Philip Burton is the secondary antagonist in Primeval. He was an ambitious scientist and businessman and the president of Prospero Industries, who became the Anomaly Research Centre's private investor after its suspension and revival. He was more interested in the Anomalies for their potential to end energy crises, and was responsible for the New Dawn project.
He was portrayed byAlexander Siddig
Biography[]
Background[]
Philip Burton was born in 1971 in Egham, Surrey, England. As a young man, Philip was a gifted and idealistic scientist, eager to make the world a better place. As Philip made more discoveries and his reputation grew, he realised he was as good a businessman as he was a scientist and liked the celebrity status that came with his success. Philip apparently met Helen Cutter at some point, who convinced him to devise New Dawn: a secret project to create a stable, man-made Anomaly in a controlled environment and to harness its infinite green energy as a free, unlimited solution to the global energy crisis.
Approximately four months after the Anomaly Research Centre was suspended, a Stegosaurus came through an Anomaly and rampaged in the members bar at the House of Commons. The Minister came to regret suspending the ARC and so arranged a public/private partnership with Prospero Industries via Philip.
Series 4[]
After an incident at the ARC in which the Dracorex escaped from the menagerie, Philip came to the ARC and told Lester that the Minister had asked him to extend the budget for the ARC operation to which he'd agreed. He approached Matt, who had claimed to be the one responsible for the dinosaur's rampage, and asked why he was covering for Jess, saying he wasn't a very good liar. However he quickly dismissed the reason, and before he left he reminded Matt that he could be fired if he screwed up again. Philip returned to the ARC after Connor Temple and Abby Maitland had returned to the present, and wasn't sure whether to be complimented or insulted by Connor's description of him to Abby. He and Lester told them that their jobs as field team members were no longer required, as the policy was now for all team members to be from the military.
Philip watched Matt's interview with Abby and Connor, deducing that they were tired and would see that they didn't need to return to the team eventually, though Lester didn't think so. As Philip left, Lester convinced him that Abby could look after the Menagerie creatures; but when it came to Connor, Philip thought him to be undisciplined and decided not to let him rejoin the ARC. After Abby and Connor helped kill a Kaprosuchus, Lester pointed out that they were still technically field team members due to their disappearance before the policy was put into place, and Philip reluctantly agreed.
Philip later asked Connor for help with the new ARC security system. He explained to Connor that the system would scan the ARC for any creatures that escaped the Menagerie, and constantly asked Connor to do more as he continued to work on the security system's scanner.Philip, on his way out of the ARC, found Rex outside of the Menagerie. Philip tried to warn Connor to deactivate the scan, but the ARC entered lockdown and Philip and Rex were locked in the lab as the air inside was slowly sucked out. Fortunately Connor managed to cancel the lockdown, and medics managed to revive Philip. As he prepared to leave, he thanked Connor, saying he had underestimated him.
Due to the inconveniences of keeping and taking care of the creatures in the ARC Menagerie, and the lockdown incident in which he was nearly killed, Philip decided to arrange for them to be put down as there was little chance of these creature going back home. Lester didn't agree, but Philip pointed out he was in charge of the science division. However, Lester was moved by an upset Abby who wanted to save the creatures, and decided to blackmail Philip; implying that, as the Anomaly operation couldn't possibly be kept secret forever, he would reveal Philip's cull of the creatures to the public on the day the Anomalies became public knowledge. Philip grudgingly agreed to spare the lives of the creatures, but told Lester that he wouldn't be forgetting it.
Philip tried to recruit Connor into his own Anomaly-studying team, but Connor was reluctant to decide without talking to Abby first, to Philip's annoyance. When the ADD picked up a new, fluctuating Anomaly signal, Philip told the team to get down there before remembering it was Lester's call, who agreed and wasn't pleased with Philip butting in. Because the signal wasn't strong enough to confirm an exact location, Philip decided to use the ADD to lock onto the Anomaly's exact location. He ordered Abby and Connor to prioritise the Anomaly instead of the creature, but Lester reminded him that he ran the operation.
Philip convinced Connor to go after the Anomaly, and helped Jess lead him to it. Connor found the remnants of a fuel-smuggling operation at the Anomaly site, and saw that there was a metallic substance near the Anomaly, and Philip and Connor both came to realise that acid created by the dumped fuel was causing the Anomaly to become weakened. Philip was elated by the discovery, and after some trouble with the Labyrinthodont, they were returned. When Connor arrived back at the ARC, he told Philip he didn't want to abandon the others and would work for Philip in his spare time, and he told Connor that their work must remain secret, making it clear that even Abby wasn't allowed to know.
Philip came into Connor's own lab as he was showing off his Anomaly Dating Calculator, agreeing with Abby that it was impressive. As Connor and Abby left to deal with a new Anomaly, Philip warned Connor that not everything made in the lab would concern the ARC team. He later met Danny Quinn, who had come through the Anomaly and was at the ARC, saying he wouldn't blame him if he had killed Helen Cutter as he may have had no choice, but Danny said it was actually a Raptor and a fall off a cliff that killed her off. Danny was suspicious of Philip and implied that he knew of Philip's alliance with Helen. Philip brushed him off, and once Danny went to talk to his brother, Philip told Lester that Danny seemed badly shaken from his experience and seemed stressed after the encounter.
As Philip began to leave the ARC, Connor stopped his car and told Philip that he had been doing projections based on the Anomalies they had encountered and that their rate of appearance was growing. Philip asked what it meant and Connor said it would be a catastrophe, tens of thousands of Anomalies opening at once, but wasn't sure what would happen exactly. Philip assured Connor that they would do something about it and invited him into his car, saying they had much to talk about.
Series 5[]
Philip reviewed Matt's interrogation of Patrick and read his report on Danny's departure before he confronted him, asking if Danny had said anything before he'd left; but Matt said he'd been to preoccupied with Patrick. Philip then visited Connor in his lab, telling him that his Convergence theory wasn't proof of much, and told him to accompany him elsewhere. They headed to a Prospero Industries facility, and after making him sign a confidentiality form, Philip showed Connor his New Dawn project. He explained the purpose of the project, and that he wanted Connor's help. Philip then assigned April Leonard to be Connor's assistant.
Later on, April contacted Philip from inside Connor's lab to tell him that Connor would have read the New Dawn file by morning. Philip then ordered her to see if Danny had told anyone about his connection with Helen, have Connor kept on a tight leash until they were certain of his loyalty, and revealed that Connor's Anomaly Convergence theory was a key piece to a breakthrough.
Later, Connor managed to create an Anomaly and called Philip to inform him about it. Philip arrived to inspect Connor's Anomaly, but it had closed. He cast Connor's apologies aside, saying he didn't have to apologise. When the Anomaly was reopened and the team discovered what they were up to, Philip ordered them to ignore the Anomaly before leaving to oversee the data they were receiving at Prospero.
When the data transfer stopped because the Anomaly had been locked, Philip called Connor and learned that a swarm of Future Beetles had come through the Anomaly. This didn't deter Philip from ordering Connor to unlock the Anomaly until he learned that the Beetles could eat through reinforced concrete within minutes. Philip began to fear that the Beetles would become a great plague if they got out of the ARC, and April convinced him that they should sacrifice the ARC to stop the Beetles if it meant ensuring the safety of New Dawn. Philip told Connor about his plan to incinerate the ARC, saying it was due to the risk to the public, and Connor asked that he wait until Connor tried his own plan to kill the Future Beetles. However Philip decided to initiate the destruction sequence anyway, but the Beetles had caused the program to fail and Connor's plan eradicated the threat.
When Connor came to the New Dawn Facility, Philip lied that he had waited for Connor's plan to work, and said that the data they had collected had allowed them to understand how to make their plan work even more. Philip also told Connor to come the next day for a systems check; however he had already created a larger version of Connor's device to create an even larger man-made Anomaly with once Convergence came.
After Lester returned, Philip came to the former's office at the ARC to find the entire team there. Philip asked Lester what was going on, and the two then discovered that a Tyrannosaurus Rex was rampaging in Central London. Philip wanted to go to New Dawn with Connor to start the project up, but Connor delayed him by asking Philip for help with a fault in the New Dawn Prototype. When Connor and Philip were finally prepared to leave, they learned that dozens of Anomalies were opening up worldwide, and Philip realised that Convergence was starting. Before the two left, Connor asked Philip why the latter had known Connor's Convergence theory was right and had turned Connor away from it, and Philip admitted that he was trying to stop it distracting Connor from his work with New Dawn.
En route to New Dawn, when Connor and Philip got caught in a traffic jam, Philip directed Connor through Stanley Street Car Park as a shortcut. In the Car Park, their car was attacked and flipped by a Kaprosuchus. While Connor was trapped by his leg, Philip was unscathed and opted to leave Connor to start New Dawn. Connor then resorted to telling Philip that in the future, the Earth was a dying wasteland because of New Dawn, and Matt was sent back from this future. But Philip didn't believe Connor, and admitted he hadn't completely trusted him. Philip then placed the power cell for Connor's EMD just out of his reach, and left him and headed for New Dawn.
After arriving at New Dawn, Philip began the New Dawn Machine's startup sequence; and when Connor arrived with the ARC team and tried to crash the machine's computer, Philip locked him out of the system. When Matt arrived and reached Philip, the latter believed that stopping Convergence using New Dawn was the only way to save the world, but Matt argued that nature had to be allowed to run its natural path. Despite Connor's sabotage to the New Dawn Machine, Philip had been prepared for Connor's actions, and Connor had in fact unknowingly made New Dawn ready. Despite Matt's pleas that starting New Dawn would result in the destruction of all life on Earth, Philip activated the machine and created the New Dawn Anomaly.
Matt kept warning Philip of the future New Dawn would create, and pleaded to let him go and find Connor, but Philip refused, believing that nothing was wrong. When Matt asked if Philip had actually even cared about Connor, Philip claimed that it was Matt's fault Connor had turned against New Dawn in the first place. Philip then had two guards escort Matt out while he observed the New Dawn Anomaly. Later, to Philip's surprise and stress the Anomaly began to break down the facility and expand out of control. He was too preoccupied to deal with Emily when she was captured and ordered her to be taken away. As the New Dawn Anomaly began to alter Earth's weather patterns, Philip was forced to watch as the staff evacuated the building despite his orders for them to stay. As the Anomaly's effects intensified, Philip walked outside and saw what the Anomaly was doing to the planet's atmosphere. A distraught and upset Philip then realised that Helen had tricked him, and that Matt had been right about New Dawn destroying the Earth.
When Matt, Connor and Abby found Philip upset and in shock over what his life's work was doing, Connor convinced him to help them stop New Dawn. Philip realised that they could stop the New Dawn Anomaly by deactivating the system, and instructed Connor and Abby to crash the turbine room's computer, while he and Matt went to the control room. There, Philip admitted to Matt that deactivating the system would destroy the building and kill him as well, and asked Matt to leave. Once the ARC team left the facility, Philip self-destructed the building to try and stop New Dawn, and died in the process.
Personality[]
Philip was very intelligent, charismatic, likeable and well-meaning, but also arrogant, manipulative, radical and ambitious. He had noble intentions behind his actions, believing that he would make the world a better place even if others either tried to warn him otherwise or weren't aware of his secret plans. Though he was charming, calm, friendly and supportive towards others, Philip's demeanour and how he spoke to others in conversation had an underlying distrustful and manipulative side which sought to bend, manipulate and persuade people over to his thoughts and desires, particularly when Philip was interested in them or when they were getting in his way or getting close to stumbling across something that Philip didn't want them to. Due to his manipulative side and his usual efficiency at getting what he wanted through it, Philip could be rather controlling beneath his cheery exterior.
Philip's ambition, as well as being his greatest and most powerful drive, was also his most dangerous flaw; and was what had allowed Helen Cutter to be the one manipulating him into her scheme to manipulate the Anomalies and destroy humanity, by exploiting Philip's ambition and ego to get him to create New Dawn. Philip could get too far wrapped up in his ambitious ideas, to a point that could override his common sense, morals and conscience, leading to him forgetting about or even actually disregarding the needs, distress, welfare and even lives of others for the sake of a 'greater good' of sorts with Philip's own ideas. Philip could also in this respect be very arrogant, refusing to believe or listen to others' attempts to warn him of the truth about the destruction his plans would bring if they weren't stopped, and expressing a level of contempt and disgust and treating those people as inferior when Philip's darker colours were showing.
Philip's ego and ambitious drive peaked when Convergence finally came and the completed New Dawn could finally be activated and his dream made a reality, with Philip even going as far as to leave Connor injured and trapped with a creature on the loose rather than let Connor try to stop New Dawn, and putting getting New Dawn's activation stabilised as a higher priority than allowing anyone to rescue Connor after he'd fallen through the manmade Anomaly. When Philip lost control of New Dawn and discovered that Matt and the ARC had been right about New Dawn destroying the Earth, his ego and his hopes and dreams with New Dawn were shattered and he realised that Helen had tricked him into destroying humanity. Ultimately, with his flaw and error realised and with his work threatening to doom all life on Earth, Philip chose to sacrifice his own life attempting to stop the apocalypse he had created, choosing to die doing the right thing.
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 Villains
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Primeval Primeval: New World
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