| Anomaly | |
|---|---|
Primeval's title shows a whirling anomaly |
|
| Plot element from the Primeval television series | |
| Production company | Impossible Pictures |
| First appearance | Primeval "Episode 1.1" (10 February 2007) |
| Created by | Adrian Hodges Tim Haines |
| Genre | Science fiction, drama |
| In-story information | |
| Type | Time portal |
| Function | Enables travel between different time periods |
| Specific traits & abilities | Resembles a mass of glowing shards of glass |
Anomalies are fictional phenomena which occur in the science fiction television series Primeval and are a type of time portal. The anomaly is shown as an orb of fractured reflective or refractive triangles in the air, much like shards of broken glass. One character stated that he could see a Permian desert through it. These time anomalies act as a plot generator for the series, as they are what allow the extinct species that make up the basic plots of the show to travel through them for the show's team to investigate, in a manner similar to the Rift in Torchwood, or the Hellmouth in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They allow past and future creatures to come to the present. The characters on Primeval do not know what causes the anomalies or why they are there.
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Nick Cutter describes them being somewhat like an earthquake in time which occur along temporal fault lines.[1] They resemble glowing shattered pieces of glass floating in mid-air, through which people, animals and objects can travel. It is also stated in Episode 2, 3 and 8 that atmospheric gases and liquid can also pass through.[1][2]
The anomalies are highly magnetic, they can draw ferrous objects – for example keys, and pens – into them, they also render compasses useless near them. Connor proved this multiple times by throwing metal objects into the anomalies (once accidentally throwing his front door key into the first one that was found).[3] However it is shown in Episode Four that the magnetic field is not strong enough to penetrate through the metal of a stainless steel fridge door.[4] The anomalies also produce radio interference on the frequency 87.6FM as demonstrated by the shopping center anomaly.[5]
An anomaly can either have a fixed location at both "ends" of the anomaly or one end may be unstable and thus move location, for example the present end of an anomaly moves in the 3rd while the past location of the anomaly was fixed.[1]
It is also possible to enter only partway into an anomaly without being sucked in, for example a person can take a look through an anomaly simply by poking their face through without travelling all the way through.[3] In Episode Four it is shown that dozens of anomalies can be open at the same time and all lead to different eras and locations.[4]
They can cut across distance as well as time, as creatures which were never native to Great Britain, nor the area which Britain has passed through in its geological past, have passed through the anomalies into modern Britain. For example the dodo was only found on tropical islands around Mauritius,[6] and Scutosaurus were located in Russia and parts of Europe.[7]
Also the team encountered dodos at one anomaly[3] a bird which did not evolve until well after the time of the dinosaurs ended (the dinosaurs became extinct at the end of Cretaceous period 65 million years ago[8] whereas the dodo had not separated from its common ancestor with the Rodrigues Solitaire until around 25 million years ago).[6] This would indicate that the anomalies can be linked to any period in the earth's history.
In Episode 6 it's demonstrated that interference with the past can alter the future in unspecified ways. Also, the ending of the sixth episode ended with a cliffhanger where the anomaly appeared to start to expand for reasons unknown, although Episode 7 showed this was just the anomaly closing.[9] It has not yet been established how many time anomalies have occurred nor where they originate from, though the capture of an extinct form of Sarcopterygian suggests that there have been others before the Forest of Dean anomaly seen in Episode 1.[3]
The strength of the anomalies weaken over time. They slowly lose their magnetic power, shrink in size, and eventually collapse in on themselves.[3] Although they can be re-opened such as the Permian anomaly, which has closed and reopened at least three times, and the Carboniferous anomaly which never closed at all.[1]
In the spin-off novels "Shadow of the Jaguar" and "Extinction Event", an anomaly opens in the Peruvian Jungle and Russian Tundra (respectively), proving that anomalies exist outside the UK. However, the canonicity of the book has yet to be determined.
It is shown in episode 4.7 that two anomalies opening on the same place cause them to become fused and create satellite anomalies that lead to the same place and time as one of the original anomalies. The satellite anomalies are unstable and paler in colour. Two fused anomalies can't be locked in the normal way, they will keep reopening, but using two locking devices it is possible to separate and lock both anomalies, stabilising them and closing the satellite anomalies.
In episode 5.5 both Matt and Philip reveal they know that the number of anomalies is increasing until a "Convergence", created by natural changes in earth's magnetic field every million years. Philip 's New Dawn device is supposed to use this to create a single anomaly that will provide huge amounts of free power; Matt believes doing that is what triggered the apocalypse he came to prevent. In episode 5.5 the Convergence indeed happens, with hundreds of anomalies opening throughout the world, until they are closed by the New Dawn machine.
In episode Four the viewer gets a brief glimpse of an anomaly network in a strange world, named a Spaghetti Junction by Connor Temple.[4]
This world appears to act as like an 'airport terminal' linking the different worlds and allowing travel between them. The exact nature of this "network" or how it relates to the temporal fault lines is unknown as all of the other anomalies gave straight access to the other worlds without the need to go through this terminal. Helen Cutter appears to know the details about this network as she was able to travel through without getting lost.
Co-creator Adrian Hodges stated that "Calling this network a 'major factor' would be inaccurate, but it’s certainly part of the way we’re developing the anomaly mythology".[10] The anomaly to this world appeared in the Matchroom Football Stadium's fridge and later closed, whether the other anomalies in the network closed as well is unknown.
Helen Cutter has claimed she knows the locations of the anomalies before they open and has hinted that she can control them. Yet the evidence she's provided for her claims has proved contradictory.
At the end of the first episode, Helen – who is presumed to be trapped in Permian era after having passed through an anomaly – is seen from a distance and leaves Nick Cutter a living specimen of an ammonite,[11] while in the second she is encountered by Stephen Hart.[2]
This implies that she can create them as there is no other explanation as to how she can get from period to period. This is underlined in the fifth episode, where she appears and disappears, presumably through another anomaly,[11] as she clearly couldn't have come through the sky anomaly.[11]
It is revealed in the third episode after she is tracked down by Nick that she was staying away because she did not want to reveal the secret of the anomalies to the world, something she knew Nick would be compelled to do.[1] In the same episode she claims that she has "the key to time". She later tells Lester that she is aware of where the anomalies will open before they actually do.[4]
However, in Episode 1.6, she 'used' the team to find the Permian anomaly that leads to the future, suggesting that she can't control them or locate them after all (although it is stated later in Series 2 that she was eventually able to reach the future via an anomaly). In the opening scene of Episode 2.2, one can briefly see a device in her bag that resembles the handheld anomaly trackers later made by Connor Temple. And at the end of Series 2, she is shown in command of multiple versions of the same man, perhaps hinting that she has gained sufficient control of the anomalies to use time travel to create multiples of people. It is eventually revealed in Series 3 that this cloning is not a function of the anomalies themselves, but that Helen used the anomalies to steal cloning technology from the future.
In Episode 2.1, Nick Cutter correctly theorised that the anomalies cause radio interference on the 87.6FM wavelength. He passed this knowledge on to Connor Temple, who creates the Anomaly Detection Device sometime before the beginning of Episode 2.3. This new equipment allows the home agency to track any new anomalies within seconds of them opening. Connor also created handheld anomaly trackers to be used by the team in the field. He also mentions he is working on making them more compact. Both these devices show great accuracy; allowing the ARC to track the anomalies much more efficiently.
Early in Series 3, Nick Cutter constructs a physical 3D model which allows him to predict the location (though not the time) at which some anomalies can be expected to occur. This "matrix" appears to work, since it accurately predicts the abandoned house anomaly in Episode 3.2; however Cutter is the only person who understands it, so his death (as well as the fact that the model itself was damaged in the ARC explosions) effectively renders it useless. A running storyline in this series concerns a mysterious artefact from the future, which is eventually revealed to be a device capable of projecting a similar predictive matrix as a light show. Although this demonstrates that Cutter's idea was correct, the problem of interpreting the matrix remains. Helen Cutter eventually learns to interpret it and uses it to trace a route through the anomalies to Site 333, where she poisons the "First Family" in a failed attempt to halt human evolution.
It is possible to contain and even move anomalies using magnetic fields (e.g. by surrounding an anomaly with a "cage" constructed of magnetite), even when the anomaly is closed. It is also possible to temporarily prevent the passage of objects through an anomaly by the application of an electric current. Connor Temple uses this discovery to create a device which "locks" anomalies by "reversing their polarity". Repeating the process returns the anomaly to its natural unlocked state. A "locked" anomaly appears as a glowing sphere, in contrast to an unlocked anomaly which appears as a round but ill-defined mass of shards.
In Series 3, it is revealed that Helen Cutter possesses a handheld device which can be used to open and close anomalies at will. The device is capable of having the locations of anomalies downloaded to it from a console in the future version of the ARC, implying that it was invented there in the future.
In Episode 4.7 Connor uses a device that can indicate the time period on the other side of an anomaly, for example dating one to exactly 1867.
In Episode 5.1 Philip Burton shows Connor his "New Dawn" project, and explains that he plans to use the anomalies as an energy source to provide the whole world with free, clean energy and asks him to work on this, secretly. Meanwhile Matt Anderson tells Abby that "Something goes wrong with the anomalies in this era. I'm here to find out what it is, and if I can, stop it."
In Episode 5.3 Connor discovers how to create an anomaly.
In Episode 3.1 some further properties of anomalies are hinted at. The Ancient Egyptians had stumbled across anomalies, and used them to fit into their cultural hieroglyphics. The Egyptian goddess Ammit was in fact Egyptian's interpretation of the prehistoric crocodile Pristichampsus, which had come through an anomaly. The Egyptians used a 'cage' of magnetite (an extremely magnetic substance) to contain and possibly attract anomalies to it.
The "era" indicated below is that stated during the episodes, or the native era of the creatures or people that pass through the anomaly to the present day.
| Episode | Era | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Episode 1.1 | Cretaceous (70 mya) | Indian Ocean anomaly. This anomaly is only alluded to in the first episode and was not seen. |
| Episode 1.1, 1.6 | Permian (250 mya) | Forest of Dean anomaly. This anomaly first opened eight years before the main events of the series and then closed. It re-opened twice eight years later. |
| Episode 1.2 | Carboniferous (300 mya) | Parsons Green station anomaly. |
| Episode 1.3 | Cretaceous | This anomaly was unstable and moved along a "faultline" from Lambeth Baths to Queen Mary Reservoir and then finally to the basement of a house on Wakefield road. |
| Episode 1.4 | Spaghetti Junction | New Den Stadium anomaly. Linked to Spaghetti Junction, with at least 10 anomalies in one area. |
| Episode 1.4 | Holocene Mauritius | Mauritius anomaly. Opened to the Spaghetti Junction. |
| Episode 1.5 | Cretaceous (70 mya) | Golf course anomaly. |
| Episode 1.6 | Future | Future anomaly. Opened in Permian and linked to an unspecified point millions of years in the future. |
| Episode 2.1 | Cretaceous (70 mya) | Shopping centre anomaly. |
| Episode 2.2 | Precambrian era (2700 mya) | Skyscraper. Era of the oxygen catastrophe. |
| Episode 2.3 | late Pleistocene | Blue Sky Park anomaly to late Pleistocene North America. This anomaly opened before the events of both series, the Smilodon that came through having come as a cub and adopted by a park ranger. |
| Episode 2.4 | Future | Canals anomaly. Linked to an unspecified point millions of years in the future. |
| Episode 2.5 | Silurian (400 mya) | Building site anomaly. This may be another mobile anomaly like in Episode 1.3 as it closed but then reopened in a different location (a forest adventure park) a few hours later. |
| Episode 2.6 | Pleistocene epoch | M25 motorway anomaly. |
| Episode 3.1 | Eocene epoch. | British Museum anomaly. This anomaly is held within a cage-like monument made of magnetite, constructed around it when the anomaly opened in ancient Egypt. |
| Episode 3.2 | Future | Abandoned House anomaly. The first anomaly whose location is predicted by Cutter's 3-D "matrix". Opened around 14 years before the present and leading to the future. At the end of the episode it re-opens. |
| Episode 3.3 | Permian | Hospital anomaly which allows a group of diictodon through. |
| Episode 3.4 | Early Cretaceous | Airport anomaly. This anomaly opens in a hangar. It allows a Giganotosaurus through and back. This is the first anomaly which Connor succeeds to lock with his machine. This anomaly is unusually huge for unexplained reasons. |
| Episode 3.5 | Future | Sir Richard Bentley's Flat anomaly |
| Episode 3.6 | Pleistocene epoch 30,000 BC | Abandoned War Cabin anomaly |
| Episode 3.7 | Medieval era 900–600 years ago | Junkyard anomaly |
| Episode 3.7 | Cretaceous period (65 mya) | Medieval anomaly |
| Episode 3.8 | Future | Race Circuit anomaly |
| Episode 3.9 | Eocene epoch (55-38 mya) | Campsite anomaly |
| Episode 3.10 | Cretaceous period (75 mya) | Future ARC anomaly |
| Episode 3.10 | Pliocene epoch (2–3 mya) | Cretaceous anomaly to Pliocene, Site 333, in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. |
| Episode 4.1 | Cretaceous (112-97 mya) | London street. Abby and Connor return to the present, pursued by a giant Spinosaurus (native to North Africa). |
| Episode 4.2 | Early Cretaceous | Five years before Episode 4.2, an anomaly allows a young Kaprosuchus into a London home. |
| Episode 4.3 | Cretaceous | London theatre. Three humans and deadly "Tree Creepers" come through. |
| Episode 4.4 | Late Permian/ Early Triassic | London school kitchen. Dozens of venomous Therocephalians invade a school. |
| Episode 4.5 | Late Paleozoic/ Early Mesozoic | Seaside cave. A large Labyrinthodont and two juveniles appeared via an anomaly that has been active for several years. Connor discovers that a chemical battery can affect the anomaly. |
| Episode 4.6 | Early Miocene | An anomaly in the cellar of a stately home allows a pack of pack of Hyaenodons to wreak havoc on Jenny Lewis's wedding. |
| Episode 4.7 | Pliocene/1867 | A pair of anomalies open in a prison. Their proximity causes several other anomalies to be created nearby to the same periods. |
| Episode 5.1 | Future | Central London several years ago, to a future period. This allowed large burrowing insects to cross over. |
| Episode 5.2 | Jurassic | Deep in the North Sea. The team is taken by a naval submarine to close it, but are attacked by a Liopleurodon, lose power, and are pulled through the anomaly. Meanwhile the navy plans to nuke the anomaly, but the sub is repaired and returns in time to abort the attack, and then close the anomaly. |
| Episode 5.3 | 1868 | In a London art gallery. A raptor went through to the Victorian era followed by Matt. He returns with the raptor and also Emily, and her husband. |
| Episode 5.4 and 5.6 | Future | In the ARC. Connor generates a small anomaly and a swarm of Future Beetles and their enormous queen come through. The anomaly reopens in episode 5.6 and several Future Predators make their way into the ARC. |
| Episode 5.5 | Late Cretaceous | Central London. An adult Tyrannosaurus rampages through central London, killing several people, making anomalies impossible to cover up. |
| Episode 5.5 | Multiple eras | Worldwide. Hundreds of anomalies open all over the world, in the "Convergence", a natural phenomenon caused by earth's magnetic field. |
| Episode 5.5–5.6 | Future | The "New Dawn" anomaly. Created by the New Dawn machine it merges all the anomalies of the Convergence into one. It connects to the post-apocalyptic future, ruled by Future Predators. It creates a huge atmospheric disturbance, apparently the cause of the future apocalypse seen before. Finally closed by merging it with Connor's anomaly. |
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