Bradford actor Andrew-Lee Potts is set to explode on our TV screens next week for the third series of hit show Primeval… and this one promises to be an absolute monster.

Andrew, 29, originally from Wibsey, reprises his role as Connor Temple, one of the team responsible for investigating “anomalies” which allow huge beasts from the distant past and far future to rampage across present-day Britain.

And he says that the technical team responsible for bringing the monsters to life have pulled out all the stops and excelled themselves this time round.

Not only are the beasties bigger than ever, but so is the series – it begins on Saturday night on ITV1 on March 28 and runs for ten weeks – its longest season ever.

He joins his real-life partner, former S Club 7 popster Hannah Spearritt, who once again takes the role of Abby, to fight off the beasts with the rest of the team – Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall), James Lester (Ben Miller) and Claudia Brown (Lucy Brown).

There are also several newcomers to the team for the third series, including Footballers’ Wives bad girl Laila Rouass and Jason Flemyng.

Andrew told the T&A: “We’ve only just seen the finished episodes ourselves. I know I say this every year when a new season comes out, but this time it really blew me away. The effects team has absolutely pulled it out of the bag – they’re pushing the limits of what can be done on television.”

Among the monsters we’ll be hiding behind the sofa from this time round are an Egyptian demon, a G-Rex – think T-Rex but bigger and nastier – and even a knight on horseback chasing a fire-breathing dragon through one of the anomalies, or gates between time zones.

Andrew said: “It’s totally hardcore.”

His character, Connor, who started off as an affable geek providing comedy relief between monsters, is also facing some major changes this series.

Andrew said: “I can’t say too much but Connor gets a major storyline, and he has to grow up in quite a serious way. It’s probably fair to say this series is a bit darker than the first two, and while we’re getting a few new faces, we might be losing some too…”

Andrew said he owes the success of Connor to his dad Alan, of Wibsey. He said: “I based some of Connor’s best characteristics on him. My dad’s got a cracking sense of humour and I always try my lines out on him. I owe him a huge amount.”

e-mail: david.barnett @telegraphandargus.co.uk