Did you see ITV's big new hope for family viewing on a Saturday night?
Primeval is the latest show to face the daunting task of being compared with the multi-award-winning Doctor Who. The comparison almost did for Robin Hood, but that BBC Saturday show survived by creating its own niche.
Not only is Primeval on on a Saturday evening, but it is also all about time travel and science fiction. It is on a rival channel, but being an ITV show these days is almost like having a black mark before the off.
Here's what the critics thought:
News of the World's Ian Hyland (until recently trademarked the "most toxic TV critic") said: "To give it its full working title, One Of Our CGInosaurs Is Missing. Directed by Cilla Ware. Special effects by her brother, Tupper....laughable special effects aside, Primeval opened fairly well. Sure, not a patch on Doctor Who's stronger episodes...but for a throwaway kids' drama with some extra cash on top it ticks a lot of boxes."
AA Gill in the Sunday Times added: "As ever, ITV is pinning an awful lot on the success of this programme, which is being billed as the answer to Doctor Who. It seems the commercial channel has only one response to falling ratings and revenue. It is to spend drunken amounts of cash on copycat programmes. Unfortunately, I don't think Primeval is going to be the sustainable answer to anything except "Chris, who ate the drama budget?"....But youth television has a capricious dynamic all of its own, and Primeval may well be a success, though if it is, it'll be despite the artificially enhanced effects, not because of them."
In the People, Bushell on the box said: "It's great fun, with cute flying lizards, a sabre-toothed killing machine and Snow Patrol on the soundtrack, just asking to be ripped to shreds. Hannah Spearritt stars as a sassy zoologist. So, a former member of S Club 7 surrounded by weird reptiles and hostile predators. It's like Celebrity Big Brother all over again."
Episode one was watched by 6.7m viewers according to unofficial overnight ratings.
