Airzone Solution [VHS]

The story is about investigative reporter Al Dunbar (Davison), who's latest target is the Airzone Corporation, an organization who has been hired by the government to clean up the air. His mentor Oliver Trethewey, is mildly impressed with the video exposé that opens the program, and urges him to press even further. With the aid of his eco-nutter activist collaborator, Anthony Stanwick, Dunbar hacks into Airzone's central computer with a disk given to him by his lover, an Airzone employee, who is later discovered and subjected to the Airzone Solution. Breaking into the central computer of the facility, Dunbar discovers a horrifying secret, at which point, he is detected by the alarm system. Before he can escape, he is captured and later found dead.

Weatherman Arnie Davis (Baker), whose concern for pollution is limited to his cheery weather reports replete with clowning around, suddenly sees Dunbar dying and collapses during one of his reports. Dunbar's reappearance begins to affect his job and personal life with Elenya Brown(Nicola Bryant). He does some digging around of his own, and becomes involved, placing his job in jeopardy.

He unwillingly teams up with Stanwick, who doesn't seem to care too much for him, and with help from Ellie, tries to pick up the pieces where Dunbar left off.

Jon Pertwee (Oliver Trethewey), doesn't have much screen time, but appears as a somewhat omniscient presence looking out for Davis and McCoy.

Colin Baker as Arnie Davis puts in another solid role as someone who is trying to cope with the change in circumstance fate has thrown at him, and the birth of his conscience.

Sylvester McCoy plays Stanwick more irascibly than he did as the Doctor. He's clearly scornful of Davis but is forced to become a reluctant ally in order to get to the truth behind Airzone.

The story is compact, leaving not much room for character development, but that can be excused by Bill Bagg's budget of an fifty-minutes to an hour for its programs.

Set in the near future, Airzone presents a grim picture of a world where people need to be protected from the toxic air by umbrellas and oxy-masks. Is this what we are heading toward, or is Kyoto merely the first step to prevent a scenario in Airzone from happening? I only hope it's not too late. In the end, the real Airzone Solution is a typical example of building a better mouse, not a better mousetrap. I leave that for the viewer to discover.

The speech given by Airzone's CEO, Rachel Lonsdale, is not complete without merit. It is true, after having developed so much technologically, we cannot go back. Progress is the way forward, but progress can mean... what? Well, definitely not the progress Airzone had in mind. Heather Barker plays Lonsdale as the archetypal capitalist with ice in her veins.

Alan Cumming (Eyes Wide Shut, Spiceworld, Titus) plays McNamara, who appears to have a secret agenda of his own.

The show does leave one wondering if people like Rachel Carson became who they were by having the Earth fight against the pollution rained upon it by the human virus by converting certain people to fight for it. It seems to be the case with Al Dunbar, and later, with Arnie Davis.