‘Primeval’ Not Cancelled Says Co-Creator
Two weeks ago we reported that Impossible Pictures were in talks to develop a Primeval feature film and a US Primeval television series. With a huge fan base, strong ratings, feature film deals and expansion to the US market, things were looking good for Primeval.
That is until a few days ago when The Sun ran an article suggesting that the series is actually on the verge of cancellation. The reason – it is too costly.
From The Sun:
ITV hit Primeval is on the brink of being axed — because it’s too costly.
The Saturday night sci-fi drama has a big fan base, kicking off its third series with 5.3million viewers.
But it is packed with expensive special effects and ITV is slashing spending after last month reporting a loss of £2.7billion.
An ITV source said: “The problem is that we’ve lost a huge amount of money in advertising because of the credit crunch.
“So while programmes may be rating well, if they cost too much then we have no way to recoup our expenses. Primeval is a prime example of this.”
In response, the series co-creator Adrian Hodges contacted Total Sci-Fi to refute the story.
From Total Sci-Fi:
“There are reports in the national press this morning that Primeval has been cancelled. This is absolutely not the case. Impossible Pictures have been in regular contact with ITV and all the indications are that provided ratings remain strong we will return for a fourth series.
As of this moment no final decision has been taken – as we knew it wouldn’t be – but we are very confident about the future of the show. ITV always said they would look at the recommission at some point towards the end of the run or later and that remains absolutely the position.”
Interestingly, the Sun’s own news article ended with the following statement (quoted from an unknown ITV spokesperson):
“We would not make a decision about a recommission this early.”
We say ‘interestingly’ because of the use by ITV of the word ‘recommission’ as opposed to ‘cancellation’, which to our untrained eye seems to further validate Adrian Hodge’s own take on the subject that all indications from ITV seem to point towards thoughts of recommission rather than cancellation.
One thing is for sure – Primeval is supremely popular and is killing the ratings. There are film deals and US network deals under discussion. The only hint of cancellation has come from a single report by The Sun. Something to think about.
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:35 am
i have been watching past seasons on netflix. i love the show, but was somewhat disappointed in some of the character changes. i miss cutter and steven, but they may not be gone forever. i am in the u.s. but enjoy watching this itv show. i don’t know if importing this concept into the u.s. will work, but would welcome the launch of such a thing. i am watching season 3 now, and look forward to season 4 and 5 when availble. oh, really like abby and connor, so i hope they stick around for a while.
otto
June 24th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
I’m so happy that primeval is back,bring cutter back please. I would also like to see Sarah Connor Chronicles back.