Sunday in mid November has been a day with good work completed in the morning followed by several hours of science fiction TV.
David Tennant is the second of two fine young British actors who have performed the role of Dr Who. I say young although David is approaching forty and already has a number of the great Shakespearean roles to his name was well as enjoying the light-hearted stuff such a couple of Harry Potter films and St Trinians where he is appears in the latest follow up in 2010.
He has brought an adult approach to this original, in every sense, pioneering British mini series which introduced aliens from the distant corners of the universe to school children and their parents. The series commenced in 1963 and after several years, when the assumption was it had run its course, it was resurrected in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston and winning two Bafta’s in 2006. David Tennant is the 10th Doctor and last year it was announced he would be replaced by the relative unknown Matt Smith but with David contributing one off hour length shows during the year.
For forty years Dr Who has been a six pm early evening Saturday fixture on return from the 3 o’clock afternoon football matches and enabling the older primary school audience watch if parents permitted before bed time and the eschewing nightmares about Daleks, Cybermen and a range of one off alien monster creations.
Sunday night’s 7pm programme merited a 9pm watershed start such was its theme, the monster creations, the outcome and the intensity of the acting. The subject has been covered several times before, an outpost on an otherwise deserted planet, this time the first outpost on Mars, and the threat comes from a virus, into the water system where one drop can turn a human into a water flowing zombie with crazy distorted features around the mouth.
The Dr lands on the planet unaware of the time or purpose of the visit until he remembers media records that all the members of the five year mission perished in an explosion where the cause has never been known. As the tragedy unfolds he tries to bring consolation to the leader of the mission who as a child had an encounter with the Dalek on earth around 2010 in which her parents disappeared and where the Dalek looks at her through a window and moves away. Dr Who’s view is that the creature was able to see that her death was fixed in the future. The consolation is that her daughter and granddaughter is to become a leading space explorer. Just when the station is to be blown up to prevent the alien infection from getting to earth via the escape rocket the Doctor decides to intervene and in a last second transfer to the Tardis Police Box he rescues the expedition leader and two members of the team back to earth and to the front of the former homer of the leader as snow falls on London. However she decides he has been playing God and had no right to intervene with the future of human beings in this way and shoots herself. The Doctor questions if he has gone too far and if his appointed hour has come, Soon, but now.
In the first past of the afternoon I had intended to watch England play in the second 20 20 match against South African but it was evident after the toss was won by the home side and they elected to bat on another perfect wicket which way the game was going to go after the first few overs. I had discovered a re-showing of the pilot two hour series Babylon Five which remains the best Sci fi adventure series to date outshining the various transformations of Star Trek and the cinematic Star Wars. As with Star Trek the attraction is an excellent master storyline, individual episode adventures and the interactions between the regular cast members. I was not in the mood to watch the subsequent episodes of the first series shown on the FX UK channel and turned to the third series of the 4400 and the first three of its episodes. Babylon Five merits close attention on another day along with Star Trek, Star Wars Superman and Batman.
I continue to have reservations about aspects of the 4400 series although the primary concept is a good one. It will be remembered that 4400 human beings have been taken during the 20th century by the future and returned without memory of what happened while they were away, but with an awareness that they have a role to play in saving the future of humanity by using their special powers. These follow the belief that all beings have paranormal powers locked away within the brain, and which can be unlocked or suppressed by chemical means. These include the ability to see into the future and to cause objects to move and with a reminder of the recent film The Men who stared at Goats or the secret CIA sponsored research work on brain power and manipulation, the ability to get other human beings to commit acts against their nature and knowledge. In the first three episodes of the 13 part third season the ability to regenerate is explored in the first double episode, The New World, together with shape shifting, the subject of both the Star Trek and Babylon Five series which also deals with mind reading which again is part of the New World episodes.
The underlying issue of the third series and the whole concept is that if Christ returned with a new set of apostles and performed miracles, if aliens from other planets arrived to help save the planet or if as in the is instance earth humans return with such a mission, far from being greeted with enthusiasm and cooperation, governments will unite and at best regard such individuals as dangerous freaks to be watched and if necessary imprisoned, rendered ineffective or destroyed.
This is not an unreasonable position if taken by responsible governments and in reality it is more likely that individuals government would work to pursue their own ends, commercial and militarily if such a situation occurred in reality. The idea that competing governments , let alone cold wear enemies, will work together if there is a common threat without taking account of their own interests was exploded when Russia joined Germany and then the Allies during World War II after which the two national blocs waged economic and political war on each other directly and indirectly in the countries of others.
Given that the individual possess supernormal powers it is also not unreasonable that governments will also adapt existing security measures to meet the new threat. It is also not surprising that the state become hostile if members of a group adopt violence and terrorism as a means of furthering their cause and start to talk in terms of preparing for war. I say this because a group of the 4400 begin talking in terms of the coming war and commence to use their powers in terrorist activities with the raid on the command centre and with a demonstration project of their potential power scheduled for a date which becomes known to the authorities but where they fail to determine the form. This instance of the New World the demonstration is not a negative one but the transformation of part of a desert into wheat growing.
As with the other episodes in the first two seasons there is a continuation of the lives and relationships of the core characters. The main development concerns the former US pilot Richard, his wife Lily and their daughter Isabelle. At the end of series two Isabelle had been transformed overnight from a baby into a twenty year old young woman and at the commencement of the new series her mother has aged by the same two decades but although Isabelle stops her mother progressively deteriorates and Shawn’s curative power cannot halt this development. Richard takes Lily back to their hideaway in the forest by the river where they had found happiness until discovered by the evangelical Minister where she dies. Tipi Hedren, famous for her Hitchcock roles as Marnie and the Birds plays the aged Lily in the two episodes as the original actress had decided to leave the show between seasons.
Isabelle tries to kill herself as a way of preventing the death of her mother but discovers she had has the power to regenerate. She also sets out on a mission to experience everything she would have as a teenager and the eventually results in having a relationship with Shawn. Who begun to question the activities of the undercover group which he has bankrolled through 4400 centre funding.
The former head of the Government unit, Denis Ryland is asked to appear before a Congressional Committee during which he takes full and sole responsibility for devising the abnormal powers inhibitor programme and about which he remains unrepentant. Then his legal counsellor attempts to stab him to death under the influence of the same young woman who was used previously on the attack on the command centre. She is captured with the help of Shawn when he is asked to give more funds and the young woman is sent instead of the apparent leader of the breakaway group which is known as the Nova group.
Dr Kevin Burkoff, the former institutionalised scientist with published work about the brain and is potential powers has started to experiment on himself with the development of a drug which will enable all human being to develop similar powers to those of the 4400.
Also reintroduced into the series is Gary Navarro the former baseball star who can hear what is in people’s head, and who is being used by the government as part of the national security services. Garry found his powers overwhelming as he could not discriminate between the thinking of people, especially when confronted with crowds. However he has become able to control and focus his powers from accepting what he is. Unknown to Tom and Diana he feeds them false information about the Nova group and he then tries to kill Ryland with an injection who is recovering from the knife attack in hospital. Ryland survives again.
Tom Baldwin, the main government investigator and 4400 security agent, who previously was explained the purpose of the return of 4400 by the future, following the taking of Shaun instead of his son, is taking trips into fantasy reality by his wife who also now has control of the power which first brought them together. Fellow agent Diana is also concerned about the future of her daughter and with some reluctance takes her to the 4400 centre school.
Being Tom Baldwin is the third episode and is natural progression from the openers. The main subject is the death of the Nova terrorist in custody allegedly by Tom Baldwin. This plot follows closely pilot of Babylon 5 in which the station commander is thought to have been the person attempting to poison the last representatives of the great races of the known universe who are to become members of the Council based at the station and where the races are represented by Ambassadors. In both programme the culprit is a shape shifter, someone able to appear as the identical of real people. The most famous science fiction shape shifter appeared the Star Trek series and the ability to transform goes back to ancient mythology and folklore in many countries and times. Tom is exonerated and the episodes also reveals that Dr Burkoff’s experiment has result in him have regenerative power with various unpleasant side effects. This also brings to mind the battle in the series the X Men between the Mutants and the rest of humanity, including the approach taken by governments. I am interested in what happens next but it does not form a main experience in my life.
David Tennant is the second of two fine young British actors who have performed the role of Dr Who. I say young although David is approaching forty and already has a number of the great Shakespearean roles to his name was well as enjoying the light-hearted stuff such a couple of Harry Potter films and St Trinians where he is appears in the latest follow up in 2010.
He has brought an adult approach to this original, in every sense, pioneering British mini series which introduced aliens from the distant corners of the universe to school children and their parents. The series commenced in 1963 and after several years, when the assumption was it had run its course, it was resurrected in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston and winning two Bafta’s in 2006. David Tennant is the 10th Doctor and last year it was announced he would be replaced by the relative unknown Matt Smith but with David contributing one off hour length shows during the year.
For forty years Dr Who has been a six pm early evening Saturday fixture on return from the 3 o’clock afternoon football matches and enabling the older primary school audience watch if parents permitted before bed time and the eschewing nightmares about Daleks, Cybermen and a range of one off alien monster creations.
Sunday night’s 7pm programme merited a 9pm watershed start such was its theme, the monster creations, the outcome and the intensity of the acting. The subject has been covered several times before, an outpost on an otherwise deserted planet, this time the first outpost on Mars, and the threat comes from a virus, into the water system where one drop can turn a human into a water flowing zombie with crazy distorted features around the mouth.
The Dr lands on the planet unaware of the time or purpose of the visit until he remembers media records that all the members of the five year mission perished in an explosion where the cause has never been known. As the tragedy unfolds he tries to bring consolation to the leader of the mission who as a child had an encounter with the Dalek on earth around 2010 in which her parents disappeared and where the Dalek looks at her through a window and moves away. Dr Who’s view is that the creature was able to see that her death was fixed in the future. The consolation is that her daughter and granddaughter is to become a leading space explorer. Just when the station is to be blown up to prevent the alien infection from getting to earth via the escape rocket the Doctor decides to intervene and in a last second transfer to the Tardis Police Box he rescues the expedition leader and two members of the team back to earth and to the front of the former homer of the leader as snow falls on London. However she decides he has been playing God and had no right to intervene with the future of human beings in this way and shoots herself. The Doctor questions if he has gone too far and if his appointed hour has come, Soon, but now.
In the first past of the afternoon I had intended to watch England play in the second 20 20 match against South African but it was evident after the toss was won by the home side and they elected to bat on another perfect wicket which way the game was going to go after the first few overs. I had discovered a re-showing of the pilot two hour series Babylon Five which remains the best Sci fi adventure series to date outshining the various transformations of Star Trek and the cinematic Star Wars. As with Star Trek the attraction is an excellent master storyline, individual episode adventures and the interactions between the regular cast members. I was not in the mood to watch the subsequent episodes of the first series shown on the FX UK channel and turned to the third series of the 4400 and the first three of its episodes. Babylon Five merits close attention on another day along with Star Trek, Star Wars Superman and Batman.
I continue to have reservations about aspects of the 4400 series although the primary concept is a good one. It will be remembered that 4400 human beings have been taken during the 20th century by the future and returned without memory of what happened while they were away, but with an awareness that they have a role to play in saving the future of humanity by using their special powers. These follow the belief that all beings have paranormal powers locked away within the brain, and which can be unlocked or suppressed by chemical means. These include the ability to see into the future and to cause objects to move and with a reminder of the recent film The Men who stared at Goats or the secret CIA sponsored research work on brain power and manipulation, the ability to get other human beings to commit acts against their nature and knowledge. In the first three episodes of the 13 part third season the ability to regenerate is explored in the first double episode, The New World, together with shape shifting, the subject of both the Star Trek and Babylon Five series which also deals with mind reading which again is part of the New World episodes.
The underlying issue of the third series and the whole concept is that if Christ returned with a new set of apostles and performed miracles, if aliens from other planets arrived to help save the planet or if as in the is instance earth humans return with such a mission, far from being greeted with enthusiasm and cooperation, governments will unite and at best regard such individuals as dangerous freaks to be watched and if necessary imprisoned, rendered ineffective or destroyed.
This is not an unreasonable position if taken by responsible governments and in reality it is more likely that individuals government would work to pursue their own ends, commercial and militarily if such a situation occurred in reality. The idea that competing governments , let alone cold wear enemies, will work together if there is a common threat without taking account of their own interests was exploded when Russia joined Germany and then the Allies during World War II after which the two national blocs waged economic and political war on each other directly and indirectly in the countries of others.
Given that the individual possess supernormal powers it is also not unreasonable that governments will also adapt existing security measures to meet the new threat. It is also not surprising that the state become hostile if members of a group adopt violence and terrorism as a means of furthering their cause and start to talk in terms of preparing for war. I say this because a group of the 4400 begin talking in terms of the coming war and commence to use their powers in terrorist activities with the raid on the command centre and with a demonstration project of their potential power scheduled for a date which becomes known to the authorities but where they fail to determine the form. This instance of the New World the demonstration is not a negative one but the transformation of part of a desert into wheat growing.
As with the other episodes in the first two seasons there is a continuation of the lives and relationships of the core characters. The main development concerns the former US pilot Richard, his wife Lily and their daughter Isabelle. At the end of series two Isabelle had been transformed overnight from a baby into a twenty year old young woman and at the commencement of the new series her mother has aged by the same two decades but although Isabelle stops her mother progressively deteriorates and Shawn’s curative power cannot halt this development. Richard takes Lily back to their hideaway in the forest by the river where they had found happiness until discovered by the evangelical Minister where she dies. Tipi Hedren, famous for her Hitchcock roles as Marnie and the Birds plays the aged Lily in the two episodes as the original actress had decided to leave the show between seasons.
Isabelle tries to kill herself as a way of preventing the death of her mother but discovers she had has the power to regenerate. She also sets out on a mission to experience everything she would have as a teenager and the eventually results in having a relationship with Shawn. Who begun to question the activities of the undercover group which he has bankrolled through 4400 centre funding.
The former head of the Government unit, Denis Ryland is asked to appear before a Congressional Committee during which he takes full and sole responsibility for devising the abnormal powers inhibitor programme and about which he remains unrepentant. Then his legal counsellor attempts to stab him to death under the influence of the same young woman who was used previously on the attack on the command centre. She is captured with the help of Shawn when he is asked to give more funds and the young woman is sent instead of the apparent leader of the breakaway group which is known as the Nova group.
Dr Kevin Burkoff, the former institutionalised scientist with published work about the brain and is potential powers has started to experiment on himself with the development of a drug which will enable all human being to develop similar powers to those of the 4400.
Also reintroduced into the series is Gary Navarro the former baseball star who can hear what is in people’s head, and who is being used by the government as part of the national security services. Garry found his powers overwhelming as he could not discriminate between the thinking of people, especially when confronted with crowds. However he has become able to control and focus his powers from accepting what he is. Unknown to Tom and Diana he feeds them false information about the Nova group and he then tries to kill Ryland with an injection who is recovering from the knife attack in hospital. Ryland survives again.
Tom Baldwin, the main government investigator and 4400 security agent, who previously was explained the purpose of the return of 4400 by the future, following the taking of Shaun instead of his son, is taking trips into fantasy reality by his wife who also now has control of the power which first brought them together. Fellow agent Diana is also concerned about the future of her daughter and with some reluctance takes her to the 4400 centre school.
Being Tom Baldwin is the third episode and is natural progression from the openers. The main subject is the death of the Nova terrorist in custody allegedly by Tom Baldwin. This plot follows closely pilot of Babylon 5 in which the station commander is thought to have been the person attempting to poison the last representatives of the great races of the known universe who are to become members of the Council based at the station and where the races are represented by Ambassadors. In both programme the culprit is a shape shifter, someone able to appear as the identical of real people. The most famous science fiction shape shifter appeared the Star Trek series and the ability to transform goes back to ancient mythology and folklore in many countries and times. Tom is exonerated and the episodes also reveals that Dr Burkoff’s experiment has result in him have regenerative power with various unpleasant side effects. This also brings to mind the battle in the series the X Men between the Mutants and the rest of humanity, including the approach taken by governments. I am interested in what happens next but it does not form a main experience in my life.
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