Primeval quotes

Nick

[throws a stack of paper on his desk into a rubbish bin]

Connor

Oh... actually, that's my dissertation. Yeah.

Nick

[retrieves the stack of papers from the rubbish bin and begins paging through it]

Connor

See, I argued that all life on Earth derived from organisms carried here by alien spacecraft. It's pretty sexy stuff.

Nick

[throws stack of papers back into the rubbish bin]

Connor

...It's a work in progress, really...

Connor

[introducing himself] Professor? Connor Temple.

Nick

Sorry, never heard of it. I think you want Archaeology.

Nick

[to Claudia] Maybe there is something here, maybe there isn't. Frankly, I doubt-

Stephen

Cutter!

Nick

[sees a dead cow lodged in a tree] Okay, now I'm getting interested.

Connor

[While playing with the magnetism of the anomaly by allowing metal objects to be sucked through] Heh heh! It's brilliant. Oh... that was my front door key...

Lester

You spend your entire career planning for just about every crisis imaginable - up to and including alien invasion - then this happens. So much for thinking outside the bloody box.

Lester

Still, at least the immediate crisis is over.

Nick

Some... force out there ripped the boundaries of space and time to shreds. Maybe it's happened before, in which case every single thing we thought we knew about the universe is wrong. Or, this is the first time, in which case what changed? What happens next? Believe me: it's very, very far from over.

Lester

I don't like anyone to whom the term "maverick" can be applied. Cutter practically owns the copyright.

Nick

[protesting as Special Forces enter the London Underground] They don't even know what they're looking for.

Stephen

There can't be that many types of venomous monsters under the Aldridge.

Claudia

You should see the last tube home on a Friday night.

Capt. Ryan

They were like spiders, but with pincers, not fangs. Some of them over a meter long. Horrible little...

Nick

Look, how do you feel?

Capt. Ryan

Sick. My ears are ringing...

Nick

Any blurred vision?

Capt. Ryan

No. But there's something else. The gunshots were too bright, like fireworks.

Stephen

That's classic signs of excess oxygen in the atmosphere.

Nick

Richer, more heavily oxygenated air must be seeping through from another anomaly. But we're not talking about the Permian era any longer. This is much, much earlier.

Claudia

How much earlier?

Nick

Maybe the Carboniferous, about three hundred million years ago.

Abby

[confronted by Carboniferous arachnids] Does anyone have a really big slipper?

Claudia

That's the problem with heroic gestures. Succeed, and you look wonderful. Fail, and all you do is leave everybody else with a bloody mess to clear up.

Connor

Okay, Carboniferous, so it's probably an Arthropleura. That's an centipede on steroids, basically. It's more or less blind, and good sense of smell and touch. I mean, this thing is pretty big and scary looking, but it's more or less timid. It's the kind of bug that'd stick to the kitchen at parties.

Claudia

This one must have a personality disorder.

Connor

[about Stephen] You really like him, don't you?

Abby

I don't know him.

Connor

When has that ever stopped people from fancying each other before?

Claudia

The police have charged Dianne Johnson.

Lester

I know.

Claudia

We have to intervene!

Lester

We're not going to do that.

Claudia

Why not?

Lester

Because I won't allow this story to become public property. At least in prison the newspapers can't get hold of her.

Claudia

So you're just going to let them lock up an innocent and traumatized girl?

Lester

Of course it's undesirable, but it would be far worse to release her to cause panic and disorder. I'll see that the charges are dropped once the immediate crisis is under control.

Claudia

That could take months!

Lester

And would you rather tell the police that an ancient sea monster is cruising our swimming pools consuming lifeguards? I know the injustice stings, but the correct decision is often painful. That's the burden of government.

Connor

The reservoir is land-locked right? So allowing for condensation and rainfall, the depth should be pretty consistent.

Nick

Yeah.

Connor

I made this mark of water level earlier. [Dips a measuring stick into the water] The water level has fallen forty centimetres since then. This isn't a reservoir anymore—it's a tidal lake!

Nick

The water must be flowing out through the anomaly... which means it's still down there somewhere.