Sunflowa Media Don't worry be happy

Prof. Nick Cutter

Played by: Douglas Henshall

Age: 36
Height: 6'
Place of birth: Edinburgh, Scotland
Hobbies: Collecting records, playing pool, windsurfing, online chess

Evolutionary zoologist and team leader, Professor Nick Cutter is a maverick. Hard-bitten and cynical he struggles with rules and authority – to the extent that he doesn’t even turn up for his own lectures. There are rumours he has a softer side but he’s keen to dispel those (he insists those tears during Titanic were down to an eye infection).

He prefers fossils to live animals, the Stones to the Beatles and thinks there’s more chance of finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe than there is in the government.

His mission is to make sense of the anomalies which are allowing creatures from the past, and the future, to roam the modern world.  For Cutter this is not just a professional mission, he has a personal interest. His wife, Helen, went missing and was presumed dead for eight years. In series one he discovered that she was actually travelling through the anomalies. Her return left a lot of questions unanswered.  In series two Nick and Helen went head to head when Helen joined forces with Leek and his menagerie of creatures, resulting in Stephen’s death. Will Cutter ever forgive himself? Is that the last we’ll see of Helen Cutter or will she be back?

Helen Cutter

Played by: Juliet Aubrey

Age: 37
Height: 5'8"
Place of birth: Ipswich, Suffolk
Hobbies: Formerly interested in archaeology, travelling, sailing, photography, trekking. No known hobbies for the past eight years

Helen's first book on genetic mutation was published when she was in her earlier 20s, having graduated from university where she met and fell in love with Nick Cutter. She believes the theory of natural selection fails to explain everything and has made it her life's mission to improve the theory.

Helen was missing for eight years presumed dead, but it seems this was not the case.

For the first part of series one Helen Cutter was one of Primeval’s greatest mysteries. Nick Cutter’s eight-year search for his missing wife had offered but found no answers to her disappearance, yet the moment he was confronted with the anomalies, the spectre of Helen returned to haunt him.

She knows more about these anomalies than she’s prepared to reveal to Nick and appears to have knowledge of most of the threats facing him and his team.

At the end of the first series one thing was obvious - Helen Cutter was bad news. In fact, if she had her way, the show would probably be renamed Primevil. In series two Helen returned, and this time her sights were set on luring Stephen into her evil plans. Unbeknown to Stephen, or the team, Helen was working with Oliver Leek. The truth came out in the penultimate episode when the team became prisoners in Leek’s bunker - a place filled with creatures and neural-clamped future predators. Helen tried to convince Nick to work with her but he refused and managed to escape.

Sir James Lester

Played by: Ben Miller

Age: 40
Height: 5'10"
Place of birth: Aldershot, Surrey
Hobbies: Golf, bridge, shooting, tennis, garden design

James Lester is a Home Office official, ultimately responsible for the team of scientists charged with investigating the appearance of anomalies.

He’s been given the task of uncovering the secrets of the anomalies and preventing mass panic. He’s the ideal man for the job. As far as he’s concerned the government knows best and the public has no right to know anything.

He is arrogant, sarcastic and ruthless and makes no bones about his dislike of Cutter (or anyone else for that matter). Despite being married with three children, he never discusses his family – in fact he rarely admits he even has one.

He may come across as dry, cynical and blunt but in series two Lester showed a different side to his character when he became trapped in the ARC with a Future Predator. Wielding an AK47, Lester fought off the vicious beast and, with a little help from a Columbian Mammoth, defeated it. Lester showed us that beneath that unemotional, sarcastic and scathing exterior is a warrior who was willing to do anything to protect his team. But of course he would never admit this and would probably fire anyone who suggested it.

Lester was also caught off guard when his second in command, Oliver Leek, turned out to be a traitor and instigated a chain of events that culminated in Stephen’s death.

Abby Maitland

Played by: Hannah Spearritt

Age: 24
Height: 5'2"
Place of birth: Brighton, Sussex
Hobbies: Bird watching, yoga, martial arts, dog training, lizards

Abby Maitland is a gutsy zoologist and reptile expert. She dropped out of university after one term when she was offered her dream job in the lizard house. This love affair with lizards dates back to a trip to the Galapagos Islands as a child. To this day she prefers the company of animals to humans – apart from spiders that is (she suffers from arachnophobia).

Her first encounter with Cutter and his team was when she was asked to identify a lizard found by a boy in the Forest of Dean. She soon realised that the lizard – nicknamed Rex – was an entirely new species which, it turned out, had arrived in the modern world through an anomaly. She rescued Rex and now keeps him safe at her flat – a secret she’s only shared with Connor.

She likes her men moody and a bit dangerous – which is bad news for Connor who has clearly set his heart on her. Abby doesn’t share his feelings, or does she?

Men are not high on Abby’s agenda though. Her mind is firmly focussed on monster management, or so she tells herself.pples with her feelings for Connor. Will she ever figure out what she wants?

Sarah Page

Played by: Laila Rouass

Age: 28
Height: 5'5"
Place of birth: Brighton, Sussex
Hobbies: Looking around museums, antique shopping, travelling, reading

Sarah is a trained archaeologist with a PHD in Egyptology and Archaeology. Sarah has worked on archaeological digs throughout the Middle East, but now lectures children at the British Museum. Sarah is pretty and self assured, with a thirst for knowledge about the past.

In episode one Sarah is plunged into the world of anomalies when she comes face to face with what she believes is Ammut, an alleged Egyptian god of the underworld. With the help of the team Sarah will learn that this creature is in fact Pristichampsus, a running crocodile from the Eocene period.

Sarah shows her courage, intelligence and sense of humour throughout the ordeal and at the end of the episode Cutter makes her an offer she can’t refuse. Sarah becomes the newest member of the team.

Connor Temple

Played by: Andrew-Lee Potts

Age: 26
Height: 5'9"
Place of birth: Blackburn, Lancashire
Hobbies: PlayStation, movies, vintage comic book collecting, model making

Connor is one of Cutter’s palaeontology students at the Central Metropolitan University. He is geeky by nature – he spent his student days compiling a database of prehistoric creatures and writes software programmes to relax.

He approached his professor at the beginning of series one with an article about a mysterious sighting of a creature in the Forest of Dean. Despite initial cynicism, he tagged along with the investigation and has been part of Cutter’s team ever since.

He loves conspiracy theories and harbours an ambition to be abducted by aliens. In Connor’s world, UFOs are real - it's just that governments have hidden the evidence.

In series one, Connor developed a crush on Abby but his advances were never reciprocated. In series two, Connor moved on when a beautiful girl in a video shop picked him up. Rather than be suspicious, Connor threw himself into the relationship head first. Abby pretended not to mind, but their true feelings for each other re-surfaced when Connor confessed his love as the pair came under attack by mer-creatures. Will Connor and Abby ever get together?

Jenny Lewis

Played by: Lucy Brown

Age: 28
Height: 5'7"
Place of birth: Oxford, Oxfordshire
Hobbies: Shopping, wine tasting, eating out, horse riding, skiing

She may look like Claudia from the Home Office. She may sound like Claudia from the Home Office. But she’s not Claudia Brown. She’s actually someone completely new.

At the end of series one, Cutter returned from his disastrous mission to the past to find that Claudia was not waiting for him on the other side of the anomaly. Instead, a woman who looks identical to her is appointed as a new member of the team.

Meet Jenny Lewis. Jenny is a ruthless PR professional. She’s feisty, senior and she speaks her mind. Her job is damage limitation. She’s been brought in to cover up the increasingly public creature sightings.

While the rest of the team accept Jenny, Cutter struggles to accept this ‘new’ Claudia. And he’s not the only one struggling to accept what’s happening. Anomalies, creatures from the past and exploding worms weren’t in Jenny’s job description and she takes a little while to settle into her new job. And if things weren’t complicated enough, she also started falling for Cutter, although she would never admit it. By the end of series two Jenny is well and truly one of the team, but her feelings for Cutter are left unresolved.

Captain Becker

Played by: Ben Mansfield

Age: 25
Height: 6'
Place of birth: Romsey, Hampshire
Hobbies: Camping, archery, triathalon training, rugby

In episode one Lester introduces Cutter to a new member of the team, Captain Becker. Lester informs Cutter that Becker has been appointed to keep the team safe.

Lester can’t afford to lose another member (ie Stephen). Becker trained at Sandhurst and has a distinguished military record.

He is used to shooting first, asking questions later, so it takes a little adjustment for him to accept that the team try to save the creatures and put them back through the anomalies.

Christine Johnson

Played by: Belinda Stewart-Wilson

Age: 35
Height: 5'7"
Place of birth: Grantham, Lincolnshire
Hobbies: Opera (more to be seen than for the music), shooting, buying shoes

Christine Johnson’s father owned a hardware store and she and her older sister were raised in a flat attached to the store. Her father was a staunch liberal supporter and was very active in local politics. He also served as an alderman for a time. Christine was devastated when her father and sister were killed by an IRA bomb blast. Academically gifted, Christine showed an affinity for science and maths.

She also excelled on the sports field being captain of the hockey team. Her extremely competitive nature helped her distinguish herself at Oxford where she studied Natural Sciences, specialising in Biology. She also excelled in bioengineering and biophysics.

On completion of university, Christine was enlisted by MI6 and showed extraordinary leadership skills throughout her training. She may have been a favourite of her mentors but her ambition and competitiveness ensured her friends were few and far between.

After a string of successful missions she was then enlisted as the Home Office’s military liaison officer. Now Christine is back in London and is somehow linked to the anomalies. Lester is about to have a shock. As he says in episode one, ‘Christine Johnson is like a velociraptor, only better dressed.'

Danny Quinn

Played by: Jason Flemyng

Age: 40
Height: 6'1"
Place of birth: London
Hobbies: Snooker, cards, running, trekking, rock climbing, hang gliding

Danny Quinn is physically strong, brave and street smart. He’s quick to pick things up but clever enough to know when he doesn’t know something. He is decisive, a little reckless, contemptuous of authority in all its forms, loyal and funny. He will always be the first to hurl himself into the breech when things get rough and earns the respect of the team through his smart decision making, courage and instinctive ability to assess danger quickly and then act on it.

Danny is an everyman, the one who asks the awkward questions, the one who keep everyone else grounded with his clarity of vision and purpose, the one who takes on the dirtiest jobs.

He may not know the creatures, but he certainly knows people and in the long run that counts for just as much. He’s one of those characters who instantly command a room through the sheer authority of their personalities - everyone sees it and everyone defers to it, albeit sometimes grudgingly.