Primeval: New World premiered on October 29, 2012 in Canada on the Space network and on Watch in the UK. The last episode aired on February 19, 2013 and two days later Primeval: new World was cancelled after only one season. Of course this is a spin-off from the British series Primeval which ran for five seasons which had a lot of cast changes in those 5 seasons. Amanda Tapping directed 3 episodes and Martin Wood, both Stargate, 4 episodes.

Perhaps you are surprised why this show is on my favorite list. For most it's a forgettable show. Well I found it to be quite entertaining. I already liked the original British version and so I was excited when I learned of this spin-off, which to me, did not disappoint. Besides an interesting lead cast like Niall Matter (Eureka) and Sara Canning (Vampire Diaries) it also has some surprising guest/recurring appearances like: Lexa Doig (Andromeda, Continuum), Colin Ferguson (Eureka, Haven), Louis Ferreira (Stargate Universe, Travelers, The Aftermath), Andrew Lee Pots (Primeval) and Patrick Gilmore (Stargate Universe, Travelers).

Other reason why I really liked this show which never really came to frutition was the guest role for Primeval lead Connor Temple (Andrew Lee Pots). He was there for two episodes and the story arc of why he was there was getting very interesting. Unfortunately we will never know how this would have played out.

The first rumors of a Primeval spin-off was in 2009 already. In September 2011 the show was commisioned for Space. It would build on the UK Primeval mythology, it also would be a tad darker and scarier. I really was disappointed this got cancelled so quickly after only one season.

Critical response is fairly favorable according to Wiki: Den of Geek columnist Philip Lickley enjoyed the first episode, stating that while it was "a little shallower" than Primeval, the ending "[sets up] what could be the most exciting element of the series." He noted several references to the original series, including the handheld anomaly detector and a cryogenically frozen Anomaly Research Centre member, as particular highlights. Alex Strachan of the Postmedia News agency had a favourable impression, praising the visual effects and describing the episode as "watchable and entertaining, the modern-day equivalent of '60s sci-fi TV classics like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Time Tunnel."

Philip Lickley had the same thoughts I had regarding the ending. So again, it was promising, would have liked to see another season, so they had the chance to make it more interesting.

Ken Leeds