A sabre-toothed tiger is loose in a safari park – but with no anomaly nearby, where did it come from?

Primeval continues to add extra layers during its second season, as rifts start to develop between the characters, and new menaces start to threaten the team. The episode starts off mimicking Jaws, except with a tiger rather than a shark, with Cutter in the Roy Scheider role trying to get the theme park cleared, and a false alarm then causing mayhem. However it veers off into 1950s B-movie territory as the true identity of the tiger’s protector is revealed…

Although Jamie Payne handles the action elements well, there’s one moment where you do wonder whether Nick Cutter has completely taken leave of his senses. It leads into a great chase sequence using the adventure park architecture but you are left thinking that it was totally unnecessary.

Underlying all this are unexpected connections between the characters, and Stephen becoming increasingly disenchanted with the secrecy that come with the job. Lucy Brown gets some great moments as the manipulative Jenny Lewis and a nice banter is developing between Jenny and Cutter.

Verdict: With some really tense sequences, and a powerful performance by guest star Gillian Kearney, this is another strong episode.  8/10

Paul Simpson

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