What's your favourite sci-fi series (if any)

[captain nemo1701]

For Quatermass and the Pit fans - did you know that the 1958/59 series is currently available on iPlayer?

Well worth a watch, late at night, with lights off, when everyone else has gone to bed ... spooky.

Oh, and if X-Files is considered sci-fi, from more modern times I'll nominate ... X-Files.

The Hammer movie version still scares me.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Very much so - especially once you get into the meat of season 2. (And beyond, of course...)..

When I saw it on TV, at the time of its creation I thought it was the best TV ever, up until season 4 and I gave up on "Between the Darkness and the Light" which was episode 19 of 22 as the program had changed so much.

This was later explained as they team thought that there wasn't going to be a season 5 so season 4 was rushed to finish a number of story lines.

Having watched it again on DVD I came to the conclusion that the overall story arc lacks sense and credibility!

To avoid a detailed argument which would have to include spoilers I had two big issues shown below.

Bye

Ian

******** Spoilerish questions ****************







The resolution of "human souls in Minbari bodies" and how this affected the whole story line and the side issue of a possible marriage of a father to his great-great-great......great grand-daughter and the long term destruction of a whole race as a result.

How the White Stars ended up under the control of a hated human, this was never credible in my mind.

The loss of O'Hare and his character seems to have upset the story arc quite a bit and introducing a new B5 commander rather than a new actor seems to have been a mistake in my mind.

 

[Reynard]

The loss of O'Hare and his character seems to have upset the story arc quite a bit and introducing a new B5 commander rather than a new actor seems to have been a mistake in my mind.

Then I suggest you do some reading around. Michael O'Hare was (already) then battling mental health and other issues, which effectively forced JMS' hand in replacing him with Bruce Boxleitner. It was this that was one of the underlying reasons behind the whole Sinclair story arc that went on through seasons 2 and 3, culminating in "War Without End". And also the reason why the Rangers (and the white star fleet) started and then continued under Human command.

You also forget that it was the Minbari warrior caste that was anti-human and not the Minbari as a whole. After the events of "Moments of Transition", the political balance on Minbar changes, and the warrior caste lose a lot of their influence. Sorry, am geeky on the whole Minbari politics thing (I've done a LOT of research on this), as I'm in the middle of writing a fanfic that traces the events on Minbar from Grey 17 is Missing through to Moments of Transition as seen (mainly) from Neroon's perspective.

Also, there is quite a bit of material online which proves that JMS had to think on his feet regarding all the changes that he had to make: Michael O'Hare's departure from the series, other actor & character changes (Na'toth, Warren Keffer, Talia Winters, Ivanova...), the problems with WB etc etc etc. Effectively, what was produced was somewhat different to what was the original story arc.

Overall, I do think it stands up well. For me, it are the individual characters' journeys that really make the series for me - in particular, Neroon, G'kar, Londo and Vir. That, all the political machinations and for me, the sheer quality of the writing. How can anyone sit through G'kar's closing monologue in "Z'ha'dum" and NOT be moved?

B5 is not without it's faults, but it's still a lot better than much newer stuff out there.

 

[captain nemo1701]

Good morning,



When I saw it on TV, at the time of its creation I thought it was the best TV ever, up until season 4 and I gave up on "Between the Darkness and the Light" which was episode 19 of 22 as the program had changed so much.

This was later explained as they team thought that there wasn't going to be a season 5 so season 4 was rushed to finish a number of story lines.

Having watched it again on DVD I came to the conclusion that the overall story arc lacks sense and credibility!

To avoid a detailed argument which would have to include spoilers I had two big issues shown below.

Bye

Ian

******** Spoilerish questions ****************







The resolution of "human souls in Minbari bodies" and how this affected the whole story line and the side issue of a possible marriage of a father to his great-great-great......great grand-daughter and the long term destruction of a whole race as a result.

How the White Stars ended up under the control of a hated human, this was never credible in my mind.

The loss of O'Hare and his character seems to have upset the story arc quite a bit and introducing a new B5 commander rather than a new actor seems to have been a mistake in my mind.

In my time, I've met both the B5 Doctor & Mr Garibaldi, both sadly no longer with us.

 

[Reynard]

In my time, I've met both the B5 Doctor & Mr Garibaldi, both sadly no longer with us.

It's actually quite sad to see how much of the core cast have gone beyond the veil.

Not just Richard Biggs, Jerry Doyle and Michael O'Hare, but Tim Choate, Andreas Katsulas and Stephen Furst as well...

A few of the more memorable guest stars are no longer with us either.

 

[Chromatic]

Older ones: Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis
Newer: Fringe, Dr Who (2005 on), Torchwood
Cancelled when should NOT have been: Firefly, Dark Matter
Good remakes: Battlestar Galactica
Bizarre and strange: Lexx

I'm a bit of a SciFi and Fantasy geek, I have a collection of about 1000 SciFi and Fantasy books at home, and numerous DVD series. I haven't mentioned any fantasy series above, but there's heaps of good ones out there.

Good call!

 

[Beebo]

The new trailer for Star Wars is out.
it implies that C3PO dies. Good I never liked him.
but I bet he doesn’t actually die.

 

[captain nemo1701]

The new trailer for Star Wars is out.
it implies that C3PO dies. Good I never liked him.
but I bet he doesn’t actually die.

I've given up on SW. It really ended in 1983. It was conceived as a serial and tells the story of the rise and fall of an evil empire. The new ones simply recycle old plots with new characters. The 'independent' stories like Solo & Rogue One fill in the gaps and are much better. And I'm the original SW generation - saw it back in '78. Disney is just milking an ageing franchise.

 

[Proto]

Have we had Space Patrol yet?

 

[Flakey]

I used to enjoy when the BBC would show old B&W episodes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rodgers during the Christmas hols when I was a kid. Also looking forward to the new War of the Worlds (hope the stick to the book).

 

[Profpointy]

I used to enjoy when the BBC would show old B&W episodes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rodgers during the Christmas hols when I was a kid. Also looking forward to the new War of the Worlds (hope the stick to the book).

I have the Flash Gordon boxed set, although I've not started watching it yet. I remember it being great fun as a kid.

I do recall Flash being a prisoner working on the "atom furnaces" where the cover was opened and he had to shovel in uranium or whatever being blasted by the radiation. Though comical at the time, it came to mind later seeing the news footage of desperate attempts to contain the Chernobyl disaster.

 

[Proto]

How about the 1950’s radio series Journey into Space, written by Charles Chilton. I really enjoyed this on iPlayer a year or so ago, it’s well worth seeking out.

 

[Reynard]

How about the 1950’s radio series Journey into Space, written by Charles Chilton. I really enjoyed this on iPlayer a year or so ago, it’s well worth seeking out.

I remember listening to this in the late 80s. Didn't realise it was on i-player, will have to revisit that...

 

[Boo]

1) The HitchHikers Guide To The Galaxy. (For me, it's the books, then the TV Series, then the radio series (although I completely get the love for that). Obviously we don't talk about... that film.)
2) Firefly. Joss is boss. The most quotable Sci-Fi series ever. And it's got Kaylee in it.
3) Pretty much everything else.

Anyone remember Sky? It was a tea-time kids TV series that really unnerved me as a youngling.

 

[captain nemo1701]

1) The HitchHikers Guide To The Galaxy. (For me, it's the books, then the TV Series, then the radio series (although I completely get the love for that). Obviously we don't talk about... that film.)
2) Firefly. Joss is boss. The most quotable Sci-Fi series ever. And it's got Kaylee in it.
3) Pretty much everything else.

Anyone remember Sky? It was a tea-time kids TV series that really unnerved me as a youngling.

HHG radio series is the best, closely followed by the BBC Tv version which is only the first six episodes.

Yes, remember Sky too.
Didn't really get into Firefly as it just looked like a western that happened to have a spaceship in it.