Amazon.co.uk Review
An international co-production of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Australia's Channel 9 and Hallmark Entertainment,
Farscape is genre television at its most ambitious, inspired both by the cult appeal of
Babylon 5 and the continuing success of the
Star Trek franchise. Making extensive use of CGI, prosthetics and state-of-the-art puppetry,
Farscape takes a visual leap beyond previous shows. Admittedly, the basic premise may be borrowed from
Buck Rogers (American astronaut catapulted to far-flung galaxy populated by strange aliens), while the crew have something of
Blake's 7 about them (a motley bunch of escaped convicts pursued by a relentless foe), and ideas like the living ship are borrowed from
Babylon 5, but the
Farscape concept has a freshness that makes it look and feel completely original. The production design is all bio-mechanical curves and the script never takes itself too seriously (fart jokes and double-entendres pop up when you least expect them). It must have been expensive to make, but it certainly looks (and sounds-in Dolby Digital 5.1) like every penny made it to the screen. In true Buck Rogers style, Ben Browder plays leading man John Crichton as an all-American astronaut, although with a more believable sense of bewilderment; the supporting cast is a mixture of Australian and British actors, mostly disguised under heavy make-up.
There are three more episodes from Season One here. "They've Got a Secret" has D'Argo being accidentally ejected into space, as a result of which secrets of his imprisonment are revealed. "Till the Blood Runs Clear" finds Crichton and Aeryn confronting bounty-hunters. In "The Flax", the crew get all tangled up with some Zenetan pirates. --Mark Walker END
Synopsis
In episode 'They've Got A Secret' D'Argo is accidentally ejected into space whilst checking out Moya. In 'Till The Blood Runs Clear' Crichton begins to investigate ways to get home. In 'The Flax' Crichton and Aeryn are captured in an invisible net which is controlled by Zenetan pirates.
