Episode 3.4 is the fourth episode of the third series of Primeval. It was broadcast A Gigantic Problem in North America, as Der Größte von allen (The Biggest of All) in Germany and as L'attaque du 737 (The Attack of the 737)[1] in France.
Full synopsis[]
In a private research centre, Christine Johnson and her associate, Captain Wilder, are discussing a photograph of the artifact that she has been trying to obtain. Wilder confirms that the artifact is now in the ARC, having been left there by Helen Cutter: Johnson insists the artifact be found. They enter an office linked to a laboratory behind a two-way mirror: inside the lab, four scientists are about to perform a vivisection on a sedated Future Predator. Suddenly, it awakens and attempts to attack the mirror: Wilder comments to Johnson it can sense their heartbeats behind the glass. Johnson insists that they must find a way to acquire this power for themselves. Johnson then asks Wilder to "deal with" the Future Predator. Despite Wilder stating that the "cloaking device" will be suspended temporarily and that "the ARC will know", Johnson still orders Wilder to go ahead and subdue the creature with electrical energy.
Back at the ARC, the team is still struggling to come to terms with Cutter's death, while rebuilding work continues to repair the damage caused to the ARC by Helen's bomb. Connor in particular seems overworked, attempting not only to decode the secrets of the artifact Cutter left him, but also to repair the Anomaly Detection Device and finish a new piece of equipment: the Anomaly Locking Mechanism, which would allow the team to close anomalies. Sarah Page attempts to lighten his workload by offering to work on the artifact, while Lester appoints Jenny as the new team leader temporarily. Suddenly, the ADD picks up an anomaly in an abandoned building, which the team immediately goes to investigate. Unknown to them, the team is being followed again by unscrupulous journalist, Mick Harper, who is still out to uncover the ARC's secrets.
When the team arrive at the building, they find it deserted: unknown to them, the building is Christine Johnson's research centre. The team are ambushed by Captain Wilder and a team of soldiers, who shares a brief reunion with Captain Becker (they are old colleagues). Christine Johnson emerges to greet the team, and despite their insistence, claims there is no anomaly in the building: she also displays unusual knowledge of the ARC and the anomalies. She refuses to allow them to investigate further, and then sends them away, snidely commenting "Give my regards to James!". In the meantime, Mick Harper breaks into Jenny's car and steals an anomaly detector, unaware he is being watched by a figure in black on a motorcycle...
Upon their return to the ARC (upon which Jenny discovers the damage to her car), Jenny insists Lester needs to find out what Christine Johnson is up to. Lester phones Johnson directly, though he is unable to get much information from her. Connor is left disconcerted when he picks up a phone call on Abby's mobile phone, getting a reply from a man called Jack. Immediately suspicious, Connor assumes Jack to be a boyfriend of Abby's, but before he can pursue his suspicions, another anomaly is detected, this time in a major airport. At the same time, Harper is attempting to convince his editor, Katherine Kavanagh, that the detector is linked to the prehistoric creatures. Initially unimpressed, she is more intrigued when the detector goes off. Following the signal, a media team, including Harper, Kavanagh, wildlife expert, Nigel Marven and a Cameraman arrive to find the anomaly. While the media team wait for any sign of activity, Harper distracts and manages to lure Jenny and Connor into a trap where they can't interfere with the journalists. With Abby gone to meet Jack, and Becker and his soldiers still a good while away, all seems lost for the pair...
Meanwhile, back at the anomaly, Kavanagh and Harper are delighted when an infant Velociraptor emerges from the anomaly. Marven gives a brief explanation as to what the creature is and attempts to pat it: however, it retreats through the anomaly, after biting Nigel on the finger. While Nigel and the journalists are initially delighted, wonder turns to terror as something new comes through the anomaly: a massive theropod dinosaur. The dinosaur proceeds to devour Nigel, the camera man and trap the rest of the media team in their car, before going back through the anomaly. At the same time, Jenny and Connor are rescued from their captivity by an unexpected source of aid: former Detective Constable Danny Quinn, who like Harper, has been keeping track of the team's work.
Jenny advises Quinn to leave: however, he refuses to take no for an answer. The trio reach the hanger containing the anomaly, freeing Harper and Kavanagh from their wrecked car. Captain Becker and his soldiers arrive shortly after, and Jenny orders them to place Harper and Kavanagh under arrest, not only for theft of the detector, but to prevent them releasing the story of the anomalies to the world. Knowing that the dinosaur will return, now it knows there is easy prey waiting for it, Connor quickly reassembles the Anomaly Locking Mechanism and attempts to close the anomaly: however, the device breaks on the first attempt. As Connor tries to repair it, the theropod re-emerges from the anomaly, escapes the hanger, and proceeds to charge down the runway. Connor identifies the creature, telling Jenny it is not a Tyrannosaurus Rex as she first assumed, but a Giganotosaurus: a larger, faster and far more dangerous predator (dubbed 'G-Rex' by the team). Jenny orders Connor to repair the device and close the anomaly, before leaving with Becker to try and stop the dinosaur. Connor succeeds in using the Anomaly Locking Mechanism a second time round to seal the anomaly, while Abby also arrives at the airport to help.
The Giganotosaurus proceeds to attack a Boeing 747 at the end of the runway. The dinosaur attempts to attack the plane's crew and pilots, but cannot reach them. Becker shoots the G-Rex several times with a shotgun, but to no effect. Desperate to stop it from destroying the plane and killing its crew, Jenny tries to use her car as bait, but her car breaks down in easy reach of the dinosaur's jaws. In a desperate bid to save Jenny, Connor hijacks a luggage cart and lures the Giganotosaurus away: though this works, Connor swiftly finds he cannot outrun the dinosaur in the cart. As the G-Rex is about to smash the cart, Connor performs an emergency stop: the G-Rex runs past, falling over and seemingly injuring itself badly, though Connor is left with a nasty head wound and a concussion. Unfortunately, the Giganotosaurus is not too badly hurt: it gets back on its feet and advances on Connor, who is left lying on the ground, helpless. As the G-Rex opens its mouth to devour Connor, Danny (who is piloting a helicopter) lures it away.
Meanwhile, Harper and Kavanagh escape their imprisonment, hoping to get their hands on footage proving the anomaly's existence. Using a radio, the team instruct Danny to lure the Giganotosaurus back through the anomaly. With the anomaly sealed, the team desperately race to get to the hanger before Danny arrives. Connor reopens the anomaly, and Danny flies the helicopter through it. The Giganotosaurus reaches the hanger in pursuit: the team get out of the way, but Harper and Kavangh, too busy trying to get good footage to save themselves, are killed by the Giganotosaurus in unknown ways, which then returns through the anomaly. As the team prepare to reseal the anomaly, Danny emerges from the other side, yelling there is a pack of Giganotosaurus on their way. In the nick of time, Connor seals the anomaly with the device. In the aftermath, Jenny thanks Danny for his help, but admits she will have to arrest him. Before she can, Danny makes his escape on his motorbike: the team resign themselves to the fact they haven't seen the last of him. Jenny and Connor congratulate each other on a job well done, each using the same compliment: "Cutter would have been proud of you".
Back at Abby's flat, Connor is surprised to encounter Jack who, it turns out, is Abby's younger brother. Abby explains Jack is going to be staying for a while; therefore she needs Connor to move out briefly. Connor reluctantly agrees, preparing to leave with two friends: the pair of Diictodon they recovered from the hospital. Back at the ARC, Lester congratulates Jenny on her success, before informing her that while he got no information out of Johnson, they will find out what she's up to. Back at her private base, Christine Johnson stares musingly at an anomaly: the same one the team had initially detected.
Cast and crew[]
- Andrew-Lee Potts as Connor Temple
- Hannah Spearritt as Abby Maitland
- Lucy Brown as Jenny Lewis
- Ben Miller as James Lester
- Ben Mansfield as Hilary Becker
- Jason Flemyng as Danny Quinn
- Belinda Stewart-Wilson as Christine Johnson
- Ramon Tikaram as Mick Harper
- Nigel Marven as Himself/Wildlife Presenter
- Ruth Gemmell as Katherine Kavanagh
- Alex McSweeney as Captain Joseph Wilder
- Robert Lowe as Jack Maitland
- Antony Edridge as Airplane Captain
Appearance[]
Characters[]
- Christine Johnson
- Captain Joseph Wilder (first appearance)
- James Lester
- Jenny Lewis
- Nick Cutter (mentioned)
- Connor Temple
- Abby Maitland
- Sarah Page
- Captain Hilary Becker
- Mick Harper (death)
- Danny Quinn
- Katherine Kavanagh (death)
- Nigel Marven (death, only appearance)
- Airplane Captain (only appearance)
- Jack Maitland (first appearance)
- Others
Creatures[]
- Future Predator
- Giganotosaurus (only appearance)
- Diictodon
- Velociraptor (first appearance)
Locations[]
- Anomaly Research Centre
- Airgo Freight airport (only appearance)
- Evening News Headquarters (latest appearance)
Objects and technology[]
- Anomaly Detection Device
- Hand-held Anomaly Detector
- The Artifact
- The Matrix (latest appearance)
- Anomaly Locking Mechanism (first appearance)
- Cloaking Device (mentioned)
Organisations[]
- Anomaly Research Centre
- Airport (only appearance)
- Evening News (latest appearance)
Trivia[]
- Last appearance of Nick Cutter (Voice Only)
- This is the first episode to not to feature Nick Cutter. As a result, Danny Quinn officially becomes the lead character for the remainder of Series 3 (following a supporting role in Episode 3.2 )
- Juliet Aubrey is credited in the opening titles but her character Helen Cutter does not appear.
Filming Locations[]
This episode is the first to feature Christine Johnson's headquarters: the outside of the building and the foyer were filmed at Samsung House, Chertsey. The ARC interior was filmed at Longcross Studios, and the exterior car park and security door for the ARC was filmed in the Docklands, London. Framestore added the exterior of the ARC building using digital effects after filming. The Airgo freight airport, site of the Cretaceous anomaly for this episode, was filmed at Dunsfold Park, and used the Boeing 747 that Dunsfold Park offers in the episode.
Story connections[]
- The Future Predators reoccur quite often in Primeval. For full list of appearances see "Future Predator appearances".
- References to Episode 3.1:
- Christine Johnson returns
- Christine is still after the Artifact
- References to Episode 3.2:
- Danny Quinn returns
- References to Episode 3.3:
- Connor remembers Nick Cutter telling him to find out what the Artifact is.
- Cutter is mentioned numerous times.
- The ARC and Anomaly Detector are being rebuilt after the bomb had devastated them.
- Connor was still working on the Anomaly Locking Mechanism.
- The Evening News' Mick Harper and Katherine Kavanagh return to find proof of the Anomalies.
- Sarah states she would not know how to fix the Matrix after it was destroyed.
- In Episode 3.7, the Anomaly Locking Mechanism returns, although its a more compact version.
- In Episode 3.8 Lester speculates about Christine's cloaking device.
- In Episode 3.9, Christine Johnson's Anomaly returns.
- In Episode 3.10, the location that Christine's Anomaly goes to is revealed.
Episode 3.1 • Episode 3.2 • Episode 3.3 • Episode 3.4 • Episode 3.5
Episode 3.6 • Episode 3.7 • Episode 3.8 • Episode 3.9 • Episode 3.10