Interview with Tim Haines on Digital Spy

The other day, just after the 10th episode of Primeval series 3, Digtial Spy caught up with Primevals Co-Creater Tim Haines and discussed Series four. Below you can read some of the interview.

Series three was very busy - more episodes than before and lots of comings and goings. What was your own highlight?
"Oooh! Lots really. I think the airplane scenes with the Giganotosaurus in episode four worked nicely. I think the fungus monster was good, when I was worried at some point it wasn't going to be! The Knight story was charming and made a bit of a difference. Also I found Cutter's demise in episode three very moving. We were very unfortunate to be opposite Doctor Who that night - it was a big blow - but there we are. In the long run the figures returned to what they were before."

With that said, could Cutter also come back?
"Everything is possible but we're very cautious about playing that card, even though I know at the end of series one they came back and changed time. I know this sounds contradictory, but fundamentally Primeval isn't a time travel show. It's a show about creatures popping up now, therefore we avoid all these time conundrums which could completely turn your storylines upside down. So other than the Jenny/Claudia contradiction, we haven't played that at all. As you know, Jim [Murray, aka Stephen] didn't come back in series three. Again, we don't need to close anything off - people could pop up in all sorts of ways - but we're reluctant to be too fast and loose with time."

In the last month a movie version of Primeval has been confirmed. How does that fit in with the T V series? Should it be considered a separate project?
"It is somewhat a separate project because as you can imagine, the big studios are a law unto themselves. They will listen to us and of course be very understanding and try to take the essence of the show onto the big screen. In the end they are movie makers and they will make the film they think works. We've yet to see how that pans out."

Will it use the same cast?
"I have no idea. There is no onus on them to have the same cast, and like all these things, those decisions haven't been made yet but when they come to concentrate on it, they will decide what to do."

Finally, there have been reports of a US-based spinoff. Is there any truth to that?
"We're working on that with people in Canada for budgeting reasons. We're working on it. I don't know whether it will happen but it seems to be trundling along."

Looks like there's going to be a spin off from Primeval now! They just keep coming...