Anomaly Research Centre
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Anomaly Research Centre


Episode 1.4 is the fourth episode of the first series of Primeval. It was broadcast as Dodo Madness[1] in North America, Verschwörungstheorie (Conspiracy Theory)[2] in Germany and Epidémie (Epidemic)[3] in France.

Summary[]

"Helen refuses to answer Lester's questions about the Anomalies and manages to escape custody, leaving behind a flock of Dodos - which is playing host to deadly parasites. One of the creatures bites Tom, giving him a compelling urge to attack - and prompting Cutter and the team to launch a desperate bid to prevent a pandemic."[4]

Full synopsis[]

A hangout of kids are playing football together at the bottom of a block of flats. When the kids kick their ball into a large bin and cause noise, Mrs. Davis, a resident of one of the flats above the kids, hears and shouts down at the kids to be quiet, but the kids ignore her and continue with their ball games, leaving Mrs. Davis defeated and frustrated as she heads back into her flat. In the flat's bathroom, Davis' boy is having a bath alone, when something begins moving in and pushing against the closed seat of the nearby toilet, catching the boy's attention. The boy turns to see what's in the toilet as hissing is heard inside, and the seat then lifts up to reveal a serpentine head.

At the Home Office, Helen Cutter is taken to the maximum security wing and put in an interrogation room with Lester and Claudia for questioning, while a Home Office guard watches the interrogation on camera. Helen points out that this technically counts as kidnapping being brought to the Home Office against her will, but Lester retorts that Helen is officially declared dead, and therefore it doesn't count as someone who doesn't officially exist can't be kidnapped. Lester demands that Helen tell him and Claudia everything she knows about the Anomalies, but in response, Helen simply compares Lester to a Utahraptor she once encountered in the Jurassic. Lester takes that as refusal to cooperate, as a guard hands Claudia a message. Claudia then declares to Lester and Helen that they have another Anomaly incursion in Central London, at the flat block. Lester cynically asks Helen if that appeases her, and Helen gives a wicked smile.

The Special Forces, led by Tom Ryan, rush to the block of flats and head in, fully geared up; passing by the hangout of football-playing kids, who comically freeze while the Special Forces run by into the flat block. The Special Forces rush up through the block, while back outside the flat block, Cutter, Connor and Stephen arrive by car and head in. On the way in, Stephen catches the kids' ball and kicks it at a nearby 'no ball games' sign. Further up in the flat block, the Special Forces head up to outside the Davis flat and aim their guns, before Ryan comically signals a soldier to knock on the door. Shortly after, Mrs. Davis is shocked and confused at why the Special Forces have come to deal with what she reported as a pest problem, and Cutter tells her that the council takes pest control very seriously. Cutter, Stephen and the Special Forces then prepare and head into the flat bathroom, to find the creature inside is actually a python. When Cutter tells everyone out loud that what they thought was a creature is actually only a python, this earns a scream from Mrs. Davis and shock at how the team consider a python so little to worry over (and this in turn comically causes Connor an earache).

Back at the Home Office interrogation room, Claudia tells Lester and Helen that it was a false alarm and that it was actually an illegally imported pet python that escaped into the flat drains. Lester asks Helen if she already knew it was a false alarm, and Helen silently smiles to herself. Lester then presses Helen about how she told Nick Cutter that she knows how to find the Anomalies, but Helen simply covers that what she said with Nick is their private business. Lester then tells Helen that that kind of knowledge of how to pre-locate Anomalies would be very valuable to the Anomaly operation, and that it is a citizen's duty to give such valuable knowledge to the government if they can; Helen simply points out that she can't be a citizen as she officially doesn't exist, and therefore doesn't have to comply to this duty. Lester is now getting tired and frustrated with Helen's refusal to cooperate, and threatens to have her Anomaly knowledge tortured out of her if she doesn't comply; but Helen remains calm and laid-back and wonders aloud how Claudia can bear working with someone like Lester. Claudia tells Helen that the Anomaly project is overall about saving people's lives, and that Helen can help with that by telling them anything at all she knows about the Anomalies that they don't. Helen looks over at Lester and silently thinks about it to herself. Helen tells Lester and Claudia to bring Cutter to her and she will reveal everything she knows about the Anomalies.

Back at the flat block, Cutter is heading back down while on the phone with Claudia. Claudia, who is in the camera room watching Helen in the interrogation room at the Home Office, apologises for missing Cutter's previous calls, having been busy with Helen's interrogation. Claudia also claims that she is the reason Cutter is still in the Anomaly operation at all, but Cutter feels that they need him too badly to dare get rid of him. Claudia then gravely notes that they need each other, more than ever before now. Cutter asks how Helen's interrogation is going, and is hoping aloud that Helen is infuriating and annoying Lester; Claudia asks Cutter to come over to the Home Office at once. Back in the Davis flat's bathroom, as Stephen handles the python with Abby helping, Connor assures Stephen that this python is only a baby, as a full-grown one would be up to twenty feet long. Stephen expresses some fear of the python, but when Abby notices, Stephen covers it up and claims to love snakes. Stephen hands the python to Abby, then quickly heads off to get a big enough sack to hold the python in. Once Stephen is gone, Connor asks a half-listening Abby if he could sleep on her sofa for a few days until he sorts out his issues with his flat. Abby dismisses it for the time being and asks that they talk about it later. Stephen then returns with a large sack, which Abby slips the python into. Abby then immediately leaves for a tea break, leaving Stephen in charge of the python. Stephen turns to Connor, but the latter refuses to take charge of it for him.

At the Home Office, Helen and Nick are now alone together in the interrogation room, face-to-face with each other. Nick asks Helen about how the Home Office are treating her, and Helen simply accuses Nick of not caring, and of setting her up to be taken by force back to the present by the Special Forces. Nick tells Helen that he didn't set her up, but she doesn't seem to believe him and Nick doesn't care. Helen looks around the interrogation room as she is watched on camera, and notes to Nick that their conversation is being monitored, which in turn earns a loud, sarcastic response from Nick. Helen asks Nick to help her escape, and Nick cracks and demands that Helen tell him what she knows about the Anomalies and how to find them if she wants his help. Helen cryptically comments to Cutter that why the Anomalies occur is the least of what he should be worrying about, confusing Nick. Helen looks around again as she is watched on camera, then agrees to help Nick. She warns Nick that within the next few hours, a pack of sabre-toothed killers will begin rampaging through Central London; this leaves Cutter shocked and horrified as he realises the destruction that this will mean.

Tom and Duncan drive Connor to Abby's flat in their camper van, having given him a lift. Tom tells Connor that he and Duncan would have been happy to let Connor stay at their flat instead, but Connor feels staying with Abby at her flat was a better offer. Tom and Duncan do not know whom Connor's "better offer" is, so they are in disbelief when Connor mentions that it is a girl. Connor is then about to head out to Abby's flat, when Tom stops Connor to give him one of his bags he has forgotten. Connor notices that Tom and Duncan have put a Roswell alien keyring on the bag, which Tom claims is a "housewarming present" from him and Duncan. Connor is touched at this, then heads out of the camper van towards Abby's flat. As soon as Connor is gone, Tom confirms that Duncan "turned it on," revealing that the Roswell keyring is a disguised device which Tom and Duncan plan to use to find out what Connor's secret life is.

In the flat, Abby is feeding Rex, when the doorbell rings and she goes to answer it. Abby peeks out the door to find Connor outside, and Connor explains that he is there to sleep on her sofa but Abby doesn't even remember Connor asking about it. Connor then asks if Abby could kiss him to show off to his friends, and Abby openly and clearly refuses. When Connor offers Abby money if she does it, this further shocks and gets on Abby's nerves, and in the process she opens the flat door all the way; unintentionally exposing her half-naked form to Tom and Duncan, who are shocked and awestruck. Connor claims to threaten to reveal to the Home Office that Abby is secretly harbouring Rex if she doesn't kiss him, so she reluctantly kisses Connor as Tom and Duncan watch from the camper van; leaving the duo impressed and awestruck at Connor's luck as the latter heads with Abby into the flat. Tom and Duncan then check the signal from the Roswell device on the sat nav, and Roswell is revealed to be a disguised tracking device. An unaware Connor waves to Duncan and Tom from Abby's flat before heading in, as Tom and Duncan check the Roswell signal on the sat-nav.

In Abby's flat, Connor is thrilled and excited to be staying at a place like this, and begins enjoying himself with Abby's exercise gear before relaxing on Abby's sofa beside Rex. Back outside, Tom and Duncan are waiting boredly in their camper van for Roswell to indicate something is happening in the flat with Connor's secret, when Tom spots Stephen arriving outside in the van's mirrors and points this out to Duncan. The duo believe that Stephen is Abby's actual boyfriend and thus Connor is in big trouble. Stephen heads to the door of Abby's flat, and rings the bell before calling for her. Abby then abruptly answers the door, in an awkward moment when Stephen sees how Abby is dressed, and Abby leads Stephen into the flat. Tom and Duncan are in giggles at this due to their assumption that Stephen is Abby's actual boyfriend, and believe Connor is in big trouble over this. In the flat, Abby quickly hides Rex by throwing a cloth over his case before Stephen can see him, and Abby then gets a gown on herself. Stephen asks if he is interrupting anything, which Abby denies but Connor then arrives half-naked himself, to Abby's chagrin. Stephen is shocked that Connor is at Abby's flat as well; Connor claims he and Abby have grown very close, and Abby cynically explains that Connor is sleeping on her sofa after getting kicked out of his own flat. Stephen then asks why they are both half-naked, and they explain that it's because the flat's thermostat is on so high; Connor simply states it's "too hot," before Abby explains that the thermostat is stuck on high. Stephen seems to slightly suspect otherwise about what Connor and Abby have told him about why they are in their underwear, and begins looking around at Abby's pet snakes and reptiles while Connor keeps Rex's case covered. Stephen asks Abby and Connor to get dressed and come to the Home Office with him, explaining that Helen is now beginning to talk.

Back at the Home Office, Helen is alone in the interrogation room, silently watching as up in the observation room above, Nick explains to Lester and Claudia what Helen has warned him about the sabre-toothed cats: according to her, there is a large pride of these Smilodon on the other side of an open Anomaly in Central London, and the team have only a matter of time before the pride inevitably wander through the Anomaly into London. When Claudia asks where exactly in London the Anomaly is, Nick explains that Helen refuses to say that and wants to take the team to the Anomaly site herself. Lester and Claudia are both convinced that it's a trick, but Cutter believes that Helen may actually be attempting to prove she's not as callous as Lester and Claudia consider her; Lester does not believe this due to Helen's calm and collected demeanour in spite of the Smilodon incursion she has warned the team of, and Nick admits that Helen is selfish, but remains convinced that she isn't truly evil. Claudia remains doubtful that Nick is correct because of how greatly Helen has changed over the last eight years and how Nick hasn't seen her since then, and Lester also does not trust Helen at all. Cutter then points out to Lester and Claudia that if Helen is telling the truth about the Smilodon, then there could be a massacre of London as a consequence of their distrust. Claudia and Lester begin to think about it, while Helen silently watches them from the interrogation room.

The team and the Special Forces subsequently drive to a football stadium, and Helen leads Cutter, Claudia and the Special Forces into the stadium and to the kitchens. The Home Office and the Special Forces are searching and scanning through the kitchens, while Helen heads up to and eyes a sealed, stainless steel fridge. Claudia notices and comes over, and Helen confirms that the Anomaly is in the fridge. Claudia then calls Connor over to confirm this, and Nick and Claudia both watch Helen with suspicion as Connor heads up to the fridge. Connor checks with his compass for magnetic interference from the supposed Anomaly; his compass is unaffected. Helen claims that the fridge's steel doors are too thick for the magnetic field to penetrate; Claudia asks Nick if that's correct, and Nick notes that it's possible. A distrustful Claudia has Captain Ryan watch Helen, while she heads up to the fridge to open it and see if the Anomaly really is there.

Just as Claudia reaches to open the doors, Helen sharply stops her, to Claudia and Connor's annoyance, and claims to fear that the Smilodon may have already come through the Anomaly and be inside the fridge. Claudia is now losing patience with Helen, which Nick quips he can understand, and Stephen smiles at that. Claudia believes that Helen is indeed bluffing about the Anomaly and the Smilodon, but Helen confidently stares Claudia down and dares her to try that belief. Claudia then has Stephen go open the fridge, but Stephen finds that it is padlocked. Helen comes over and offers Stephen her knife, which he takes and uses to remove the padlock. The team and the Special Forces then gather and the latter aim their guns ready. Ryan comes over, and he and Stephen begin to slowly pull the fridge doors open together. As the fridge is opened, unnoticed to anyone, several nearby ladles begin to hang towards the fridge's direction, more so as the fridge is opened wider. Suddenly, a kitchen utensil comes flying across the kitchen at the fridge as the team and the Special Forces duck in time. Stephen notices and grabs the utensil just before it can hit Connor's head, and Stephen then alerts Connor that it's time for him to duck. Dozens more metal kitchen utensils are caught in the magnetic field and fly across the kitchen, over the ducking team's and Special Forces' heads into the Anomaly in the fridge. As everyone waits this out, Helen quips to Claudia, to the latter's chagrin, that she would be terrible at poker and betting because of her incorrect guess on whether or not the Anomaly was real.

In the car park outside the stadium, Tom and Duncan are spying from their camper van on the Special Forces guarding the stadium entrance, the former two comically pretending to read newspapers in the van as they spy. Tom is convinced that this is a massive government conspiracy similar to Area 51, and that there is a secret government bunker hidden beneath the stadium. Duncan is confused as to why there would be a secret government bunker in a football stadium (almost breaking his and Tom's newspaper-reading cover from the Special Forces guards in the process); Tom explains that such a place would be the last place anyone would expect to find a secret government base of operations, which would in turn make it the perfect place for one. Tom and Duncan spy as the two Special Forces guards head into the stadium, and Tom notes that the supposed secret government organisation is very clever and intelligent.

Back in the stadium kitchens, Connor finds a stack of pies in the fridge where the Anomaly is, and this seemingly horrifies Helen, who warns that the meat in the pies will draw the Smilodon through the Anomaly. As Ryan and another soldier hold Helen back, Nick heads over to the fridge to remove the pies, while Helen advises Ryan to act immediately if they are to stop the supposed Smilodon coming through. Nick, Connor and the Special Forces then begin removing all the pies and food from the fridge as Helen stands by and watches, waiting for something. As soon as she has a clear path to the fridge, Helen runs at it and escapes through the Anomaly. Nick tries to go after Helen but is stopped by a soldier, while Claudia has Ryan go through the Anomaly after Helen. As a soldier holds Cutter back to stop him going through as well, Stephen runs through the Anomaly for Cutter before any of the Special Forces can stop him. As Stephen comes out the other side of the Anomaly, he ends up rolling down a hill to where Captain Ryan is. As soon as Ryan notices it is only Stephen, the two look around at the place the Anomaly has sent them to with awe and amazement. They are in a world of grassy hills, surrounded by dozens of more Anomalies.

Later, back in the stadium kitchens, Cutter and the team are looking in amazement at pictures of the Anomaly-filled area on the other side of the stadium Anomaly, which Connor dubs a temporal Spaghetti Junction. Stephen notes that they have no chance of recapturing Helen, as the large number of Anomalies that she could be through any one of would make finding her through the Spaghetti Junction too difficult. Stephen also confirms to Claudia that there isn't a single sabre-toothed cat in the Junction, confirming that the Smilodon incursion Helen warned of was a bluff to escape through the Junction. Claudia confronts Cutter about him attempting to go through the Anomaly after Helen, believing that he intended to follow her rather than stop her. Nick denies it and questions why he would want Helen to escape when he wants the answers the most, and Claudia does not reply. A squawk is then heard from the Anomaly, and Captain Ryan and the Special Forces take aim at the Anomaly and the team watch and wait as the squawks on the other side of the Anomaly grow closer. Suddenly, a Dodo bursts through the Anomaly and runs off between the soldiers and team members into the kitchen; and while the team are taken by surprise by this, four more Dodos come through the Anomaly and scatter past the team and around the kitchen. Cutter instructs everyone to round the Dodos up immediately before any of them can escape the stadium.

Claudia finds one Dodo which is between two sets of ovens and cupboards and therefore can only go backwards, and she attempts to herd the creature. Connor, Stephen, Abby and two Home Office scientists locate and attempt to corner another Dodo, but it flees and slips between them and their legs until it runs into and gets stuck in a cupboard. In another part of the kitchen, a soldier runs into one Dodo, and tries to slide at and grab it as it flees. One of the Dodos goes unfound by the team and Special Forces, and heads to the kitchen exit where it finds Connor's bag. The Dodo swallows a banana from the bag, and then also the Roswell tracker keyring. Outside the stadium, Tom and Duncan get out of their camper van and spy on the stadium entrance as the Roswell tracker, detecting the Dodo that has swallowed the device moving, indicates that Connor is now moving. Back in the stadium kitchens, the Dodo that has swallowed the Roswell tracker wanders out through the kitchen exit. Two soldiers herd another Dodo in the kitchen to Cutter, who uses his coat as a barrier and to keep its attention. Nearby, when the Dodo trapped in the cupboard escapes, a prepared Stephen places a bin over the creature to trap it, while Cutter uses his coat as a barrier to force his Dodo into a nearby nurse's office before locking it in. The team are all thrilled and amazed at seeing these Dodos and these recent events. The Dodo trapped under the bin moves it around from within until Stephen stops it. Back in the stadium car park, as Roswell indicates Connor leaving the stadium and coming into the car park, Tom and Duncan see the Dodo that swallowed Roswell emerge from the stadium instead of Connor. A shocked Duncan thinks that the supposed government bunker has transformed Connor into a turkey, but Tom recognises that the creature isn't a turkey, and he and Duncan then run out to capture the Dodo.

Back in the stadium's nurse office at the kitchens, Cutter is in the office with the other, round-up Dodos, observing them with awe and happiness as the team watch from in the doorway. Abby is especially fond of and sentimental for the Dodos. Connor finds the creatures to be very idiotic, but Abby notes that they are actually just trusting, and Connor points out that Abby is much more sentimental for the Dodos than she was for other creatures like the Gorgonopsid. After Stephen confirms to Claudia that this is seemingly all of the Dodos that came through rounded up, Cutter decides that they should send the creatures back through before their absence from their home causes a ripple effect, and instructs everyone to "grab a Dodo". In the stadium car park, Tom and Duncan go back into their camper van, where they have captured and placed the missing Dodo that swallowed Roswell, and watch the bird and see it is indeed a living Dodo. This leads Tom to believe that the supposed government conspiracy from the football stadium is that they are secretly cloning extinct creatures. Duncan does not understand why the government team would choose the Dodo as the extinct creature to clone, but Tom explains that it is because it would be a better cloned extinct species to start with than a dangerous dinosaur. Tom and Duncan then start the camper van up and drive off, with the motion comically shocking and confusing the Dodo.

Back in the football stadium's kitchens, Cutter and the Special Forces are herding the Dodos back to the Anomaly. One Dodo reaches the Anomaly and wanders back through, while Stephen and Abby try to gently force the next Dodo back to the Anomaly with a metal plate which catches the Dodo's curiosity, to Abby's sentimentality. Stephen discusses Connor with Abby, recognising that Connor has moved in, which Abby claims is only temporary. Nearby, an unaware Connor goofily plays with a ladle. Stephen, Cutter and the soldiers then manage to get the next Dodo to head for the Anomaly, and it runs back through as well. Immediately, Abby discusses what Stephen saw of her and Connor at her flat earlier and states that there is nothing going on between her and Connor. Ryan then calls Cutter and Claudia over to the nurse's office where the team were holding the Dodos, to show them that the last Dodo left to be sent back through the Anomaly has just died, leaving the team slightly saddened. When Abby wonders what happened, Connor - who is monitoring the Anomaly's magnetic stability with his compass - inappropriately jokes that the Dodo may have died from eating one of the pies, but he then sees that that is not appropriate and apologises. Cutter decides that they should do an autopsy on the dead Dodo to find out what killed it. Stephen suggests that it could have been a side-effect of passing through the Anomaly, but Cutter is doubtful because he and Stephen have both been through the Anomalies without any ill-effects. Connor then warns Cutter and Stephen that the magnetic interference from the Anomaly indicates that it is weakening.

At Tom and Duncan's flat, the duo are watching the missing Dodo they took with awe and excitement; Tom apparently plans for him and Duncan to use the Dodo as proof to expose the supposed government conspiracy and become rich. When the Dodo pulls and wrecks Duncan's MP3, this upsets Duncan, but Tom is not bothered by the Dodo damaging any of their belongings as he believes that they can buy even better ones to replace them once they expose the alleged conspiracy. The Dodo then abruptly goes and heads behind a nearby table, with Tom and Duncan following it, and the creature apparently vomits on Tom's Converse All Star collection offscreen, to Tom's upset. Duncan is repulsed by the stench from the Dodo vomit and begins to feel sick, but Tom tells Duncan not to contaminate the Dodo vomit with his own, as Tom intends to collect the vomit and sell it online.

At the Home Office, Cutter, Abby and Stephen are in an autopsy lab with the dead Dodo's body. Cutter is just about to make the first incision of the autopsy, when the Dodo's body suddenly spasms slightly, spooking the three. Stephen dismisses it as muscle spasm, but Cutter is sceptical as the Dodo has been dead far too long. The team wait to see if another unexpected spasm will occur, and when one doesn't, they are about to resume the autopsy. Suddenly, a large, worm-like creature crawls out of the Dodo's body through the beak and falls to the lab floor, repulsing the team and taking them by surprise. The creature begins to crawl across the lab towards Abby as the latter backs away from it into a wall. Just before the creature can reach Abby, Stephen traps it under a glass jar, and the trapped creature then begins to die as a disgusted Cutter, Abby and Stephen look at it.

Back at Tom and Duncan's flat, their Dodo is playing with and biting down on the TV remote in its beak, causing the TV to keep changing channels. This gets on Duncan's nerves, as he is trying to watch Countdown, so Duncan takes the remote from the Dodo. This upsets the Dodo, which reacts aggressively, frightening Duncan into giving it the remote back. When the Dodo's use of biting the remote switches the TV over to a classic dinosaur film, this shock and frightens the Dodo. Suddenly, the Dodo's eyes dilate and turn a bluish colour and it goes into a sudden episode of rage, attacking and destroying the TV. This upsets Duncan, who scolds the Dodo as the creature snaps out of its unnoticed fit of aggression as its eyes return to normal. Tom assures Duncan that the profit they will make by exposing the supposed conspiracy involving the Dodos will allow them to replace their destroyed TV with a plasma screen. Duncan, who is now suspicious and uncertain about the dynamic changes in the Dodo's behaviour, asks Tom what a historical internet article on the Dodo that Tom is reading says about how the Dodos behaved, and Tom informs Duncan that Dodos were supposed to be slow, harmless and trusting. At that moment, the Dodo goes into another one of the sharp episodes of aggression and leaps at Tom, biting him on the arm. This upsets Tom, and Duncan thinks the Dodo is simply getting overexcited. Duncan then leads the Dodo over to his nearby bedroom and locks it inside, then goes over to check Tom's bite. The two see, to Duncan's confusion, that the bite is more like a toothed animal's than any bird's; Tom suspects that the Dodo has been genetically modified by the supposed government conspiracy as a biological weapon, which disgusts Duncan. Tom warns Duncan that the government should never be underestimated, but the two plan to bring down the allegedly corrupt government by exposing the supposed conspiracy with the Dodos. Tom then goes to get the bite bandaged, and Duncan glances back at the destroyed TV.

Back at the Home Office autopsy lab, Cutter is showing the dead worm-like creature from the Dodo to Abby, Lester and Stephen. Stephen suspects that it is a larva, before Cutter reveals it is in fact an adult. Cutter goes on to identify the creature as a giant, parasitic cestoid, which killed the Dodo that was its host by attacking the central nervous system and destroying the internal organs. Lester is slightly confused that this particular parasite kills its host in the process of living off it, and Cutter explains that this parasite doesn't have a relationship with its host in which it compromises. Cutter then explains the Parasite's life cycle: it enters a host's bloodstream as larvae and feeds off the host there; then after maturing, it lays its eggs and keeps itself and the host alive just long enough to find a new host to pass the eggs onto; then after that, both the original host and the original Parasite die. Lester is disgusted at the Parasite and its gruesome life cycle.

At Tom and Duncan's flat, Duncan finds Tom on the floor suffering from a severe headache. Duncan then hears their Dodo from the former's bedroom destroying the room and trying to break out the door, and alerts Tom that the Dodo is trying to escape. Tom tells Duncan to keep the Dodo from escaping as it is their only proof of the supposed conspiracy, and Duncan then goes to his room where the Dodo is. As Duncan goes, Tom's headache continues to worsen, and a dark, unusual rash begins to spread from Tom's bite up his arm. Duncan unlocks and cautiously goes into his bedroom, to find the Dodo is in another one of its Parasite-induced episodes of aggression, and is trying to reach and destroy the room's overhead light. Duncan tries to get the Dodo to calm down, but this only alerts the creature to Duncan's presence. The Dodo advances on Duncan to attack him, prompting Duncan to head back out his room and lock the Dodo in. Duncan is growing increasingly worried as the aggressive Dodo tries to break out of the bedroom, and wants to call the police; but Tom is dead against this, as he believes the police will be in on the supposed conspiracy and will experiment on him upon learning that the Dodo bit him. Duncan begins to panic and asks Tom what to do; Tom tries to keep himself calm and carefully think what they should do, as Tom's headache continues to worsen greatly. When the locked-up Dodo manages to break its beak through Duncan's bedroom door and gets closer to breaking out, Duncan instantly decides that he and Tom have to get out of the flat at once, and goes to get Tom up and take him out. However, when Duncan helps Tom get up off the floor, Tom suddenly goes into an animalistic fit and tries to attack and bite Duncan, horrifying Duncan as Tom snaps out of the fit. A stunned and upset Tom tries to apologise to Duncan, but the latter is too shocked and horrified from what just happened to Tom, and flees the flat, leaving Tom behind and alone. A shocked Tom's eyes dilate and turn bluish just as the infected Dodo's had done, as the Parasite's influence takes hold.

Later, Duncan has found Connor at a library and explained the situation with Tom and the Dodo to a shocked and upset Connor. Connor calls Tom and Duncan idiots for taking the Dodo, then makes a call. Duncan is scared that Connor is calling the police and asks him not to, but Connor simply tells Duncan that this is far beyond the police now. Cutter, Stephen, Connor and Claudia subsequently drive with the Special Forces to Tom and Duncan's flat, taking Duncan with them. Claudia discusses the Parasite with Cutter, and Cutter tells Ryan and Claudia that they need to quarantine Tom before he can infect anyone else with the Parasite, and warns him that they mustn't let Tom come anywhere near them when they're in there. As Duncan looks in awe at the Special Forces and government power that Connor is part of, Claudia turns her attention to Duncan and does not refrain from calling him an idiot for taking the infected Dodo. Duncan defends his and Tom's actions by pointing out that there is no law against adopting extinct animals, but Claudia claims to Duncan that the Dodo was government property and thus he has committed treason. Duncan hopes it is a joke and turns to Connor for assurance; but Connor can only grimly pat Duncan on the back and lead him into the flat with the team.

Inside, Ryan and his soldiers are searching through the flat for Tom as the team and Duncan come in, but there is no sign of Tom. Cutter, Stephen and Ryan subsequently go to Duncan's bedroom and see the infected Dodo is seemingly dead under Duncan's bed, but the three of them are (as referenced by Stephen when he compares it to a common horror film climax where the killer is seemingly dead but then suddenly jumps back up to life) all hesitant to check to confirm if the Dodo really is dead. As Claudia, Connor and Duncan watch, Cutter goes forward to see that the Dodo is dead, and when it doesn't react to Cutter hitting it on the beak, Cutter decides that it is indeed dead, and lifts the bed away from the dead Dodo. As Stephen cautiously checks the Dodo's corpse, Duncan tells Cutter of how dynamically the Dodo's behaviour changed from friendly and passive to vicious and aggressive, and Cutter and Stephen explain that that was the Parasite altering the Dodo's behaviour to increase the Parasite's chances of its eggs passing onto a new host. Cutter gravely informs Connor and Duncan that they're too late to save Tom from the Parasite and all they can do now is try and stop Tom from spreading the Parasite. Cutter then notices the broken room light, and notes that the Parasite induces light sensitivity in its hosts, so wherever Tom is, he will be trying to avoid light. Cutter then leaves as Duncan struggles with what he and Connor have just learned, while Stephen sets about getting the dead Dodo to Abby for an autopsy.

In a hospital waiting room, Tom is among the patients there waiting for an MRI scan, with Tom sitting to himself in sunglasses and trying to keep himself still and calm as he waits for his turn. As Tom waits while a cartoon plays on the waiting room's TV, sunlight from the windows begins to move with the change in time of day so that the sunlight is on Tom. The sunlight, combined with the TV cartoon's flashing light effects, causes Tom discomfort, and he begins to cough and choke more and more violently, which in turn catches the attention of several other patients in the waiting room. Soon, Tom finds himself rushing off from the waiting room to a bathroom, where he coughs over and throws up in a sink. Eventually, after the coughing and vomiting has subsided, Tom looks up from the sink at himself in the mirror, and lowers his shirt from below his neck to reveal the Parasite crawling beneath Tom's skin; leaving Tom horrified and speechless.

At the Home Office, Cutter, Stephen and Claudia are explaining the Parasite pandemic to Lester, but Cutter is getting impatient and insists that they have to go and find Tom immediately. Lester, however, remains patient and asks how the Parasite passes its spawn onto a new host; Cutter explains that the Parasite is passed on through biting, but kissing would be equally effective, though Lester doubts that Tom's appearance and the Parasite's symptoms on him will make kissing likely. When Lester asks Cutter about the Parasite's fatality rate, Cutter explains that there may be a chance of saving the Parasite's hosts if the Parasite is removed from them before it matures, but Stephen and Claudia note that the Parasite's life cycle is incredibly accelerated and it could therefore spread very quickly and easily. Lester believes that Helen is responsible for the Parasite incursion and deliberately sent the infected Dodos through to the present to spark a pandemic, but Nick believes that Helen wouldn't do this and it was pure chance and misfortune that the Dodos were infected. Lester points out to Cutter that they don't know what Helen is capable of and that Helen has abandoned them, and Lester is convinced that Cutter is the only one who refuses to believe it. Lester then has the team go out to find Tom, and a silently fuming Cutter storms out with Stephen and Claudia following.

Back at the hospital, Tom is having an MRI scan as a doctor observes the scan and the results as Tom's scan finishes. Tom asks if they have found what's wrong with him, and the doctor asks Tom if he's recently been abroad. The doctor then comes in to an increasingly sick Tom, and tells Tom that they have to take him into emergency surgery. Tom asks what is wrong with him, and the doctor tries to reassure Tom that while they don't know what the Parasite is, they will get it out of Tom. The doctor then tries to do an eye test on Tom, but the light from the eye torch on Tom's eye causes Tom to suddenly lash out and bite the doctor directly on the arm. As the shocked doctor asks what Tom is doing, Tom abruptly snaps out of the Parasite's influence and runs off from the scanning room. As Tom leaves, the assisting nurse rushes in to check the doctor's bite, while Tom's scan results on the monitoring room computer show the Parasite worming through Tom's body.

Tom heads into one of the hospital toilet rooms, turning the main lights off as he enters, and hides in a toilet cubicle. A scared and horrified Tom wonders in horror what is happening to him, and believes that the supposed government conspiracy have done this to him. Tom then gets his phone out of his bag and calls Duncan on it, telling Duncan that the supposed conspiracy is very large and they have to go public with it ASAP. Duncan asks Tom where he is, but Tom doesn't tell him and simply tells Duncan what he believes the government conspiracy is: they're using citizens like Tom as carriers for a mind-influencing biological weapon through which to take over from the inside. Connor then comes onto the line and asks Tom to tell him where he is so that him and the team can help Tom; but Tom is aware that Connor is part of the team, and thus Tom doesn't trust him and believes he is part of the supposed conspiracy. As Connor tries to get Tom to listen to him and stay on the line, Tom snarls for Connor to leave him alone and then cuts the call and throws his phone in the toilet. As Tom tries to keep himself collected and under control and thinks things through, he realises that he will need proof of the supposed conspiracy to get it successfully exposed to the public. Tom then thinks of something and gets the Roswell sat nav out of his bag and looks at the Roswell transmitter's location on it.

Cutter, Stephen and Claudia arrive at the hospital. Tom heads out of the toilets and sees them, heading off in the opposite direction to avoid being seen. Stephen notices something and looks down the hallway where Tom was coming out from the toilets, but Tom is now out of sight, so Stephen dismisses it and follows Cutter and Claudia. The trio go to the doctor that scanned Tom in the MRI scanning room, who has apparently reported the incident with Tom as a tropical disease. Claudia introduces herself to the doctor, but Cutter stops her from shaking hands or getting too close to him. When the doctor asks what's happening, Claudia tries to cover the Parasite pandemic up as a rabies outbreak, but the doctor recognises that it is something else from Tom's scan and tells the trio about seeing the Parasite inside Tom's body. Claudia then confesses to the doctor that they have virtually no idea what the illness really is. The doctor demands to know what is happening to him and how he can get treated, and Cutter tells him that his only chance of survival is if he has the Parasite surgically removed before it matures. Stephen tries to ask the doctor for any possible information on where Tom may have gone, but the doctor's bite from Tom is worsening.

Afterwards, back at the Home Office, Cutter, Claudia and Stephen are discussing how to find Tom. Claudia notes that they don't even know how Tom is travelling, and Stephen is convinced that their only chance of tracking Tom down is if he attacks again. But Cutter believes that it could be some time before that happens if at all, as Tom is a human being with willpower, not an animal like the Dodos, and so Cutter is convinced that Tom is going to fight the Parasite's influence. As the trio try to think up how to find Tom, Stephen suggests that Connor and Duncan may have a few ideas on where Tom might go and what he'll probably do, and Cutter agrees with this and sends Stephen to ask them about it, leaving Cutter with a silent Claudia. Cutter still denies that Helen would do something like release the Parasite on them, but Claudia seems unsure of this and heads off, leaving Cutter by himself.

At Cutter's study at the Central Metropolitan University, Abby is preparing the dead Dodo for an autopsy, when a shadow appears out in the study and Abby notices. Abby calls out to the unseen person, who asks for proof and for her help, and Abby goes to find that it is Tom who is there. When Tom confirms that it's him, Abby remains quiet and keeps her distance from him. Tom asks if they're being watched, and Abby assures him they're not. Tom then heads over to the dead Dodo, and turns off the study's light so he can remove his hood and sunglasses. Tom demands that Abby telling him what's going on with the Dodos and the Parasite, and when Abby does not answer, Tom snaps at her before getting himself under control. Abby tries to get Tom to relax, but when she's about to come over to him, Tom warns her to keep her distance and that while he can't control it, he will attack her if she gets too close. Tom then begins going into another episode of the Parasite's influence, and demands to know from Abby what's happening to him. A horrified Abby immediately tries to run off.

At the Home Office's interrogation room, Cutter and Stephen are asking Connor and Duncan how Tom reacts when he gets into trouble with authorities, but the two explain that Tom has never gotten into that sort of trouble before, to Stephen's frustration. Cutter then tries to get Duncan and Connor to think like Tom thinks to try and work out what Tom would do and where he'd go, and Duncan resentfully declares that Tom will be trying to find out about the supposed government conspiracy. A tired and frustrated Stephen tries to tell Duncan one more time that there is no conspiracy, but Duncan does not believe it due to the government activity with the Dodos and the Parasite and what's going on, and Duncan resentfully declares to the team that government people like them have always done nothing but hide and bury the truth with this and other famous past conspiracy theories. Duncan also mentions that that was why he and Tom put the Roswell tracker on Connor, which in turn causes a shocked and frustrated Connor to realise that Tom and Duncan bugged him and it was how the found the infected Dodo. Duncan expresses envy of all the government military teams, coverup secrets and attractive girlfriends that Connor has gotten with the Anomaly operation, and Connor searches himself for the Roswell transmitter and angrily demands Duncan tell him where the transmitter is. When Duncan reveals that the Roswell keyring gift was the transmitter, a hurt and upset Connor begins to scold Duncan, when Cutter interjects and asks how Tom and Duncan tracked the Roswell signal. Duncan explains that Tom modified his handheld sat nav as a receiver for the Roswell signal, and Cutter declares that this means that if Tom goes looking for the truth about the alleged conspiracy, he will follow the Roswell signal to Connor and therefore the team. But Duncan then points out to Cutter and Connor that the Dodo swallowed the transmitter and therefore that won't happen. Stephen realises that the transmitter is inside the dead Dodo, and the Dodo's body is currently with Abby, and thus Tom is following the transmitter to her; Stephen then angrily declares to Duncan that he and Tom have turned Abby into bait.

Back at Cutter's University study, Abby is keeping her distance from Tom, at the other end of the room, and tries to get a scared and non-calm Tom to calm down and relax. Tom asks if he's going to die, and Abby tries to calm Tom and tell him he won't die; but when Abby mentions that "we" won't let Tom die in the process, she unintentionally confirms to Tom that she is indeed part of the secret government team. Tom asks what the Parasite inside him is (believing that the government are incubating it inside him). Abby tells Tom that it's an illness he caught from when the dead Dodo bit him, but Tom, who is now beginning to lose self-control again, does not believe it and thinks that Abby is taking him for a fool. Tom then begins to calm himself down again, and asks Abby to just tell him the truth about the Parasite and what the secret government operation is. Abby asks Tom to let her get him medical aid, but Tom thinks that then the government will just put another Parasite in him. Tom then briefly loses control and goes into another episode of the Parasite-induced aggression, and pounces at Abby and grabs her but then gets back under control. Tom accuses Abby and the supposed government conspiracy of being evil and corrupt, and he deems the dead Dodo proof of the alleged conspiracy; proof that he will need to expose the secret government operation to the public. Abby then tells Tom the truth that he is infected with a Parasite, which Tom does not believe, and Abby tries to coerce Tom into letting her call someone to get the Parasite removed. But this enrages Tom and causes him to throw Abby to the floor and threaten to bite her to pass the Parasite onto her. Abby then resorts to agreeing to show Tom all of the truth about what the secret government project is and where the Parasite really came from, and Tom gets himself back under control and releases Abby.

Abby subsequently drives with Tom back to the football stadium. As Abby parks the car, Tom is mourning the fate of the dead Dodo (which is in the car's back seat) and accuses Abby of killing it. Abby tells Tom that she and the government team haven't done anything of the sort, but Tom thinks she is lying and comes closer to losing control again. Abby tells Tom that she can trust him and is on his side; Tom considers it, then calms back down and lets Abby go, and the two get out of the car. Back at Cutter's study at the University, the team, Duncan and Captain Ryan arrive to find Abby and the dead Dodo gone, and realise that they're too late and Tom has already found the Dodo and taken it along with Abby. Cutter then decides that they can track Tom and Abby down using the Roswell transmitter, and as the team leave to do that, Cutter warns that time is short.

Back at the stadium, Abby leads Tom in, and shows her ID to the Special Forces guard and covers for Tom as him being a Home Office scientist who hasn't yet got his identification. The soldier is noticeably suspicious, but lets Tom pass with Abby, and Abby and Tom then head deeper into the stadium, to the kitchens. Abby leads Tom to the fridge where the Anomaly was, but when she opens it, she finds that the Anomaly has already closed. Abby has apparently told Tom the truth about the Anomalies, and promises Tom that the Anomaly the infected Dodo came through from the past was indeed here in the fridge before it closed. Tom silently heads into the fridge and looks around for a few moments as Abby stands back. Tom turns back to Abby, and accuses her of trying to fool him. Tom is convinced that this is all a trap Abby has set, and that she has betrayed him and alerted the team to Tom's location so they can come to kill him. Abby silently denies it, but Tom still doesn't believe and advances towards Abby. Abby grabs a nearby rack and puts it between herself and Tom as the latter attacks, using it to shove him away. Abby immediately runs off towards the kitchen exit as Tom recovers and gives in to the Parasite. When Tom reaches Abby and pounces, she stuns him with a kick and then flees the kitchen, with Tom quickly recovering and following.

Out in the stadium corridors, Abby emerges from the kitchen and keeps running, screaming through a sealed exit she passes for help. Tom then also emerges from the kitchen, sees Abby running, and gives hot pursuit, screaming. As Abby runs from Tom, she reaches and runs into the stadium's changing rooms. Tom follows Abby in, but she's nowhere inside to be seen, causing Tom to scream out in rage as he looks around for her. Abby quietly slips out from hiding in a locker behind Tom, and when Tom turns and notices her, Abby knees and stuns Tom, then runs back out the changing rooms, as Tom quickly recovers and follows. Abby runs out to the stadium's pitch, with Tom following behind, but Tom manages to leap through the air off one of the stadium's seats at Abby, tackling her to the ground and restraining her. Tom prepares to bite and infect a struggling Abby as she tries to fight and screams at Tom to resist the Parasite. Suddenly, Ryan, the team and the Special Forces arrive, and Ryan and the soldiers take aim at Tom and are prepared to kill Tom as the latter looks up and notices them. Connor then puts himself between Tom and the soldiers and pleads with Ryan and Claudia not to shoot Tom, as Duncan and Cutter look on. Cutter tells Ryan to let Connor try, and Ryan agrees but he, Stephen and the Special Forces still keep their guns on Tom and at the ready.

Connor then turns to Tom, who is looking around at the soldiers aiming at him but still keeping Abby pinned beneath him, and Connor encourages Tom to release Abby and to keep calm and take it easy. As Tom cools down, Connor reminds Tom of the happy times the three friends had, such as the Thursday nights they spent eating pepperoni pizza and watching Battlestar Galactica. Tom laughs to himself at the happy memories, then looks back up at Connor, emotionally torn and uncertain. Connor tells Tom that the latter "can fight the dark side", and Tom emotionally struggles and thinks to himself as he looks down at Abby, and Ryan stays ready to shoot. Tom then lets go of Abby and allows her to crawl out and run over to the team. Ryan immediately orders Connor to move away from Tom, convinced that Tom will give in to the Parasite and kill Connor. However, Tom simply stays where he is, looking down and awaiting his fate, and a tearful Connor proclaims that Tom won't kill him and Tom is his friend. Connor then goes over to Tom's side, and tells Tom that they can help him if he comes with them, as Tom looks around at the team and the soldiers. Tom then looks back at Connor and asks if it was indeed a conspiracy, and Connor gives Tom the answer he wants to hear: that it was indeed a massive conspiracy, and did indeed involve mind control. Tom smiles happily to himself at finally hearing what he wanted to. But the Parasite's influence then takes hold again, and Tom looks up at Connor and seems prepared to attack. Ryan and the team yell in a frenzy at a calm and unmoving Connor to back away as Tom suddenly acts; but instead of attacking Connor, Tom suddenly collapses into Connor's arms, emotionally shocking and stunning Duncan, Cutter and Abby.

As everyone watches, Connor embraces and comforts Tom in his arms, assuring him that he'll be fine. Tom then looks up at Connor, and tells Connor that the Parasite attempted to take over again, but he fought and defeated it. Connor tells Tom that the latter fought the Parasite brilliantly, and Tom is tearful but happy and declares he is a hero, which makes both the two friends smile tearfully. Tom then dies in Connor's arms; leaving Duncan, Stephen, Abby and everyone watching stunned and upset, and Connor silent and devastated beside Tom's body. Cutter silently heads down to Connor, passing by the shocked and saddened team, with Abby especially upset by Tom's death. As Cutter reaches Connor, a grief-stricken Connor declares that he can't go on doing the Anomaly project with the team anymore after this, and Cutter takes Connor aside and explains they need Connor. Connor blames himself and his involvement in the Anomaly operation for Tom's death, but Cutter dismisses that notion; Cutter tells Connor that the latter is one of a very small handful out of all of humanity who know what is really happening with the Anomalies, and that Tom would have been proud to have known that Connor was part of something like that and therefore Connor must stay on the team now to honour the memory of Tom. Connor toughens himself up and agrees on that, and now that Connor understands that, Cutter immediately softens up and hugs and comforts Connor. As Duncan, Abby and the team watch, Connor returns Cutter's hug and weeps into Cutter's shoulder.

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Chronology[]

  • This episode apparently picks up the day after or a matter of hours from where Episode 1.3 left off.

Trivia[]

  • When Dodi stops Duncan's TV on a channel showing the 1925 dinosaur film The Lost World, the roars of the dinosaurs are not the roaring sound effects used in the actual movie (the movie is silent), but the sound effects used in Primeval for Scutosaurus and Gorgonopsid. The clips shown were the Agathaumas vs Tyrannosaurus rex scene and an Anatotitan getting killed and eaten by an Allosaurus.
    • Gorgonopsid and Scutosaurus sounds are also heard in the episode's opening.
  • Episode 4.2 confirms that the Dodo/Parasite incursion and Tom's death in this episode happened the exact same way in the new timeline, after Episode 1.6 /2.1 as those events were never mentioned after said episodes until Series 4.
  • Helen Cutter tricks the team with a false report of an anomaly opening near a pride of Smilodon. The team would later encounter a Smilodon for real in Episode 2.3.

Errors[]

  • Helen stated she saw a Utahraptor in the Jurassic, but Utahraptors were native to the Cretaceous. Some fans have suggested that the raptor may have come through an Anomaly from the Cretaceous into the Jurassic.
  • In the hospital waiting room scene, in the shot where the sunlight first touches Tom, it washes fully over his entire body. But in the next shot where it begins to affect Tom, the sunlight is only just partially covering his body.
  • When Tom dies in the final scene of the episode, in the shot of his face as he dies, his eyes are closed when he is dead; but in the next shot where Tom's body falls to the ground from Connor's arms, Tom's eyes are open.

Story connections[]

  • In reference to Episode 1.1, when Abby expressed adoration for the Dodos' cuteness, Connor remarked that she hadn't been this sentimental about the Gorgonopsid from the Forest of Dean incursion.
  • References to Episode 1.3:
    • Helen is still in the custody of the Home Office.
    • Helen claims that Nick set her up to be caught in the Cretaceous by the Home Office, he denies this, which was true.
    • Tom and Duncan start spying on Connor to find out what he was doing, they stated they would do this in the previous episode.
  • In Episode 1.5:
    • Connor gets upset when he looks at a picture of (now deceased) Tom, Duncan and himself.
    • Connor is still living in Abby's flat.
  • In Episode 3.3, Lester gets Sarah Page to use Helen Cutter's interogation recordings to recreate her voice.
  • InEpisode 4.2:
    • Duncan mentioned how he heard Connor telling the dying Tom that the Home Office/ARC had mind control. Although Connor told Duncan that he was just telling Tom what he wanted to hear and that was not the truth. Duncan also mentions the Dodos.
    • When Matt Anderson questions Connor about Duncan, Connor tells him that thier friend Tom had been killed by a creature.

Filming Locations[]

The site of the false alarm due to the escaped python was the Dorset Estate, Bethnal Green. This is the second location to be filmed in Bethnal Green this series, the first being the Boundary Estate in Episode 1.2. The football stadium that Helen brings Nick Cutter and his team to was filmed at the Den Stadium in London. The Spaghetti Junction anomaly is the only anomaly this series where the landscape on the other side was not filmed in La Palma. The Home Office (original timeline) returns this episode. The exterior of the building was shot at the Parthenon EY building, Southbank, and the interior was filmed in Victoria House.

References[]

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