Ben Mansfield is back as Captain Becker in the fifth series of time-travelling dinosaur drama Primeval, airing at 8pm on Tuesdays, exclusive to Watch.
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After training at Sandhurst and boasting an outstanding military record, Becker is needed more than ever to protect the ARC.
How does it feel to be back for Series 5 of Primeval?
“It’s been the same old hands, the same old crew and same old cast, so it was really good to get back into it. We all had a short break, and we were really excited to be back. The things is, we shot a lot of the scenes out of sequence so sometimes it was a bit confusing! But it was brilliant and the crew over in Ireland were amazing.
“It was actually really great filming in Dublin, and I tried to take advantage of living in such a beautiful city. I travelled around a bit – I went walking in the Wicklow Mountains and I went over to the west coast too. Lots of hiking and horse riding. I also got a taste for Guinness… I hope it doesn’t show! Ciarán and myself became avid fans of The Cream.”
Living and working in the same city for a while must make for a great atmosphere on set…
“Yeah, it really does. It was great meeting the new cast members and socialising with them. A couple of the guys are from Dublin originally, so they were great about showing us around the city, but I do like to go exploring myself. The good thing about Dublin is that there’s almost an iconic pub on every corner!”
So in Primeval V does Becker get out and about more or spend more time in the ARC ?
“Oh, he still gets out and about. There’s one episode in the series where we all stay quite close to the ARC, which was quite nice to make full use of the wonderful set. But Becker is definitely out and about for most of the series. To be honest, it’s more of the same for Becker in Series 5 – he’s patrolling the anomalies and getting stuck in.”
How does Becker’s relationship with Jess develop throughout the series?
“I don’t want to say too much, but they do become progressively fond of each other. But that underlying work ethic of Becker, and the way he likes to keep his work and private lives separate, always seems to get in the way. But I suppose it’s that Spooks thing – Lester’s like the figure trying to promote relationships within this secret little organisation so you don’t have to let anyone else in. But Becker and Jess’ relationship progresses very gently and sweetly.”
What’s the scariest monster you come across this series?
“The line producer. No, I’m kidding. It’s probably that old foe, the future predator.”
How will we see Becker’s character develop through from the previous series?
“Becker starts off Series 4 very emotionally raw, because as Cutter says in Series 3, Becker is there to protect them all; to prevent another Stephen Hart situation. But seeing as the ARC was blown up at the end of Series 3, he hasn’t exactly done a great job! So he does have that chip on his shoulder. In Series 5, he’s come to terms with that more, but is still determined to protect the team at all costs.”
What about the new team, does he let his guard down and allow himself to become friends with them?
“He’s definitely become more human and less of an automaton. He’s learning that his usual emotional coldness is really unnecessary, and he starts to form some friendships within the team.”
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