The A Town Called Eureka star will play inventor and hero Evan Cross in the 13-part series, which will air in the UK on entertainment channel Watch later this year.

On set in Vancouver, Matter told SciFiNow: “Our moments with the dinosaurs are going to be a lot more real and higher stakes [than the UK show]. It’s got a harder edge that we walk on because every time we see these creatures it affects us in a huge way and we’re never getting used to that. I feel like the original Primeval knew a lot more about the world that they were dealing with than we do.”

Explaining his character’s backstory, the actor continued: “[Evan] stumbles on [an anomaly] accidentally in 2006 when he’s driving with his wife. He’s not really sure what it is but he does know that it’s creating radio interference so he goes to search for the source… In doing that, though, he loses the most important thing in his life.”

UKTV confirmed in March that original Primeval star Andrew-Lee Potts will guest star as Connor in the spin-off.

Primeval: New World will introduce an “all new team… of animal experts and scientists who investigate the appearance of temporal anomalies and battle both prehistoric and futuristic creatures”.

The cast includes Niall Matter (A Town Called Eureka) as “enterprising inventor and visionary hero” Evan Cross, and Sara Canning (Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Smallville) as Dylan Weir, a “predator attack expert and specialist in animal behaviour”.

Series 5 of Primeval is currently airing on ITV1 on Saturday evenings.

Are you looking forward to Primeval: New World? Let us know below…

> Buy Series 5 on DVD on Amazon.

Watch the Series 5 trailer…