THE ENEMY NEXT DOOR! 'THE AMERICANS' HAVE ARRIVED...

The Soviet threat is alive and well during the Reagan era of US history. Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell are THE AMERICANS. Image: FOX. 

Before the horrific emergence of terrorism and religious extremism that changed our lives forever on this planet from the noughties onwards, there was The Cold War- a frightening and equally dangerous game of paranoia and tension, of East and Western superpowers ready to extinguish themselves, during the late seventies and early eighties- a time where the threat of nuclear destruction was very real, and whose potential for dramatic storytelling was unparallelled, seeing in a raft of original, exciting books and film/TV thrillers built around the very likely and intriguing scenario of what would would happen if the UK or America were infiltrated in all levels of society by enemy "Sleeper" agents- people in our daily lives whom we thought we could trust-family, relatives, neighbours, workmates- who, in actuality,  turned out to be the most dangerous threat of all to our beliefs and existence. Such works as Frederick Forsyth's action/thriller THE FOURTH PROTOCOL, and the BBC's prestigious drama series SLEEPERS would certainly make an impact during this heady and uncertain period of time, and continue to do so as examples that the glossy new US series THE AMERICANS, starting its 13 episode run this Saturday evening on ITV1 (a noteworthy event- the channel rarely putting US shows in prime-time weekend slots these days), is surely taking its cues from.

Trading the nuclear weapons and big league action of the John Travolta starring actioner BROKEN ARROW for smaller scale, but no less vital, drama (having also been so successful with the hit modern day western JUSTIFIED), writer/producer Graham Yost is one of the key talents working within THE AMERICANS format, created by Joe Weisberg, based on a real-life story of spies whose existence was finally, fatefully uncovered in 2010, after years immersed in US life. Starring FELICITY and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III talent Keri Russell, alongside Brit Matthew Rhys, they are the Jennings: your average, married couple on the surface, with solid jobs and popularity in the neighbourhood, but in the very cold light of day, two Soviet KGB officers part of a massive program-a very real clear and present danger- to infiltrate American society, destabilise it where possible, and steal vital intel.

Trailer: The Americans - (TV series - 2013) - Trailer - YouTube

Garnering positive reviews, the series, made by FOX and AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT, looks set to make the most of its 80's period trappings, and has two solid lead performances. It's unlikely anytime soon to knock HOMELAND off its seating as one of TV's finest recent dramas, but it has potential to get better, especially when the stakes get higher and the Jennings identity are threatened by a series of unexpected outside factors, plus dogged pursuit by their FBI enemies (led by THE X-FILES Noah Emmerich and former WALTON Richard Thomas). In this ever-changing game of move and counter-move, Detente is not on the agenda anytime soon...

PAST AND FUTURE: THE RETURN OF PRIME-TIME 'PRIMEVAL'!

It's Dino-time once more for heroes Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts), Abby (Hannah Spearritt) and Matt (Ciaran McMenamin) in season five of PRIMEVAL. Images: IMPOSSIBLE PICTURES.

Family friendly Dino carnage returns to the UK's ITV1 and HD channels this Saturday at 6pm with the return of cult-hit sci-fi/monster drama PRIMEVAL, as the scientist/army comprised ARC team responds once more to the threat of time breaching creatures of all shapes, sizes and weirdness, from past, present and future, onto British soil (well, Irish soil, really-the country now being the series main location filming base, filling in for London's noted modern architecture). This fifth (and likely final) series set with our current band of heroes, most notably series regulars Andrew-Lee Potts and Hannah Spearritt as scientists Connor Temple and Abby Maitland, sees the continuing threat of the mysterious anomalies growing larger as a scheme by scheming industrialist business Philip Burton (STAR TREK's Alexander Siddig) gets out of control and soon has frightening effects for the whole of sentient creation.

Check out our previous features on Season Five: ROMPER STOMPER! "PRIMEVAL" SEASON FIVE

MONSTER MUNCH! "PRIMEVAL" SEASON FIVE

CREATURE FEATURE! KOOL TV REVIEW OF "PRIMEVAL" SEASON FIVE

Season Five trailer (from when it was previously on WATCH): Primeval Series 5 Official Trailer - YouTube

Teaser posters for the new series PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD

It's not perfect, and the ultimate resolution to the series story arc (begun in tantalising small bits during the previous season four) is a bit ho-hum rather than as spectacular as it should be (probably the result of budget cuts when the series had to be co-financed between ITV, the satellite channel WATCH (who had first transmission dibs on it last year) and other European TV backers), but the work put into all by the resident creatures effects team is good, the cast give it their best and the series ultimately ends on a relatively successful all for one and one for all note. At least one of the main cast, Potts, will return for a cameo appearance in the now-in-production new series of PRIMEVAL being filmed in Vancouver, Canada, with an all-new cast within a major format shake-up re-imaging/spin-off hybrid thingy. PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD, made by the Space channel in association with some of the key creative team of the original UK series, promises in its press release to be a darker and scarier ride for its thirteen episode premiere season duration, giving the series a further youthful, sexed-up new cast (apparently including VAMPIRE DIARIES Sara Canning as a predator attack expert, HEARTLAND's Miranda Frigon, ONCE UPON A TIME's Geoff Gustafson and YOUNG JAMES HERRIOT's Danny Rahmi), and further gory special effects against a story backdrop that builds on what was originally established on the Brit side of the pond. Whatever happens with the new series, at least it can't be any worse than the early episodes of TERRA NOVA!

More news as and when...