Tom Ryan (Primeval)

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Tom Ryan
Captain Tom Ryan of the special forces
First appearance	Episode One
Last appearance	Episode Six
Portrayed by	Mark Wakeling
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Special Ops Captain
Title	Captain

Captain Tom Ryan is a fictional character in the ITV sci-fi drama Primeval. He is the leader of the special forces unit that often aids Nick Cutter and his team. He is played by Mark Wakeling. He joined the army at 17, saw active service in both gulf wars, joined the SAS, then transferred to a special elite unit, engaged in top secret operations at the age of 35. He once led an army walking team to the South Pole and back in record time and commented that it was chilly on his return. He was attacked by a future predator at the end of series one and died shortly afterwards. ^[1]

Contents 1 Characterisation 2 Character history 2.1 Pre-Crisis 2.2 Post-Crisis 3 References

[edit] Characterisation

As a background character little is known about his relationship with the others. It is generally a fact that he is in charge of all the soldiers, but follows Cutter's orders, such as in Episode 2 when Cutter tells him to kill the centipede, or in Episode 6 when Cutter orders everyone to stop and make camp. While he treats Cutter as the leader mostly, his orders are overruled on several occasions successfully by the government officials. When told to shoot the flying creature on the golf course he does so despite Cutter's protests, and in Episode 3 is willing to capture Helen Cutter when ordered to despite knowing Cutter did not approve. Whether the others consider him part of the group is debatable. In Episode 4 he calls Connor by his name signifying he at least knows him slightly, and when Stephen asks everyone if they know of the movies where you think the monsters dead but in fact the monsters still alive Captain Ryan answers yes, and says that he hates those films - signifying that he knows the group well enough to assume the question which was directed at the team included himself. In his possibly final scene he attempts to save Cutter by opening fire on the futuristic beast knowing full well it will give his position away and gets mortally wounded, Cutter rushes to him after the beast is killed by a gorgonopsid specifically rather than any other soldier and Captain Ryan reminisces slightly about their first trip through the anomaly. It shows that Cutter considers him more than just a regular soldier and Captain Ryan is willing to open up to Cutter and likes him enough to risk his life for him. ^[2]

[edit] Character history

[edit] Pre-Crisis

In Episode One he first appears towards the end as they are about to perform an expedition into the anomaly. It is said he has seen action in the first gulf war and has had experience in desert combat. When Cutter refuses to leave towards the end of the expedition he knocks Cutter out with the handle of his pistol. When Cutter comes round he hits him but Ryan hits him back harder and tells him not to do that, he says he will stay with Cutter if he refuses to leave but both decide to leave.

In Episode Two he leads the special forces unit into the London underground where they come into contact with Prehistoric spiders the team can't fire in enclosed spaces and try to fight them off with their fists but are forced back because of the sheer number of them. He then later accompanies Connor and Cutter to collect venom from the giant centipede in the tube station, once the venom has been collected Cutter tells him to finish off the centipede but despite initial success shooting him the centipede disarms him but Connor comes in with a chair forcing him in to a generator electrocuting and killing it.

In Episode Three he firstly helps operate the rope on Cutter when he dives through the underwater anomaly and helps pull him out when his oxygen supply reaches zero then leads the special forces into the anomaly to capture Helen Cutter and forcibly bring her back.

In Episode Four his team accompany Helen Cutter to an anomaly where a pack of saber tooth tigers are supposed to be, and when she escapes he pursues her but she escapes through a series of anomalies on the other side. Then a flock of dodos come through the anomaly. Cutter and his team, with difficulty, round up all but one of the dodos and send them back through the anomaly. When an infected Tom, Connor's friend, attacks Abby he and his special forces team arrive and fix their laser sights on him but before they can shoot him Connor blocks the way and despite his protest he is forced not to shoot and Connor talks Tom out of his rage.

In Episode Five his team accompany Cutter to a golf course where a flying creature is killing people, when ordered to shoot it he obeys but Cutter pushes him making his shot miss. He looks at Cutter resentfully. At the end when the creature flies back into the void while everyone else in Cutters team are cheering he simply lowers his gun and appears happy.

In Episode Six when pursuing the futuristic creature he says to Cutter he is happy that the team is allowed to kill this one as he was starting to feel "like a bloody social worker." He is mortally wounded by the futuristic predator, and correctly predicts himself to be the skeleton they found in Episode One.

[edit] Post-Crisis

It was speculated that Ryan would return in the second series, but he never made an appearance, and is still dead in the new time line. Oliver Leek's mercenary, credited as "Mysterious Man", was mistaken as Ryan by some viewers as they wore similar uniforms and both said "I'm not a social worker!" (Ryan remarked in Episode 6 that he "was beginning to feel like a social worker."), but they are now clearly not the same person. It is entirely possible Ryan could be resurrected in the third season due to Helen's meddling with the anomalies. On the Series 2 DVD extra (Through the Anomaly) the Producers hint that "there is a he who comes back" and because it has been confirmed that both Stephen and Leek are dead and not returning, it is entirely possible it could be Captain Ryan.

[edit] References

v • d • e Primeval team members
Series	Series 1		Series 2		Series 3
Episodes	1	6	7	13	14	23
Team members	Nick Cutter
	Stephen Hart				Sarah Page
	Abby Maitland
	Connor Temple
	James Lester
	Claudia Brown		Jenny Lewis
	Captain Tom Ryan		Oliver Leek		Captain Becker
					Danny Quinn