As this episode opens we see a woman being terrorised by a dinosaur in an Asda car park in the Forest of Dean; the action then jumps forward eight years and we learn that she was Helen Cutter; a palaeontologist who hasn't been seen since. Her husband, Professor Nick Cutter, who is an Evolutionary zoologist, heads to The Forest of Dean when student Connor Temple brings him a tabloid story about a monster being sighted in the area. Simultaneously Abby Maitland, a reptile expert at a nearby zoo, heads to the area to look at a boy's pet lizard that doesn't appear to belong to any known species. Once in the forest it becomes apparent that there are several creatures that should have died out millions of years ago. As they explore they discover a strange anomaly; a portal to the distant past! When Cutter goes through he finds evidence that his wife had been there but there is no sign of where she might be now.
When I first saw this series advertised I thought it was going to try to be ITV's answer to 'Doctor Who'; while it is obviously aiming for a similar audience it is a very different show. This episode nicely introduced the series' main characters and the core concept of the show. The main characters seem interesting so far; Douglas Henshall puts in a solid performance as protagonist Nick Cutter, Hannah Spearritt is cute and likable as Abby and Andrew Lee Potts is amusing as Connor. Given that the series featured dinosaurs the special effects are really important and thankfully they are really rather impressive. The story is well told with some nicely scary moments as well as a few decent laughs. Overall I'd say that this was a decent opening to the series, although I admit I enjoyed it more on second viewing as I knew how the characters would develop. I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting some family friendly scares.
When I first saw this series advertised I thought it was going to try to be ITV's answer to 'Doctor Who'; while it is obviously aiming for a similar audience it is a very different show. This episode nicely introduced the series' main characters and the core concept of the show. The main characters seem interesting so far; Douglas Henshall puts in a solid performance as protagonist Nick Cutter, Hannah Spearritt is cute and likable as Abby and Andrew Lee Potts is amusing as Connor. Given that the series featured dinosaurs the special effects are really important and thankfully they are really rather impressive. The story is well told with some nicely scary moments as well as a few decent laughs. Overall I'd say that this was a decent opening to the series, although I admit I enjoyed it more on second viewing as I knew how the characters would develop. I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting some family friendly scares.
