Interview with Robert Quinn

Just found this interview on IFTN, gives some details on filming plans, new characters and plot lines!!!

IFTN: Hi Robert, when did you start shooting your episodes?
(RQ): We started shooting two weeks ago. Altogether this block is going to take about six months to shoot.

IFTN: How long do you have left in your block?
RQ: I’m shooting for another four weeks. And then we continue on until September with post.

IFTN: Were you a big fan of the series prior to becoming involved with the production?
RQ: I was actually, yes. I’d only seen a bit of it – I wasn’t the kind of person who would watch it religiously every week but I certainly tuned-in every now and then. I was delighted when I heard it was coming here, it’s great to get shows like this which have a track record.

IFTN: ‘Primeval’ has such a cult following, was that daunting at all?
RQ: Yes, it has a very broad range. It appeals to seven year olds and 47 year olds. And I think that’s down to the storylines and the scientific aspects of it – they mix up the science with good quality entertainment which is a good formula. I try not to feel pressure doing any show because you’d just drive yourself mad. When I was meeting with the producers in London the walls of the office were covered with fan mail from people of all ages – children, teenagers and adults all loving the show and I realised that this is something with a reputation that I need to maintain.

IFTN: Your involvement with the series marks a very different project to what you usually work on . . .
RQ: This is true. There were very few prehistoric creatures running around in ‘The Clinic’ for instance. It was a thrill to be asked to be involved because I’ve always wanted to be involved with a big CGI shoot and lots of other things that you just don’t get the opportunity to do over here really. And there’s a huge Irish contingent involved here which is fantastic and very exciting!

IFTN: And are the British cast and crew members having a good time here?
RQ: Of course, sure why wouldn’t they – the sun is shining! We were on silver strand the other day with the sun out and I thought to myself ‘This is a good a place to be working as any!’ They’re a very nice and professional cast and crew and the cast know their characters inside out – they know definitively what their respective characters would do in any given situation so all I have to do is work with that and around that. There’s very little that I can tell them about their roles that they don’t already know so you move into nuance then.

IFTN: Is it proving difficult to put your own individual stamp on your episodes whilst also respecting the established format of the show?
RQ: You try and bring something of yourself to everything that you do. That said there is, I wouldn’t say formulaic, but a Primeval promise that you have to adhere to. The formula has been set up by the opening key director, Mark Everest and he set up the style of the show. DOP Donal Gilligan has a specific style of shooting as well which I feed into too. It would look very odd if I tried to set a new style or approach to telling the story, so you keep to the set style but you try to make your scenes as fun as possible too - there’s a great deal of humour in this show, it’s not just about creatures running around biting the heads of various people, there’s a brilliant tongue-in-cheek element to it. And if there’s an Irish humour or sensibility that I can bring to it, I will. We’ve got great actors here like Ben [Miller], Andrew [Lee-Potts] and Hannah [Spearritt] – and they know comedy and how best to use it in their parts. And then of course we have brilliant Irish actors involved too like Ruth Kearney and Ciaran McMenamin and we’re going to be working with Peter Hanley who’s a great comic. And of course Rory Keenan is coming on board and Briain Gleeson so I’m really pleased that the Irish crew, and particularly the Irish cast members, can feed into this predominantly English production and make it work as best as they possibly can – and I don’t think the audiences will skip a beat when they see the Irish actors working within it.

IFTN: Can you let us know what’s happening in you episodes at all, without giving anything too major away?
RQ: Well, without wanting to give the show’s away I can tell you that in one episode the creatures terrorises a lovely seaside village and in the other one they attack a beautiful castle which means, of course, that there’s lots of fun to be had in both those episodes. We’ll be using Luttrelstown castle and we’ve been shooting in Wicklow for the seaside-town episode.