If you have the version number, or the target release, apt-get supports choosing a particular version or target release. More details can be found on manual page of apt-get. It can also be accessed from terminal by typing
man apt-getsudo apt-get install <package-name>=<package-version-number> OR
sudo apt-get -t=<target release> install <package-name>
is the command to be run. This can be used to down-grade a package to a specific version.
It has been helpfully pointed out in the comments that
apt-cache showpkg lists all available versions. (h/t Sparhawk)
apt-mark hold "holds" the package at the current version, preventing automatic upgrades.
