So, continuing with the scifi and fantasy series that inspired me to write in the first place and the upcoming new ones that encourage me, here are the next four. Enjoy!
5.Red Dwarf. Although this is more comedy than scifi, it has to be on my list. All four main characters have some of the worst and most extreme character flaws ever, added to that the fact that only one is actually (barely) human - a cat that's evolved, an android, the last human being alive and a hologram of one of the dead crew, all aboard a mining vessel piloted by an artificial intelligence called Holly who has the mental 'IQ of 12000 traffic wardens.' The series follows their misadventures through space, and occasionally time as they try to return to Earth after three million years lost out in space. The clip is from a 'dream recorder' and features the Cat.
6.Primeval. Probably one of the lesser known series, and temporarily axed when ITV ran out of money to make it. Thankfully the BBC agreed to help fund it (makes my TV licence even more worthwhile!). 'Stealing' my idea of gateways through time and space (oh, wait, that was Stargate too ... ), a mismatched team originally comprising a Professor of Paleontology and his big-game hunting assistant, a nerdy conspiracy-theory student, a 'lizard girl' from a wildlife park, and a reluctant couple of civil servants, they track down anomalies that lead to Earth's prehistoric past. My kids adore this series, so it makes for one of the few times of family viewing where we all sit quiet and watch!
7.Merlin. This is probably the most recent newcomer to my list. At first I was a little wary - 'oh, no, not another remake of the King Arthur legend, sigh' - but it does a fabulous job of it, with a twist. It follows the story of a young Merlin, new to his powers and trying to survive under the ruling of Arthur's father, Uther, who had banned all magic and executes anyone even suspected of witchcraft. Prince Arthur is an ass, even if a rather handsome, gallant one, and Merlin is a soft-hearted fool. The best thing is my daughter loves it too. :)
8.The Sarah Jane Adventures. Okay, okay, I know this one was really intended for kids, but again it's something I can watch with mine and for me it harkens back to the early days of Doctor Who before they revamped it with all the mushy stuff that gets in the way of the stories these days. Also, it starred my favourite companion, the first one not there solely to make the Doctor look good and to scream in all the right places. Sarah Jane had spunk and spirit! Sadly, the actress who played her - Elisabeth Sladen - passed away from cancer earlier in the year. Sarah Jane Smith was companion (briefly) to the dandy third Doctor Jon Pertwee, and then to the eccentric fourth incarnation Tom Baker. The new Doctors have made guest appearances in some of the Sarah Jane Adventures. No longer travelling in the TARDIS, Sarah Jane nevertheless continued to battle aliens intending to conquer the Earth, with the aid of two young side-kicks, an artificially created boy genius that she adopts as her son, K-9 and an alien super-computer.
So what are your top scifi or fantasy series?
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Inspirations - Scifi/fantasy Series Part 1
After a discussion on Twitter about a certain scifi series, it got me thinking about all those I've watched over the years and that I've fallen in love with or felt inspired to write by watching. Once I started writing the post, I realized there were quite a few so I've split the post into two parts to make it easier. So, in no particular order, these are my top scifi/fantasy series. Enjoy!
1.Doctor Who. Probably the first scifi series I ever watched, and mostly because my parents were fans. The never-ending (?) journeys through time and space of the renegade Time Lord, now the last of his people, has been running since 1963, which must be a record. The earliest episode I can recall was the very last Jon Pertwee adventure - Planet of the Spiders - and I often wonder if it was the source of my spider phobia. :-/
Of course, it's come a long way since then ...
2.Star Trek. The pure, unadulterated original series! Again, my parents were fans so it was kind of compulsory viewing in our household, but even so my love for ST took me to watch all the following versions. Out of all of them, DS9 was probably my favourite, with Voyager coming a sadly-disappointing last. I tired so hard to like Captain Janeway, but she just didn't cut it for me. Seven of Nine was the only redeeming feature. :( Star Trek is often quoted as being ground-breaking because of the mixture of races and genders working together in a form of equality that many are still striving for even now. The range of story-lines, often covering moral dilemmas as much as Kirk's reputation of 'shoot to kill' make up for the periods of dodgy acting and even more dodgy special effects.
(I really like the Flintstones mash-up of the original, lol.)
3.Farscape. I LOVE Farscape! It's probably been the biggest influence on my writing that I've been consciously aware of. I even treated myself to the complete DVD set including the Peacekeeper Wars as a Christmas present. The idea of a living ship, of an alien that's a plant, of travel through wormholes, and helium farts (yes, you read that right) - fabulous! The relationships between all of the crew and the gradual romance between Crichton and Aeryn are all beautifully done. John Crichton, astronaut, falls through a wormhole to another universe and becomes part of a crew of escaping prisoners aboard a living ship - a Leviathan - called Moya as they attempt to evade the Peacekeepers.
4.Blake's Seven. My husband mocks my fondness for this lo-budget old scifi, but I loved it. It had a fab alien ship, elegant weapons and a hodge-podge of the most psychologically conflicting and demented characters ever. The constant sniping from sardonic Kerr Avon kept up the friction even when poor scenery and the odd dodgy storyline let it down. The iconic Deep Space Vehicle Two - better known as the Liberator - is a state-of-the-art space ship high-jacked by a band of criminals and led by the moral crusader Roj Blake as they attempt to evade the corrupt and tyrannical Federation. You could consider it an early version of Farscape without the romance.
So that's the first four, and I'll post the rest next week. But what's your top scifi series and why? :)
1.Doctor Who. Probably the first scifi series I ever watched, and mostly because my parents were fans. The never-ending (?) journeys through time and space of the renegade Time Lord, now the last of his people, has been running since 1963, which must be a record. The earliest episode I can recall was the very last Jon Pertwee adventure - Planet of the Spiders - and I often wonder if it was the source of my spider phobia. :-/
Of course, it's come a long way since then ...
2.Star Trek. The pure, unadulterated original series! Again, my parents were fans so it was kind of compulsory viewing in our household, but even so my love for ST took me to watch all the following versions. Out of all of them, DS9 was probably my favourite, with Voyager coming a sadly-disappointing last. I tired so hard to like Captain Janeway, but she just didn't cut it for me. Seven of Nine was the only redeeming feature. :( Star Trek is often quoted as being ground-breaking because of the mixture of races and genders working together in a form of equality that many are still striving for even now. The range of story-lines, often covering moral dilemmas as much as Kirk's reputation of 'shoot to kill' make up for the periods of dodgy acting and even more dodgy special effects.
(I really like the Flintstones mash-up of the original, lol.)
3.Farscape. I LOVE Farscape! It's probably been the biggest influence on my writing that I've been consciously aware of. I even treated myself to the complete DVD set including the Peacekeeper Wars as a Christmas present. The idea of a living ship, of an alien that's a plant, of travel through wormholes, and helium farts (yes, you read that right) - fabulous! The relationships between all of the crew and the gradual romance between Crichton and Aeryn are all beautifully done. John Crichton, astronaut, falls through a wormhole to another universe and becomes part of a crew of escaping prisoners aboard a living ship - a Leviathan - called Moya as they attempt to evade the Peacekeepers.
4.Blake's Seven. My husband mocks my fondness for this lo-budget old scifi, but I loved it. It had a fab alien ship, elegant weapons and a hodge-podge of the most psychologically conflicting and demented characters ever. The constant sniping from sardonic Kerr Avon kept up the friction even when poor scenery and the odd dodgy storyline let it down. The iconic Deep Space Vehicle Two - better known as the Liberator - is a state-of-the-art space ship high-jacked by a band of criminals and led by the moral crusader Roj Blake as they attempt to evade the corrupt and tyrannical Federation. You could consider it an early version of Farscape without the romance.
So that's the first four, and I'll post the rest next week. But what's your top scifi series and why? :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)