Does Primeval rely too heavily on the Doctor Who formula?

Den of Geek recently posted Primeval V Doctor Who, an article which looks at ITV's dinosaur sci-fi show and notes the obvious influences of new and vintage Doctor Who on the show.

Matt - the author of the article - criticises the 'monster of the week' format. I confess, there are shows where I can tolerate this convention and shows where it appears to be a crutch for lazy scriptwriters to lean on. Furthermore, he namechecks programmes that build upon the Doctor Who formula - both BBC and ITV efforts such as: Demons, Robin Hood, Merlin, Apparitions, Torchwood and Bonekickers.

He notes that all of these shows have glaringly bad aspects. I agree. Doctor Who has had the odd turkey of an episode (check the latest special Planet Of The Dead for evidence). Robin Hood is such an incredibly lightweight show, which Merlin managed to improve upon.

However, in for particular attention are the CGI beasties and the expectation that we need a grand animated monster in every episode. The machinations of Christine Johnson and Helen Cutter are probably more interesting than the monsters themselves. Nevertheless, there's a need to balance real drama with computer animation:

Recently, Primeval seems to be attempting to reproduce the creepiness of the more successful episodes of the Doctor Who revival, but in resistance to this attempt, the series seems to be hampered by the expectation of an expensive 'monster reveal' in every episode that, so far without exception, has drained the story of uncanny horror or (to use a phrase from the marketing department of Doctor Who) the ‘fear factor’.

As if to reinforce my concerns for the future of Primeval based on these creative tensions, I’ve just seen the trailer for the next episode. A medieval knight has come through an anomaly accompanied by…a CGI dragon.

It's a good read for Doctor Who and Primeval fans alike. While I enjoy the series, I do tend to see most of this Saturday night fodder as derivative of Doctor Who, and maybe it's time some of these shows raised their game. At least attempted to step out of the shadow of the TARDIS.

What do you think?