FROM pop star sensations S Club to Hollywood films, and now fighting prehistoric monsters: Hannah Spearritt has gone a long way from her Gorleston roots.

FROM pop star sensations S Club to Hollywood films, and now fighting prehistoric monsters: Hannah Spearritt has gone a long way from her Gorleston roots.

But friends of the diminutive star have a chance to see her in action on the small screen again, with a return of the hit series Primeval, which starts tomorrow night on ITV1.

Hannah returns as Abby Maitland in the adventure series as the team solve the mystery of rips in time and save the world from some seriously beastly opponents. From a family of raptors going wild in the aisles of a local shopping mall, a sabre-tooth at an amusement park, to a woolly mammoth holding up traffic up on the M25.

Hannah, who starred in films Seed of Chucky, Agent Cody Banks 2 and Seeing Double, is quite happy at being asked back for a second series of Primeval.

“Being brought back for a second time is such a great feeling because it means you're involved with something that has worked; something that people really like. The fact people have actually asked you back, and there are enough people out there who have enjoyed Primeval so much they want us to go again is very cool. It's lovely to feel wanted!”

So with a new series come some new characters, new creatures, and some big surprises.

Hannah said: “This series is so much more heightened and really takes absolutely everything to a newer and more exciting level; both in terms of the amount of action on screen as well as the emotional punch its packing. It pushes itself and definitely doesn't relax. I hope people will be shocked, but of course delighted with what's been done.”

So how does it feel to be back with the old gang once more?

“It was fun to see everyone again, but what's even better is that there are more characters in this series, so, even though it's lovely to get back with the main crew and cast, it's nice to mix it up with the new faces.

“What's really cool this time around is that we're better trained. In this new reality, we're much slicker as a team. And we've got a headquarters! How great is that! It's called the ARC which stands for Anomaly Research Centre and is almost like a new character. I think it's going to be the star of the show! We were all upstaged by a cute mechanical flying lizard the first time round, and now we're about to be acted off the screen by a set!

It's clear the new series has stepped up several gears in terms of scope and size; that things are bigger and faster. With this shift in pace and amount of action, just how involved in all of this is Abby?

“Oh she's right in the middle of it all which is what I love about her. She is not afraid to get involved, to get stuck right into the action. Abby actively puts herself in the main arena

There is one moment, actually, when she takes on a sabre-toothed tiger; it's my Russell Crowe Gladiator moment,” she laughed.

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