Characters:

Nick Cutter, played by Douglas Henshall, he is the lead scientist. Before going through anomalies, Cutter was a professor, having lost his wife 8 years ago, she disappeared and he never since seen her. Nick Cutter definitely is my favorite character of the first two series, Douglas Henshall definitely carried the show and he did it well.

Stephen Hart, played by James Murray, he is a friend and colleague of Nick Cutter and he joins the team. Later we learn that Hart had an affair with Nick Cutter’s wife Helen Cutter. Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) did not just disappear 8 years ago, she found an anomaly and went through it and never bothered to come back. Connor Temple, played by Andrew-Lee Potts, he is a student of Nick Cutter, he is exceptionally smart, but on a social level, he is a bit daft. He too joins the team. Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt) works in a Zoo, but she gets fired, makes herself quite useful to Nick and therefore she also joins the team.

Claudia Brown/Jenny Lewis, played by Lucy Brown, she is added by to Nick’s team. She works for The British government's Home Office. Her boss James Lester (Ben Miller) adds her to the team to keep an eye out on things and to help hide incidents from the general public. In series two she becomes Jenny Lewis, a PR agent (later on that). James Lester is the one the team has to answer to. Ben Miller did a marvelous job playing this arrogant, vain and often demeaning man, with an inflated sense of self-importance! He quickly became a favorite character of mine with his wit, the way he treated his ‘underlings’, it was and still is a real refreshing treat for us viewers. In series two we meet Caroline (Naomi Bentley), who acts like if she is into Connor, but in fact she is being paid to be close to him by Oliver Leek (Karl Theobald), who is the assistant of James Lester in series two. Oliver Leek turns out to be the antagonist in series two. He wants to be in charge of the anomalies and more than that. He secretly is working with Helen Cutter.

Series One:

Series one episodes is about meeting the characters, getting to know them, how they become a member to the team who goes through the anomalies. There definitely is a story-arc, where is Helen Cutter, what purpose are the anomalies, how did they came to be, and so on, but other than that, it is mostly told in a monster of the week format, which okay for such a very short first series, only six episodes. I really like the A storyline, about the anomalies, about the British government's Home Office, and also about the tension between Claudia Brown and Nick Cutter. What I found boring quite quickly, was the B storyline that mostly involved Connor Temple and his two dorky friends. Abby was sucked into this storyline too, which was perhaps a shame. I suppose it is meant to be a lighter part of the series but I didn’t really appreciate that part of the series. The way Connor acts in these early episodes was rather cringy to be honest. I don’t think I felt like that when I watched it originally, but 18 years later I do.

Best episodes where the last two, Lucy Brown is an impressive woman to look at, but in episode five she definitely shows her acting qualities are on par as well when she is left alone in that big house, not able to see, being alone, no eye-sight with these creatures trying to get in. The sixth episode is also strong, we learn that there are also anomalies that lead to the future, Nick Cutter realizes that they themselves are the ones who are intruding, he and Ryan found the remains, the camera and the photo of Helen he just made. When he gets back to the present Claudia isn’t there and no one of the team know who she is. Helen tells her husband that she and Stephen had an affair together.

Series Two:

I found the second series much more interesting than the first series, because there is some heavy story development in the form of the ARC (Anomaly Research Centre), that wasn’t there in the previous timeline, before Claudia Brown disappeared from the timeline all together. So, much more than in series one, there is a story-arc that is always there. It is not so that this story-arc is always the main story of the episode, but it is there nonetheless. There is also mistrust between Nick Cutter and Stephen Hart because of Helen Cutter’s revelation about the affair. Plus Stephen is also opposed to the fact that the anomalies are still being hidden from the general public. Meanwhile Lester’s assistant Oliver Leek is having his own plans regarding the anomalies, and he is sick and tired of James Lester belittling him all the time. Helen and Leek are working together and they try to frame Lester to be the one who has a different agenda.

Again in series two Connor Temple gets the B-story also. He imposes himself on Abby, invites himself to live with her until he can find his own place. Of course, he has no intention of leaving Abby’s apartment. He is behaving quite annoyingly, that if I were Abby, I would have thrown him out after two days. Then he gets a girlfriend names Caroline, who, for some reason is always there in Abby’s apartment, even when she and Connor aren’t there! Very annoying and potentially dangerous, especially because they have Rex living there, which could cause problems and it eventually does when Connor breaks up with her via a text message. In reality Caroline is planted there by Oliver Leek. This part of the story annoyed me also because again of Connor’s clumsy way of handling the situation, but also because Abby lets this go on, lets her into her apartment when they are gone, a girl they only know a couple of weeks, doing what they do for a living!? Bad writing. What also disappointed me was that Claudia Brown was gone and we got Jenny Lewis. Yes, obviously still Lucy Brown, but I was more fond of Claudia, a different character, softer and also less make-up on.

Douglas Henshall:

Douglas Henshall decided after two series he wanted to leave because he felt the show becoming too "simplified" and shifting from its original exciting premise to a more standard "monster-of-the-week" format, and he thought the series would be better served by someone else.

First of all, a real shame because I really liked Henshall’s character Cutter, a great actor, he gave then series more credibility somehow. To me he was the best actor and most interesting character. But his reasoning I don’t really understand because what he apparently said (above), I felt was the other way around entirely! I mean, season one was more “monster of the week”, while series two there definitely a story-arc, not only regarding the overall storyline but also for his character. I think it was more that he was seeking new opportunities, because again, to me series two is much more developed regarding the storyline and his character. Because of him leaving, the writers had to rewrite series 3 and it of course also had an influence on characters Helen Cutter and Jenny Lewis. Douglas Henshall’s character will be present in the first 3 episodes of series 3.

Final Word:

Really enjoyed the first two series, even with my annoyances regarding Connor Temple. The Connor Temple B-stories were probably created to also appeal to a younger audience. Perhaps this was successful, but I wouldn’t have minded if that bit had been left out. If I remember correctly, and that is a big “IF” 😊, in the next 3 series, I believe his character is written as if he is a bit more adult now, which is better. Looking forward to series 3-5.

Source screencaps: IMDb