Primeval Series 4 and 5: What We Know

Since there's not much recent news concerning the upcoming Series 4 and 5 of Primeval at the moment, I've decided to scour the net in search of tidbits here and there and post a résumé of news and pictures and put them up here.

The new Primeval cast: From left to right we have Abby  (Hannah Spearritt), Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts),  Matt (Ciarán McMenamin), Becker (Ben Mansfield) and Jess (Ruth Kearney).

Filming for Series 4 has recently just wrapped, the cast and crew are now currently shooting series 5 until November 2010.

The series is now being filmed in Dublin, Ireland, and will be in HD for the first time (HOORAY!).

There will be 13 episodes in all, with 7 episodes for Series 4 and the remaining 6 episodes for Series 5.

The premieres of Series 4 and Series 5 of Primeval will be divided between ITV1 and UKTV's new entertainment pay TV channel, Watch. ITV1 will first broadcast series 4 in early 2011, and Watch will premiere series 5 later that year. Afterward, ITV1 will broadcast season 5

The series may air back to back if scheduling allows.

The returning cast members are Andrew-Lee Potts (Connor Temple), Hannah Spearritt (Abby Maitland), Ben Mansfield (Captain Becker) and Ben Miller (Sir James Lester). Also returning is Jason Flemyng as Danny Quinn, though with the addition of new team leader Matt (Ciaran McMenamin) it is unclear whether Flemyng is returning for one episode in order to wrap up his character (which is what I think will happen), or will be recurring, or will also simply be back as a full time character; but with someone new in charge of the team I think it's less likely. Laila Rouass who played Egyptologist Sarah Page will not be returning.

New actors joining the show as full-time cast are Alexander Siddig (Philip Burton, scientist and partial owner of the ARC), Ciaran McMenamin (Matt, the new team leader who's an ex soldier and a zoologist), Ruth Kearney (Jess, she runs the operations at the ARC control center).

Other new actors are Ruth Bradley, Jonathan Byrne, Anton Lesser and Peter Hanley (these actors may simply be guest-stars or recurring).

Apparently, Lucy Brown is back on the show but it's unclear whether she's playing Jenny Lewis or Claudia Brown.

The character of Jess will have unrequited feelings towards Captain Becker.

Former Series 3 Primeval cast (From left to right: Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts, Laila Rouass, Jason Flemyng, Ben Mansfield)

Below are some great pics from the filming of what appears to be the first episode of Series 4. It features returning cast members Andrew-Lee Potts (Connor Temple), Hannah Spearritt (Abby Maitland), and Ben Mansfield (Captain Becker).

You can go look at the complete gallery here.

SFX also has some great pics from the filming of series 4 which you can view here. They show new cast members Matt (Ciaran McMenamin) and Jess (Ruth Kearney). There's also a candid behind the scenes shot of Ben Mansfield and Hannah Spearritt.

About the story for Series 4 and 5, apparently:

The new series will return to the ARC after the government loses faith in Lester’s (Ben Miller) ability to run such a dangerous and expensive operation on his own. The anomaly operation is now a public/private partnership, part-owned by the government, and partly by charismatic scientist Philip Burton, played by Alexander Siddig.

Irish director Robert Quinn has revealed a few things concerning some upcoming episodes. He says that:

Well, without wanting to give the show’s away I can tell you that in one episode the creatures terrorises a lovely seaside village and in the other one they attack a beautiful castle which means, of course, that there’s lots of fun to be had in both those episodes. We’ll be using Luttrelstown castle and we’ve been shooting in Wicklow for the seaside-town episode.

Series 4 begins a year after Danny Quinn was trapped in Africa in the Pliocene era, while Connor and Abby were left to fend for themselves, stuck in another prehistoric era.

Andrew-Lee Potts pics probably taken while filming scenes from the first episode of series 4.

There will also be ''a major revelation about the mystery behind the anomalies coming in episode 7 – which will be the climax of series 4.''

I don't know about you but I'm pretty psyched about the return of Primeval in early 2011 and to see where the next storylines will take us. What particularly has me intrigued is the ''mystery behind the anomalies'' part. Could anyone be possibly be actually creating these anomalies as opposed to them appearing randomly (which would be logical if there's any major revelation to be made about them)? Is there a conspiracy from the future - or from our present?

As for how Abby and Connor make it back, I have a feeling that the little 'anomaly opening' gadget Helen Cutter left behind before jumping through that last anomaly in the last episode of Series 3 will get found. . .

And maybe, just maybe, we'll learn what Captain Becker's first name is :)

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