By Captain Pyke | December 4, 2010 - 1:06 pm

All of you know Alexander Siddig as our kindly Dr. Julian Bashir aboard Deep Space Nine, but Alexander has had quite a film career after leaving the sick bay. From serious film roles in "Syriana" & "Kingdom of Heaven" to scifi / fantasy films "like Clash of the Titans" & "Reign of Fire", Alexander has yet to make a permanent move back to the small screen & episodic TV, until now. Starting early next year you'll be able to catch Alexander in the ITV series "Primeval". Launching in season 4 (or series 4, as the British say) he'll be joining and running the ARC as Phillip Burton. Not familiar with "Primeval"? The show follows a team of five scientists tasked with investigating the appearance of temporal anomalies across Great Britain through which prehistoric and futuristic creatures enter the present.

In a recent interview with UnrealityTV, Alexander gives a brief synopsis of his character as well as his thoughts on returning to the episodic scifi genre.

You’re new to Primeval with a brand new character. What can you tell us about Philip?

Philip is one of those guys who donates loads of money to a political party and gets a peerage or something. He’s clearly really close to the political powers-that-be, so he’s their representative on Earth. But he’s an entrepreneur; a scientific entrepreneur to be exact. He’s invented loads of stuff and become a billionaire as a result. He sees the ARC as his new playground. And he’s coming to play.

How do the established members of the ARC react to him?

Ben Miller’s character is quietly tolerant of him, because there’s a touch of the Labrador about Lester. Philip sees him as a domesticated animal, so he kind of eats him for lunch. Obviously Connor is a little bit different and Philip targets him and starts to groom him. He realises how important Connor could be, and he sees him as kind of a genius. Philip really starts to encourage him and sees him as a real hope for the future. Of course, Abby is pretty annoyed about that. I don’t think Philip really knows why and maybe it’s because he’s taken her boyfriend away, or maybe she thinks his suits are too well pressed.

You are a Star Trek alumni. Are you pleased to be back on genre TV? Do you tend to gravitate towards it?

I’ve been sort of avoiding it for a long time, so this is just like coming home. I grew up on genre sets and that audience is one I know and love. We get on well. I’m very comfortable on genre TV, and I just love the inventiveness. The dashing around from reality to heightened reality. You can also do fun things with characters, and stuff you couldn’t do on kitchen sink TV.

(source UnrealityTV)