75] and several considered it the strongest year of Primeval yet.

[73][76] In contrast, the fourth series received a more mixed response, with reviewers criticising the introduction of the new characters,[77][78] the speed of the central story arc,[79] and its resolution.

Clark conceded that Helen Cutter was a strong character "who remains consistently independent and interesting" but also noted that she was also portrayed as "unlikeable right through to the finale".

[69] Both Spearritt's Abby Maitland and the later introduced Emily Merchant, played by Ruth Bradley, were more positively received as strong female characters in later series.

[1] Douglas Henshall stated in a 2007 interview that Primeval had a completely different format and instead compared it to The A-Team, with influences from Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones.

[106] Plans for an American feature film adaptation of Primeval were announced on 15 May 2009, with Warner Bros. reported to have acquired the screen rights in a "six-figure deal".