Phlegmatic

Has anyone been watching Joss Wheedon's new series, 'Dollhouse'? I've got the first few episodes recorded, but want to know whether I should actually watch them.

Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the darkness at Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die."


...is about the only Blade Runner reference that wasn't in the Red Dwarf: 'Back to Earth' easter special. If you didn't see it, I'm sure Dave will be repeating it frequently (let's be honest, Dave does more recycling than Blue Peter) or alternatively it'll be out on DVD in June. But do yourself a favour - if you haven't seen Blade Runner recently, it would be worth revising Blade Runner first.

'Back to Earth' was great fun though. Started slowly in the first episode, but very funny in the second and third.

And so Battlestar Galactica has finished. I can't decide if it's the best American SF series ever or Firefly is. Since Firefly only lasted one series, BG might get it on longevity. Star Trek: The Next Generation is probably third.

It was a great ending. I won't write about it so as not to spoil it for those of you who might not have seen it. Which brings me on to this:

My friends list is full of fans of television science-fiction. My friends list is also full of highbrow, intellectual types (in the context of science fiction at least). I read reviews on here of all sorts of shows - Doctor Who (obviously), Primeval, Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, even drivel like Torchwood - but none of you seem to be into Battlestar Galactica. BG is about as highbrow as television science fiction gets and to be honest about as good as television science fiction gets*.

So if you have never seen BG and you like serious SF, go and buy the inevitable DVD boxed set.





* Its best isn't as good as the best Who, but it is a lot more consistent.

My contention is that many of the best ever TV theme tunes and opening title sequences came from the 70s, and to a lesser extent, the 60s. Here are links to some of my favourites...

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OK, here's the poser. You've just been asked to create a new Star Trek series. What's the setting? When is it, in relation to the other series and films? Who are the main characters?

I've mentioned this programme before, but it's on again shortly, on BBC 2, just after Newsnight.

Basically, it's a documentary about the quantum physicist who came up with the parallel worlds theory so beloved of science fiction authors. The programme follows his son, who happens to be the frontman of cult rock group Eels*. As well as telling his story, it does a good job of explaining quantum physics to the sort of person (like me) who gets most of his knowledge of such things from Star Trek.


* I'm in a bit of an Eels mood at the moment, having just received two of their albums as birthday presents.

1981. Mysterious stranger dressed all in white with white facepaint, looking on in the background. Small group of sidekicks including a gawky lad and a pretty girl with brown curly hair.

It's obvious.

The figure in white was an interim stage between Gene Hunt's fourth and fifth incarnations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logopolis

The Death Star exists, and it's orbiting Saturn.





That's a genuine NASA image, taken by the Cassini probe, of Mimas, one of Saturn's lesser known moons.

Weird, huh?