Bradford TV star Andrew-Lee Potts has been immortalised in plastic as part of a range of action figures released on the back of the soaring popularity of his Saturday night dinosaur thriller Primeval.

But Andrew, 28, of Wibsey was stunned when producers of the ITV show sent the five-inch poseable figure back for remodelling - because they thought Andrew's toy looked too HANDSOME!

Andrew, who plays geeky accidental hero Connor Temple in the show, said: "They go from your bone structure, and I've got quite a strong bone structure, even though I pull a lot of stupid faces.

"They did that, but they thought it was a bit too macho-looking, so they came back with another one where they made me look a bit more ugly! When my mum saw it she got a bit weirded out. It is really quite strange and surreal."

The figures, out now through Argos and other toy retailers, are based on the full set of characters from the hit show, including Andrew's co-star and real-life girlfriend Hannah Spearritt, the former S Club 7 singer who plays zoologist Abby Maitland.

Each figure, produced by licensed toy specialists Character Options, comes with a primordial beastie to battle with.

Primeval, which sees episode four of the second series hit TV screens tonight at 7.10pm, has been one of the surprise hits of the last 12 months, ever since its first season was launched a year ago in the Saturday evening slot made popular for thrilling family entertainment by the re-booted Doctor Who.

Each week the team, led by Douglas Henshall's Professor Nick Cutter, combat monsters from prehistoric times - and sometimes the far future - which fall through time-holes, or "anomalies", into the present day UK.

The show is proving so popular that ITV has already announced that it will be back for a third series in 2009.

And fans are being given the chance to have a say in what monsters the team will battle next time round.

Until April 7, Primeval buffs can submit their ideas for futuristic creatures to www.itv.com/primeval, and the winner will see their design brought to life by the special effects team who also worked on the Walking with Dinosaurs documentaries.

Executive producer Tim Haines said: "We are extremely proud of Primeval and are overjoyed by the success of the second series. Its popularity demonstrates that you can create characters' in CGI that audiences will respond to. By giving people the opportunity to design a monster for the third series we are creating a chance for them to be more involved and feel closer to the programme."

e-mail: david.barnett@ bradford.newsquest.co.uk