Primeval s03e01 Episode Script

Anybody there? You're losing your mind, dear! I assume you've been fully briefed? Yes, sir.
Your job's to tighten up security in every area of the ARC.
As you may know, we've had a number of unfortunate lapses recently.
I'm aware of that.
You're also aware of the work we do here? You detect anomalies and fight dinosaurs.
When necessary.
Correct.
You don't sound surprised.
I have extensive experience in dinosaur handling, sir.
I assumed that was why I was picked for the job! I take it that's some sort of joke? Yes, sir.
A lot of people are sceptical when they join us, Becker.
They don't stay that way for long.
And, in future, I'll do the jokes.
Yes, sir.
Sorry, sir.
You'll be with a highly strung and temperamental team of rank amateurs who just happen to be brilliant at what they do.
Your job's to stop them getting themselves killed.
No matter what they say, what excuses they use, you and your men will stick to them like glue.
We can't afford another Stephen Heart.
Clear? Crystal clear, sir.
Good luck.
Oh, by the way.
Professor Cutter won't like you and he'll go out of his way to make your job impossible.
Try not to take it personally.
And that's the story of Rameses the second.
Now, thisthis is Anubis.
The Egyptian god of embalming.
Now, when you died they'd pull your brains out from inside your nose, using one of these.
Then, Anubis would rip out your bleeding heart.
Now, if you hadn't been very good .
.
the demon goddess Ammut would eat it.
And then you're doomed to spend eternity .
.
in the underworld.
Ermwell, the museum's closed now.
But I hope you all had a great day.
Thank you.
Marion Whatever you want, the answer's no.
That jacket is gorgeous.
Is it new? See this? All these items have got to be ticked off overnight.
We've got three exhibitions to move, redress two others.
The Sun Cage is already prepped for transportation.
Well, that's really good, cos the museum director told me I had until opening time tomorrow to finish my work.
Come on, Marion.
I've got one final section left to study.
Right there.
With respect, Sarah, the greatest Egyptologists of the 20th century decoded those hieroglyphics decades ago.
And they were much more qualified than you.
And some of those translations have never made sense.
All I'm asking is to let me check it out for myself.
Sorry.
This exhibition is closed.
I'm moving on.
(Witch!) 'Stephen!' 'Stephen, open the door!' 'Stephen? No, open the door!' 'Open it!' Cutter? Don't you ever go home? You can't take this personally, you know.
No-one blames you.
For what? For what happened to Stephen.
It wasn't your fault.
Yeah, I know.
It was Helen's.
Then, why are you blaming yourself? Because I should have stopped her.
That's my job.
But you can't change the past.
Yeah.
You don't know the half of it, Claudia Brown! OK.
I'm out of here.
Do you want to get something to eat? I'm starving.
What on earth? Perfect timing! Yeah.
We've got another one.
Where? Meet me in the British Museum.
OK.
Connor! We've got a new one.
Mm.
We need to move.
I need some help, Rex.
Rex.
Breakfast.
Oh Oh! Eurgh! Rex.
Morning, mate.
Connor Temple, Abby Maitland This is Captain Becker.
He's here to protect us, so do as he says.
Unless I think he's wrong.
This way.
CONNOR: You know, when I was a kid, I used to think that all the exhibits came to life at night.
When I was about eight, I decided to stay behind one night, find out.
ABBY: What happened? Nothingreally.
Apart from I got locked in the toilet for three hours.
It's not funny.
When they found me, I was hysterical.
I've had a problem with museums ever since.
Shouldn't you have a problem with toilets? Got over that.
It's an animal kill.
It could be anywhere in the museum by now.
I really don't like this place.
BECKER: Which way now? Go, go, go! CUTTER: Stay where you are! Stay where you are! It's all right.
Who are you? DocDoctor Page.
Who are you? I'm Nick Cutter.
OK.
Um I'mI'm guessing you're some kind ofof thief.
No.
Actually, I'm a professor.
I've never seen a professor with a gun before.
Yeah.
It's a pretty specialised field.
Marion! CONNOR: Professor? Dr Page? BECKER: Move it! Dr Page! Who's there? Who's there?! Aargh! Aargh! Aargh! You OK? I'm guessing not.
What did you see? Ammut.
I sawI saw the goddess Ammut.
Look.
I know what I saw.
OK? Andand it looked It looked like that.
Look.
I believe you saw something.
I've seen things that confused me, too.
I just don't think it was Ammut.
I've found tracks.
Biped and quadruped.
It's heading south.
I've got to get back to the ARC.
The ark? Not that one.
I'm gonna brief Lester.
Becker, can you secure the area? Connor? Stay and work out what period the anomaly's linked to.
And find out what Dr Page knows about the Sun Cage.
Abby? You're with me.
I bet I can read your mind.
You wanna know who we are, what the ARC is, and what the big flickering thing is behind me.
Actually um I was wondering why an Egyptian demon was trying to eat me.
'Sir? It's Whitehall.
I have Christine Johnson on line one.
' Christine.
What an unexpected pleasure.
James.
How lovely to hear your voice.
I thought you were running the MI6 station in Jamaica.
I'm back in London.
I missed the rain.
Let's have lunch.
It's a charming offer, Christine.
Unfortunately, I am rather busy just at the moment.
I have some news for you.
The minister has put me in charge of military liaison with the ARC.
He didn't say anything to me about it.
Oh, didn't he? I'm sure there's an e-mail on its way.
We need to meet for a briefing.
'How does this morning sound?' 'Like irritatingly bad timing.
' I'd forgotten how funny you are, James.
I'll see you in an hour.
'Well, actually We've got a problem.
So have I.
It's called Christine Johnson.
A velociraptor, but better dressed.
James, a creature has escaped through the anomaly.
What is it? We don't know.
Can't you look its picture up in your Big Book Of Dinosaurs (?) Where? We don't know.
Morning rush hour.
And a creature loose on the streets of London.
Oh, wonderful! Cutter's tracking it now.
We have the anomaly site secured.
But there'ssomething else.
Yeah? There was an eyewitness.
Erm, a young woman at the museum.
Well, you know.
Have her shot and dispose of her body discreetly.
Just kidding.
So, Dr Page.
What do these hieroglyphs refer to? That's what I've beenworking on.
But there are so many unanswered questions.
Key fragments that are missing.
And I've been trying to figure it all out.
If Marion had let me finish Ammut would have got me and not her.
I'm sorry.
She was your friend? Oh, no.
Not at all.
But, you know.
Given a choice, I wouldn't want her dead.
Cutter! What is it? CONNOR: Right.
Let's see what we've got here.
I didn't do it.
So, it justfell off by itself.
Yep.
The Sun Cageis cursed.
Anyone who touches it isis doomed for life.
Really? Marion was the last person to touch that.
The dead one? Should have told you that earlier, right? Sorry about that.
Bad luck.
Bad luck.
I've lost the tracks.
We're going round in circles, Cutter.
Stephen would have known what to do.
Sorry.
Yo.
'Connor, it's me.
What have we got?' I took a reading.
Whatever came through is at least 55 million years old.
Eocene epoch.
It's fast, strong, switches from two legs to four and it's carnivorous.
Search the databases, profile me some creatures.
Cutter We're heading south.
'I think we've got him.
' Tell him I'm on my way.
Action Man said he's coming.
Hey! Er What's your name? Connor.
My name's Connor.
It was staring me in the face.
These hieroglyphs have been misunderstood.
The most important section is wrong.
This depicts a monument on the west bank of the Nile.
Amentet.
With what appears to be the sun rising behind it.
Now, one of Ammut's names is The Dweller In Amentet.
And I think that this monument is the one depicted here.
Exceptthe sun doesn't rise in the west.
Thisthis hieroglyph has been misinterpreted for years.
This isn't the sun! It's an anomaly.
Exactly.
And the Egyptians called it the Sun Cage because they thought that the rays of the sun were locked inside.
What is this made of? What stone is this? Magnetite.
Which is? Which is the most magnetic form of stoneon earth.
I wanna try something.
Perfect! Everybody ready? Yeah.
Yeah.
On my count.
One twothree.
OK.
Leave this.
Back to the doors.
Right.
When the Sun Cage moved .
.
so did the anomaly.
Is that unusual? Very.
Why? Why would it do that? That's what this final section of the hieroglyph refers to.
The Egyptians thought that the.
.
the anomaly was part of the sun.
So, they built the cage out of magnetite as the only way they could contain it.
So, wherever the Sun Cage goes, the anomaly goes too.
Exactly.
Wow.
That's huge.
I mean, if it was - Connor! Don't pull that trigger! Throw it! It's got my belt! Ow! You nearly let it eat me! That cat is priceless.
So am I! How many of those things are there? I don't know.
Could be hundreds.
We need to get this thing blocked up.
There's no pulse.
He's gone.
BECKER: Professor.
What have we got here? Abby? What do you make of that? Crocodile tooth.
The river.
Crocodiles usually drag their victims into water to finish them.
So, why did this croc attack on land? Why is it walking on two legs? CONNOR: Come on, come on! What are you? Eocene epoch, looked like a crocodile.
Erm Cutter.
Yep.
I am just narrowing down the list of creatures from that era now.
I think I know where you're gonna find it.
Just give me a minute.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
This is definitely the guy.
Hang on.
His name is 'Pristichampsus.
' Bingo.
Yep Looks like the one.
All right.
So, it's in the Thames.
But it won't be for long.
It's gonna come ashore, looking for warmth.
And food! BLEEP James.
You're very well guarded.
It's fine.
Let him pass.
I'm sorry.
I should have thought.
Told them to whisk you straight through.
Thank you for coming.
I like your suit.
Italian? Yes.
Yep.
It looks great on you.
Matches your eyes.
Shall we? Yep.
The minister has asked me to offer you support in any way I can.
What kind of support? You tell me.
I think we're managing pretty well.
I have to say - and this isn't my own opinion - but that's not the general perception.
There's a feeling that perhaps the situation is too extreme for you to handle alone.
Well, that perception would be entirely wrong.
Even so.
The minister is keen we allow the military a greater role.
After all, we are on the same side.
I won't tolerate any interference.
Perish the thought, James.
I can't tell you how much I admire your work.
Can't you? Oh, go on.
Give it a go! Maybe later.
First, I need briefing on some operational protocols.
I'm so sorry, James.
We're going to have to reschedule.
Let's do dinner.
I beg your pardon? Claire.
Would you mind escorting this gentleman from the building? Follow me.
Well, actuallyerm I told you not to come back here without it.
What happened? It was a suicide mission.
We got it.
Now let's get out of here.
Go on! Get out! Come on! We had to leave it behind.
You had one objective, Captain.
You have failed.
With respect, ma'am, my men died trying to find that thing.
With respect, Captain, that is your responsibility.
I want that artefact! If it's been living in Egypt the Thames will be much colder than what it's used to.
It'll be looking to get out pretty soon.
Make that right now.
It's too slow.
It's all taking too much time.
We need this barricade up before any more creatures can come through.
What about the forklift? Forklift.
Why didn't you say that before? Connor, II've been attacked by prehistoric monsters.
I'mI'm staring at a gateway to a distant past.
I really wasn't thinking 'forklift'.
Shoot it! Keep shooting it! Connor, do something! Connor! That's never happened before.
What? That.
Usually, the magnetic pull sucks anything metallic straight through.
It's the electric current.
It must have done something to it.
OK.
I'll figure it out later.
We need to get these boxes back up! If your first tranquiliser dart doesn't floor this thing, we have no option but to use live rounds.
OK, Professor? Please - tell me we haven't lost it again.
Apparently not.
Where is it? Upstairs? Yeah.
We need to get these people out.
Ladies and gentlemen, can you follow us, for your own safety? Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd just follow me.
I promise you, there's nothing to worry about.
You know how these charity fun runs can go way out of control.
Go on, go on! Abby?! For God's sake, shoot it! Sorry.
Hey! Cutter! Hey! It's OK, it's OK.
Come, come, come.
No, just hang on.
You'll be fine.
Oh, Cutter! Are you OK? Yes.
Just enjoying the view.
Seems it's heading for the river.
It probably wants to go home.
OK.
Nothing is getting through there.
It's Cutter.
Hello.
'Looks like Pristichampsus is heading your way.
' 'So, make sure it can get to the anomaly.
' I am SOcursed.
Everything on this side has to go.
Completely.
And these two.
It's following its own scent.
Coming through those doors.
We need to get that open.
Last few.
Connor, I can't see it.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me! It's come through the other door.
Connor! Out of the way! Guysplease, just get it back through the anomaly.
Don'tshoot it.
It's my job to keep you alive.
Aargh! I'm too young to die.
It's injured.
It wants to go home.
I don't know how long I can hold on, Cutter.
Bow! What? Bow down.
What are you talking about? This creature isis used to being treated like a god.
They would have bowed as a sign of respect.
If it doesn't think we're a threat it might not attack.
I'm not bowing.
Get down on the floor.
What? Do it.
Keep the gun handy.
Aargh! Ow! Nice call.
(Thanks.
) That's gotta be the end of the curse now.
Right? Here's hoping.
The curse? (I made it up.
) Don't tell him yet.
Course not.
All right? Oh, yeah.
Brilliant! You know, I think Stephen might have liked this one.
I think he might have liked our Dr Page even better! I want you to set up a research programme into magnetite.
Its effect on anomalies, how electricity can be used tolock 'em.
Cool.
Please tell me you got that bad-tempered reptile back in his box.
Yep.
Excellent.
James Lester.
Home Office.
This is a government facility? What did you think it was? The circus? You're Sarah Page.
Dr Page.
Yes.
PhD in Egyptology promising academic career, veteran of archaeological digs all over the Middle East.
Now you're giving lectures to kiddies at the museum.
How did that happen? Just not very good at taking orders.
You should fit right in, then.
I've got a file? Everyone's got a file.
Dr Page, you can't say anything about what you saw today.
Do I need to repeat myself? Or should I have you arrested for your own protection? Might need that.
Is he always that rude? By his standardshe was actually being pretty nice.
So, this is what you do here, is it? You um You deal with these anomalies as and when they occur.
This is what we do.
I can't believe I saw Ammut.
Well, what the Egyptians thought was Ammut.
A genuine living legend.
Legends.
Yes! Ifanomalies have appeared in the past, and they have, is Pristichampsus was sunning itself by the Nile 3,000 years ago, that's the stuff of legend.
Anything that seems out of place, out of time, like Like er Like Chimera.
Pegasus.
The yeti.
The hydra.
Kraken.
I've been looking at this all wrong.
I've been thinking two-dimensionally.
How much do you know about mythological beasts? Well, ermmy thesis on it is in the British Library.
She stays.
Do I get a say in any of this? Yes.
Yes, of course.
I would like you to join us here at the Anomaly Research Centre.
I want you working on the source of all the great myths.
Where they were first spotted, when, by whom.
Can you find a pattern? Or you can go back to lecturing schoolkids.
Your choice.
OK I'm in.
Great news.
I feel safer already.
What do we do about the Sun Cage? Well, the anomaly's closed.
Might not open for 3,000 years - if ever.
Yeah.
But it's still a risk.
It can't be on public display any more.
Happily that's not our decision to make.
The Culture Minister tells me the exhibition's moving on.
This'll do.
Here.
Put that somewhere safe until I work out what it is.
Now let's get out of here.
Come on, move! Get out!