Adrian Hodges interview

Tom Green talks to Adrian Hodges about Primeval, his new prime-time series for ITV (trailer below).

TG: How did Primeval come about?

AH: Tim Haines from Impossible Pictures and I first started discussing it about five years ago. We worked together on the BBC’s adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, which featured dinosaurs, and Tim was keen to do something about prehistoric creatures arriving in the present day. At the same time, I’d been working on a story about a man losing his wife in mysterious circumstances and we decided to bring the two ideas together as Primeval.

Do you think the appetite for fantasy and science fiction TV series has increased in recent years?

Definitely. When we started developing Primeval there was very little fantasy on the main channels but then the Doctor Who phenomenon started and Russell T. Davies showed that you could do modern fantasy / sci-fi and get a big audience. That, of course, helped us get Primeval commissioned by ITV.

Did you discuss what was possible with the special effects people before you started writing scripts for Primeval?

Not really. I write the story I want to write and that I think will be entertaining. We do have a ration on the number of special effects shots per show, but that's a good discipline - these kinds of shows are as much about tension and suspense as they are about the actual action, so you don't want to overdo things on the effects front. But basically I did whatever I wanted and the people at Frame Store made it happen - they’re brilliant.

What about the challenge of writing for prime-time ITV - did that create extra pressure?

I didn’t think about it while I was writing but, with the first episode due out on Saturday night, I’m starting to feel the pressure a bit now! It’s great that ITV are getting back into prime-time fantasy drama and I think there’s a feeling that they’re really committed to creating a new raft of fresh, lively and innovative shows. Writing for prime-time Saturday night ITV is probably one of the biggest challenges a TV writer can face but the network has given Primeval fantastic promotional support and, obviously, I really hope that we get the viewing figures to justify their confidence in the show. I’m really proud of it, so fingers crossed.

As for your next projects, I understand you’ve got another Philip Pullman adaptation in the pipeline.

That’s right. I did The Ruby In The Smoke (broadcast on BBC One, Christmas 2006) and The Shadow In The North is finished and ready to broadcast - though I don’t yet know when it will go out. I’m hoping to start work on the third part of the Sally Lockhart sequence of novels, The Tiger In The Well, this year.

Philip Pullman must be a great writer to adapt.

It’s a wonderful job, although I do feel a great sense of responsibility. Pullman is such a great story teller and I’m very conscious of trying not to damage what makes the work special as I adapt it. I’ve also done an adaptation of H.G. Wells’s The History Of Mr Polly for ITV which I think will go out over Easter, so it’s a busy time. And, who knows, if Primeval does well hopefully there’ll be a second series.

The first episode of Primeval is on Saturday 10th Feb 2007 at 7.45pm on ITV1.