Primeval may return on ITV partner channel

By Patrick McLennan
( What's on TV )
published

Primeval may return on ITV partner channel
Primeval may return on ITV partner channel

ITV is considering a radical plan to share Saturday night hit series Primeval with a digital channel in a bid to cut the cost of making the series. According to the Guardian, a plan being considered is a fourth series screening on a digital channel – possibly Sci-Fi – before being shown on ITV1. This would spread the cost of the show between both channels. ITV is keen to continue producing the show, but has been forced to cut programme budgets following a drop in advertising. Primeval’s special-effects are expensive to produce, and there have been reports that it might be axed to save money. A decision on the future of Primeval is expected in the next few weeks.

Patrick McLennan
Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.