9–11 of 11 entries from the month of: February, 2008

No Celebrity Guests on ‘Primeval’

Primeval producers have decided that they do not want celebrity guests to appear on the show.

Andrew Lee-Potts, who plays Connor Temple, revealed that programme chiefs do not want the cast to overshadow the deadly creatures which cause trouble on the ITV1 drama each week.

“It was a conscious decision not to bring in celebrity guests on Primeval. We would rather the creatures are the stars,” Andrew told the Daily Star.

“To be honest, when the series was launched last year, only Hannah Spearritt (Abby Maitland) and Douglas Henshall (Nick Cutter) were known faces. They could have cast people just to try and get press, but they didn’t. It was a risk but it worked.”

Third Series for ITV1′s ‘Primeval’

ITV1 has commissioned a third series of Primeval after airing only three episodes of the second.

So far, the show’s second series is averaging over 5m viewers and overtook BBC One’s The One and Only talent show by 200,000 viewers last Saturday.

Production on series three is expected to commence in March with a target airdate in next January.

“Primeval just keeps going from strength to strength with audiences really taking the team to their hearts,” said ITV drama director Laura Mackie.

The broadcaster will ask viewers to invent a creature to be featured in the sci-fi drama as part of a user generated content drive later in the year. Mackie said the competition “will put viewers right at the heart of the action”.

Tim Haines, executive producer for Impossible Pictures, added: “We are extremely proud of Primeval and are overjoyed by the success of the second series. Its popularity demonstrates that you can create ‘characters’ in CGI that audiences will respond to. By giving people the opportunity to design a monster for the third series we are creating a chance for them to be more involved and feel closer to the programme.”

Click here to read more about the competition!

Hannah’s Frozen Stage Horror

Perky Hannah Spearritt rated highly in lads’ mag ‘sexy babe’ polls when she was in wholesome pop combo S Club 7. Post-S Club, Hannah, 26, took up acting, landing roles in such cinematic classics as Agent Cody Banks 2 and Seed Of Chucky. She can now be seen fighting prehistoric monsters on prime-time ITV1 action drama Primeval on Saturday nights.

You must be happy Primeval is back for a second series.

Yes, I was over the Moon. When we initially looked at the script it was quite risky, so for it to have been popular enough to get a second series is a great feeling. Any actor or actress is thrilled security-wise to get a second series because this industry is so up and down. Itâ€™s just good to be working.

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