(S01E06) Over in the UK, the length of a show's season is dictated by story instead of tradition. So while we have 22 episode seasons on network television and somewhere around 12 or 13 on cable, they can have a show run only six or seven episodes and it's seen as perfectly normal. Thus, when BBC America imported Primeval over here to the US, they've combined the first two seasons into one thirteen episode run. Welcome to the first season finale of Primeval. And I'll see you here next Saturday for the second season premiere.

After several weeks of battling the prehistoric threat of the week, the team tackled a whole new kind of foe in this important chapter. Helen Cutter was back, confronting Claudia about the burgeoning feelings between her and Nick. And also apparently being unintentionally responsible for the latest threat to humanity. Consider anything past the jump a spoiler (if you've not seen it why are you reading a review anyway?).

(S01E01)Primeval already has a pretty rabid following across the pond where two series, or seasons as they say in the States, have already been completed. It looks like BBC America will be combining these two seasons into one thirteen episode long run. A third season has been greenlit and is set to premiere in January 2009 in the UK. Presumably, should this do well here, BBCA will pick it up shortly thereafter, to avoid an extensive gap.

I'd heard about this show, time travel and prehistoric creatures running rampant in and around London. It's one of those shows that developed such a buzz across the pond, that we heard about it stateside even before it got here. I think the only other show I can think of that did that was Billie Piper's The Secret Diary of a Call Girl. That's, of course, not counting Doctor Who and its derivatives as we've been aware of that property for years. Things start off at a gallop, literally, and keep moving pretty much for the full hour.