I don’t really like sci-fi… but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t report on it for those that do. In saying that, sci-fi is a bit of a minefield… super fans may spit at rival programmes on the box and people in weird outfits hang around stage doors in an attempt to snip a lock of hair… which basically means that I’ve convinced myself that I’m running some kind of virtual gambit here. I’m so worked up about it all that I’m not even sure if ‘running the gambit’ is a real phrase. No matter, you wanna know about Primeval don’t you?

Well, Primeval has been commissioned for a third series thanks to consistently delivering more than 5 million viewers on Saturday nights. For ITV, that’s a biblical amount of viewers! Producers will begin work on the third series in March and ITV1 plans to air the next series in January 2009. Fans of time-traveling evolutionary zoologists fighting prehistoric creatures can start salivating now. But there’s more to whet the appetite papes… read over…

The new series will also feature a prehistoric monster designed by a member of the public. ITV1 plans to launch an online competition later this year, inviting viewers to invent a creature which will then be brought to life using CGI technology.

Laura Mackie, the director of drama for ITV, said: “Primeval just keeps going from strength to strength with audiences really taking the team to their hearts. The fact they are now being given the chance to design one of the monsters for the team to battle is incredibly exciting and will put viewers right at the heart of the action.”

Get your pens and pencils out, get your b-movie head on and start doodling! More news when we get it.