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.
On this tape: Two more episodes from Season One: "Bone to be Wild" and "Family Ties", plus a profile of the Australian Creature Shop. --Mark Walker
