UK TV

If you cast your minds back a while to when I was debating whether to introduce a “fifth episode verdict” to supplement my existing third-episode verdict system, I made the point that such a verdict was going to be next to useless for British shows. What, after all, is the point of saying “This show is great. You should watch it” or “This show is rubbish. Don’t bother tuning in” when there’s only one episode to go?

All the same, not getting a full sample size of episodes can affect the accuracy of the delicately tuned Carusometer, the most powerful measure of television quality in the universe. Case in point is Primeval.

Last week, I finally got through episodes five and six, thanks to my handy new video iPod and I have to say I actually thought they were quite good. Episode four was as bad as The Carusometer had predicted it would be, but five and six were scary and intriguing. True, I’d rather be attacked by llamas than have to endure Hannah Spearritt and the “young adult” sub-plots again. But Dougie Henshall and the more clearly grown-up members of the cast were doing their best and I really rather enjoyed it.

So in the vain hope I can help those in the rest of the world who haven’t yet been granted a Primeval viewing licence (eg the US) or who were waiting for its release on DVD, use episodes three and four as coffee mug coasters or to have some much-needed family time, but stick around for the rest of Primeval, since it was actually a reasonably enjoyable series overall.