someone who's doing some things
Yep, TV stuff. I like watching TV. Not all TV, but some shows.
Someone mentioned this to me last week, and it was one of those programmes that I’d noticed and thought might be worth watching. So when I found out that the first series was on Netflix I thought I’d try it out.
The first series was excellent, not that I can say that I enjoyed it. It’s compelling viewing though. I watched the entire first season in one go, and now I’ve moved on to the second series, and so far, it’s just as good.
I finally got around to getting series 2 of Space 1999. I started watching it and was at once amazed by the mere fact the theme music and title sequence was completely different. As I’m watching the episodes I keep noticing things that are different or unexplained for no reason whatsoever. Such as, there are several characters who aren’t present in the second season, for no reason whatsoever.
Even having said that, I’m enjoying season 2 so far.
I’d forgotten this little known BBC science fiction series. I say series, it only lasted for one season and then the BBC decided (in their infinite wisdom) to cancel it. I’ve no idea why as it was actually very good, or at least I thought it was anyway. The basic premise is that a group (about 7000 to be precise) humans end up on this life supporting world and are trying to make a life for themselves, and of course each episode is about their struggles.
There were only eight episodes made, which was a real shame as it was very good indeed. It deserved another series. It deserved to get finished, but as usual the BBC can’t be bothered to follow through on any science fiction series. They did the same to Survivors (which was really good), it seems that they just can’t do science fiction at all, or rather, they can make it, but they don’t understand that it takes people a little while to get into these kinds of shows and they need to stay the distance and not give up almost immediately.
So I’m watching it again and remembering how good it was and what a let down it was when it ended, or rather it didn’t end. It just stopped. I’m sure that the BBC will do it again at some point. I just wish they wouldn’t, especially when it’s a good story and worth watching.
So I’ve watched the whole of season 1 of Space 1999. It was good, I enjoyed it. It is slow, philosophical, and sometimes very strange, but I still enjoy it. The question is, what do I do next?
The most likely outcome is that I’ll buy season 2 on iTunes as it’s very cheap. There are another 24 episodes and then that’s it. Nothing more, but I’d like to see them and follow the whole thing through.
Having just watched Survivors (the last BBC version) for the third time (I think), I hear today that Big Finish are releasing a version of the classic TV series as an audio book. Their series 1 will be 240 minutes long and features, amongst others, Louise Jameson.
I don’t begrudge big finish, it’s just that they seem intent on releasing excellent content that I want to buy, resulting in me having to spend loads of money with them. On the one hand I don’t want them to stop, and on the other, actually I don’t want them to stop at all. I’d rather they just kept it up as it goes.
Another good story from the liberator chronicles. In keeping with the original stories and quite a lot of fun to listen to. I really should get the other box sets at some point too.
Although I haven’t finished watching season 1 as yet I’ve already discovered that getting hold of season 2 isn’t easy. At least it isn’t easy to get hold of on DVD. However, it’s easy to get on iTunes. In fact, it’s really cheap on iTunes, comparatively that is.
It is just as I remember it. The stories aren’t actually too bad by today’s standards, and it’s obvious that they’re trying to ideas and concepts in the show that weren’t being addressed elsewhere. The sets aren’t bad either, and neither are the special effects when you allow for when it was bad. Of course, the fact that it’s meant to have started in 1999 is quite amusing from today’s perspective as we’re so far away from having a base on the moon or indeed any kind of sophisticated space programme anywhere in the world.
It’ll take me a little while to get through it, but I’ll get there, and then I’ll have to decide if I’m going to get myself season 2 as well.
Continuing my theme of being into retro space opera, I’ve finally got around to finishing the comic version of the start of Space 1999, at least the first edition anyway, and I was surprised by just how closely it follows the original episode.
It’s quite interesting to read the comic and watch the old series at the same time! Although having just had a look for series two it seems to cost a fortune!
I finally watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special. I’d put it off for a bit, but finally I decided to watch it. What an enormous disappointment it was.
Now it’s only fair to say that the last season or so of Matt Smith’s doctor hasn’t been something I’ve enjoyed. On the whole I think it’s been way too sentimental, without clear individual stories, or indeed any real story arc. The main focus of Doctor Who has changed since the ‘reboot’. Over time it has moved. In the ‘original’ or ‘pre-reboot’ stories, each episode or story was about how the Doctor solved a particular problem or crisis, usually involving one or more alien races or enemies. The relationship with his companion(s) was there to serve the story and help to move it along in a variety of different ways, and different companions had different methods to assist the Doctor.
This has all now changed. In the post re-boot Doctor Who world the situation is completely reversed. The story now only exists to serve the relationship between the Doctor and his companion. Notice that there is almost never more than one companion now. This is best shown by the latest Christmas ‘special’, although I can find precious little that is special about it. In this episode, you had the daleks, the cybermen, and the sontarans, together with many others mentioned although not shown. The daleks had the most to do, although that’s not saying much at all. The cybermen had almost nothing to do at all and the sontarans were merely there for comedy value. What a waste of good aliens.
But the actually story (what exceptionally little of it there was), was only about The Doctor and his companion. Everything else was entirely superfluous. Even the Christmas dinner seemed to serve no purpose at all. So what’s the whole thing about now? It’s not the aliens, it’s not the planet, it’s not even about the regeneration, which was dealt with in just a couple of minutes. In effect Doctor Who has just become about the relationship between the Doctor and his current companion, that’s it, that’s all, and nothing more. The science fiction element is almost entirely incidental now, and that’s why I almost can’t watch it anymore.
I have high hopes for the new Doctor, but it’ll only work if the writing is spot on, and so far it’s just got worse and worse, and shows no signs of getting better. The really sad thing is that there’s no need for Doctor Who to be this bad. When you compare the current state of the television show against the stories that Big Finish put together there’s no contest at all. So why don’t the BBC just get Big Finish to take over the whole thing and make it awesome? That’s the question I’d like them to answer, although I’ve no expectation that it will happen.
So it’s an enormous shame, a great missed opportunity, and a terrible way to end Matt Smith’s Doctor. Please, someone at the BBC, sort this out. It really isn’t that hard.
I am Ashley Elsdon 