Primeval | |
---|---|
Series 2 | |
![]() DVD box set cover art | |
Starring | |
No. of episodes | 7 |
Release | |
Original network | ITV |
Original release | 12 January 23 February 2008 | –
Series chronology | |
The second series of the British science fiction programme Primeval began on 12 January 2008 and concluded on 23 February 2008 after airing seven episodes. 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. Most of the main cast from the first series returned for the second; the cast was also expanded with the additions of characters played by Karl Theobald and Naomi Bentley.
Following the success of the first series, the second series of Primeval was commissioned in March 2007, with storylines and scripts being worked on for three months before shooting began in June. The second series was envisioned as more ambitious than the first, with more creatures and more action sequences, and was also written to be rougher, with more people being killed by the various creatures. The second series also introduced the Anomaly Research Centre (ARC), created using a massive set in a building formerly for military use at Longcross Film Studios in Chertsey.
The second series replicated the success of the first in terms of ratings, being seen by over six million viewers in the United Kingdom. Reception was overall positive; critics enjoyed that it did not take itself too seriously and found the second series to be both entertaining and overall an improvement over the first in terms of its central story arc. The last two episodes of the series received particular praise as a hard-edged and surprisingly good series finale. The visual effects received a more mixed response than in the previous series; some critics found them to be an improvement whereas others considered them worse than in the first series.