Spectrum Headquarters Forum

Any good?

I rember the theme tune and the episode "Time to kill".
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Personally, I enjoyed some of it, particularly towards the end with the two-parters The Fire Within and Deathwatch. It was almost as if the series decided where it was going with these episodes, but unfortunately too late.
Even more so than NCS, it was always difficult to tell who the series was aimed at; adults or children. Some of the issues raised could have made the series seem like NYPD Blue in space if they had been handled correctly. Scheduling was always a problem with this as well, as Sky got their grubby mitts on it first, and then BBC2. Please correct me if I am wrong about that.
There were some brilliant story ideas, it just came across wrong, IMO. As I said, a great pity because I was really enjoying it towards the end of its run.

Depends on your taste. Persoanlly, it didn't appeal as much as other Anderson shows but that's not to say it was badly done. It was well-produced, reasonably pacy, good acting (notably the leads) but I think the regular alien make-up was a bit false.

I also felt the regular Creon and Tarn societies were not 'alien enough' so Captain Podly (as an example) simply came over as a transplanted American-Irish cop in a funny mask. I know the characters had to appeal to the public but it could more easily have been set on Earth in the future rather than be about human cops finding their feet in an extraterrestial location.

Gripes aside, I thought there were some cracking episodes - 'Two Against The Rock', 'Seek and Destroy', 'Takeover', 'The Fire Within', and the concluding story 'Deathwatch' - though I think most Anderson fans tend not to hold the series in high regard.

Kambei wrote:Scheduling was always a problem with this as well, as Sky got their grubby mitts on it first, and then BBC2. Please correct me if I am wrong about that.

True, Sky did get their hands on it first, but at least they gave it a decent prime-time screening (I got cable about half way through this initial run so the first episode I saw was 'The Power') at 7pm-8pm on Saturday evenings (pretty much the same time that has made 'Dr Who' a current success) followed by weekday early evening repeats, which is more than can be said for the BBC screenings. True, they had had a run a good cult SF TV airings in this slot but 'Space Precinct' was a brand new UK series, and didn't really get a decent schedule - being treated little better than a repeat in effect. I was working late at the time when it was on BBC 2, so would have missed it but for the Sky screenings...

It's not dated too well. In particular, the scenes with Brogan's family are mostly horrid (and the futuristic slang his kids use is cringeworthy). But there are some great characters, pretty FX work, a fantastic theme tune, and the Tarns and Creons were amazing pieces of work.

It kind of goes up a gear about mid way through the series, and the stories switch from being police stories in space (illegal immigrants, extortionists, terrorists, drugs) to sci fi stories at a police station (alien spores, mind control). The sci fi ones are the better ones, but overall, it was a pretty good series. And there were some great horror moments in there too.

I bought the following episodes for $10 each at a second hand DVD shop in Melbourne. I'm visiting there again in March (its 9hrs away) so Im hoping to pick up some more Space Precinct DVDs

Smelter Skelter
The Forever Beetle
Predator and Prey
The Witness
Time to Kill
Deadline

I was cringing all the way through "The Witness" it was terrible! My favourites out of the ones Ive seen are probably "Smelter Skelter" and "Time to Kill". I was wondering, are the episodes Ive seen the best of Precinct? Are other ones much better, or are these as good as they get?

Many thanks,
James

On a side note, I just found episodes called "Graveyard Part I" and "Graveyard Part II" on http://www.tvcentury21.com/content/view/165/31/ which have seemed to replace the Deathwatch episodes. Any idea why?

James. C wrote:On a side note, I just found episodes called "Graveyard Part I" and "Graveyard Part II" on http://www.tvcentury21.com/content/view/165/31/ which have seemed to replace the Deathwatch episodes. Any idea why?

Same scripts, but 'Graveyard I/II' was the working title. I note TVCentury21.com is notorious for not updating its features.

I know Gerry was the exsecive producer but did he create the show?
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With Christopher Burr in 1986, Gerry wrote Space Police, a Supermacromation show. It was shelved for deven years. Then in 1993, Gerry re-wrote the format for a live action show...

Hope that answers your question

James. C wrote:I was cringing all the way through "The Witness" it was terrible! My favourites out of the ones Ive seen are probably "Smelter Skelter" and "Time to Kill". I was wondering, are the episodes Ive seen the best of Precinct? Are other ones much better, or are these as good as they get?

Er...those are pretty much the best, except for the two-parters. The Witness...there's a good idea in there somewhere, but the Fredo family scenes are just as bad as the Brogan Bunch scenes...

Kinggodzillak wrote:

James. C wrote:I was cringing all the way through "The Witness" it was terrible! My favourites out of the ones Ive seen are probably "Smelter Skelter" and "Time to Kill". I was wondering, are the episodes Ive seen the best of Precinct? Are other ones much better, or are these as good as they get?

Er...those are pretty much the best, except for the two-parters. The Witness...there's a good idea in there somewhere, but the Fredo family scenes are just as bad as the Brogan Bunch scenes...

I suppose, ironically as it is without the 'Brogan Bunch' antics, I would rate 'Two Against The Rock' as the best of the series. It also has a quite funny ending, and one of the best supporting characters in 'Houdini'...

I have always defended Space Precinct and its attempts at family values - most series these days have broken families missing one parent or such and here is a complete family with plenty of things to learn. Sure, some of the dialog is bad - but it was cringe worthy when it first aired. The attempt to create a futuristic language failed.

My take on the aliens who are just characters from classic police stories (the Irish capain, the sleezy thugs and so on) may not be the most original and is probably responible for turning away the majority of potential viewers.

I always thought (by reading the press kit) that the two races of the Creons and Tarns lived on Altor and when first contact was made with the humans, the human society dominated and actually took over much of the ways of Altor. Like Americanization of Japan and other nations, the human influence was accepted by Altor and over the years, changed drastically.

I know this is bull but if they had attempted to explain the stereotypes, it might have made more sense.

If you can get by this, it really has some good story telling

The Snake has some really good tense moments and the Snake himself is an example of soem good make-up work. Time To Kill is another all action story - one of those signature Gerry Anderson episodes where everyone dies like (Space: 1999 - Wargames and Captain Scarlet (Attack on Cloudbase). Two Against the Rock and the two two parters are also excellent.

I thought the music, the action, the acting and the effects were really well done,

KP