The science fiction show “Sanctuary” began life as a series of short internet based webisodes (eight in all) and quickly established itself as a cult hit – led primarily by the involvement of Amanda Tapping (of Stargate fame). The show proved so popular on the internet that it was picked up by the SciFi Channel (now Syfy) for a longer thirteen episode run on its television channel.

But what makes this show so unique? Well, it is its almost complete reliance on the use of green screen technology for the majority of the show which allows for a variety of vivid and spectacular special effects, and “abnormals”, which brings the entire show to life and enables scenarios where pretty much anything can happen.

The premise of Sanctuary is that “even things that go bump in the night need protection”, and the series follows Dr Helen Magnus (Stargate’s Amanda Tapping) who runs Sanctuary as a safe haven for these “abnormals” – who are a result of nature’s unfortunate mishaps. Dr Magnus (who also has a deep secret of her own) along with her team jet about the world rounding up and often rescuing abnormals whose presence in our ‘normal’ society would, for most, mean their certain death. Stargate Atlantis (Todd the Wraith) regular ‘Christopher Heyerdahl’ has a recurring role as John Druitt and Bigfoot.

Watch out for story lines including Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, Vampires, Werewolves and Mermaids (phew!) just to name a few – and many more colourful of characters pop up throughout the show’s run.

For serious fans of science fiction “Sanctuary” is must watch viewing – on the “Sammy Sonar” I rate this show 9 out of 10 – you will either LOVE IT or HATE IT.

The show has just finished its second season, which saw Dr Magnus relieved of her command, and we have our fingers crossed for a Season 3.

UPDATE! We just heard that Sanctuary has been picked up for a third season and an extended 20 episode count – it’s due to broadcast sometime in 2010.

Visit the official Sanctuary site.

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We can’t wait (but we’ll have to!) for the new season of Doctor Who, featuring new Doctor Matt Smith, coming Easter 2010. In the meantime we’ll have to make do with these trailers from the BBC.

Watch carefully in the second trailer – that couldn’t be Professor River Song could it?

As the BBC tell us “Meet the Eleventh Doctor and his new companion, Amy Pond, in this dramatic trailer where in a whirling vortex they encounter deadly enemies…”.

To learn more visit the official Doctor Who website.

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It has turned out to be another close call for our bunch of wiley survivors as they continue to bond under the most extreme of circumstances. We’re starting to get the picture that Greg doesn’t care for Tom very much however in this episode, and certainly the next, it looks set to be pivotal for their relationship. On a side note, Greg seems to have recovered surprisingly well from his recent gunshot wound – Anya must be a pretty good Doctor.

Another feel good moment for the group is the return of Abby, though no one seems to have noticed that she has been re-infected with the virus and instead welcome her with open arms. Although, she seems to have forgotten somewhat about her search for her son in all the confusion.

In this episode the survivors meet a travelling HGV driving trader by the name of Billy. For someone with all that stock who doesn’t believe in carrying guns you have to be just a tad sceptical at how he has managed to survive so long – perhaps he has the right connections? He certainly has Land Rover parts – but what about those connections of his?

Samantha is back in this episode desperately trying to hold on to her community, with ever such a tiny amount of heavy handedness, whilst grasping onto the loosest ends of Government policies and procedures. When she discovers the location of Tom, who she seems to be turning into something of a whipping boy for her dastardly deeds, she sends her team to track him down and return him to face the charge of murdering one of her people. But is that her real intention?

Abby leads the counsel for the defense in the trial of Tom and is about as much use as a 15 tog duvet in the middle of summer, at least Tom can count on Greg for support – oh, hang on a minute, no he can’t. In the process of the trial we learn a little more about Tom’s background which, at the very least, brings Anya a little nearer to him.

I was surprised that Abby never mentioned the lab to Samantha – holding back for a later episode perhaps?

All in all, barring a few rough edges, episode 3 turned out to be cracking good television this week and this episode sets the story up nicely for episode 4 which literally brings Greg and Tom closer together.

Image Credit: BBC

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What is this strange and mysterious new science fiction drama series “Defying Gravity” that recently started to air on BBC?

Set in the year 2052 the story is told in a number of timelines, flashing backward and forward with aplomb – so much so that it took some time to get to grips with what was going on and and I’m still not sure what happened in what time period. Let’s hope it settles down over the 13 episodes. Fortunately episode 2 was broadcast straight after episode 1 which gave a better insight into how things are likely to unfold.

We join the story as the crew of the spacecraft Antares prepare for their six year mission touring our Solar System. Two crew members are pulled out at the last minute (Ajay Sharma and Rolle Crane) due to some mysterious issues, and others added, of these Maddux Donner has his own skeletons to deal with (after having to leave two crew members behind on a previous mission), Steve Wassenfelder (who is put into the program even though his appears to fail the swimming element of the training), and Ted Shaw (who is brought in on the secret behind the mission).

The mystery is what holds the attention – clearly there is another agenda which involves the baby crying noises heard by Zoe (they seem to occur every time something bad is going to happen), the link between Zoe and Maddux Donner (they awake at the same moment and seem linked in some way), the strange Pod 4, and the Alpha and Beta references by various members of the upper echelons of ground control. 

Apparently the series was originally inspired by the BBC drama-documentary series Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets back in 2004. However, a mix of mystery, drama and fiction has been added to mix it up for the crew during their exploits.

The series has traits and elements of a number of shows including Star Cops, Solaris, SeaQuest DSV (the original series), 2010, and Event Horizon.

The Special FX are particularly good and really add to the proceedings but the constant shuffling of time periods gets too confusing – however there is something appealing about the show and we will stick with it to see how it develops.

Image Credit: BBC

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Whispers are that John Barrowman *may* be joining the cast of Desperate Housewives – at which point he might depart Torchwood, in terms of continuity – could this be an opportunity to revive Captain John Hart? Or could the DH reference simply be bigging up a potential one-off appearance?

Apparently RTD has already said that if Season 4 is picked up he will be ready to go and that the season is already mapped out.

We know the Jack ultimately looks different (aka Face of Boe), so could there be some regeneration at work – or would that be just a bit too much Whoniverse?

We have already had hints that Martha Jones, and perhaps even Mickey, might join the Torchwood line up, a new possible addition would be Lois Habiba from Season 3 (Cush Jumbo after all replaced Martha Jones due to clashing schedules).

Season 3 also hinted at a much stronger tie into UNIT – this opens all sorts of possibilities for character cross-overs from the Whoniverse.

Could we see a return of Owen in some form – it would certainly help continuity?

More Time Agency characters – the Time Agency? Somewhat akin to Sapphire and Steel, the Time Agency could pull in any character it feels necessary for a plot line and it is an area that certainly needs fleshing out – perhaps a number of alien characters?

How about digging back into the archives of the the Whoniverse Eccleston/Tennant Era for potential character additions, such as Henry van Statten or Adam Mitchell from “Dalek” or a time travelling “River Song” from “Silence in the Library”

Finally, perhaps a return would aim to reinvent and reinvigorate the show with a completely new line up, a new hub and new plotlines – a brave and bold attempt but as we have learned from recent Doctor Who episodes the show cannot escape its own canon.

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It was whilst watching the last episode of Doctor Who, “Journeys End”, (the one with the big Dalek master plan), whilst waiting for Torchwood Season 3 to start, that it struck me.

For a show that relies heavily on time travel for its central premise the biggest problem with Doctor Who seems to be that it is in danger of becoming somewhat trapped by its own history (canon). When the newly re-invigorated show appeared, sans Daleks, I was left a little unsure of Christopher Eccleston as the new Doctor as it took him a while to settle into the role. Eccleston’s defining moment as the Doctor was undoubtedly the much anticipated episode “Dalek” which finally cemented him into our hearts and minds as the new Doctor. The threat this single, severely disabled, Dalek presented bought real tension and a real sense of danger to the story.

Next up, stepping into the Doctors shoes was David Tennant who bought a geeky, less intense, Doctor – who appealed for all the reasons that made Tom Baker and Peter Davidson successful. The trouble is, instead of taking the opportunity to re-imagine the show, we started seeing more Daleks, then more, and before long we were seeing so many Daleks they should have been too strong to overthrow and yet became almost comical in their performance – and in doing so they lost their impact and tension.

One trapped Dalek from the earlier episode held much more drama than millions of Daleks travelling through space. It seemed the show creators might have been aware of this so fell back to another enemy and re-imagined the Cybermen. Only a few at first, with a pretty good storyline but then more appeared, then they appeared in great numbers and the cliché followed.

What to do next? Of course lets use Daleks and Cybermen, then bring back the Emperor Dalek and finally Davros – now the Time War seems a little fruitless in the context of the Doctor as there are seemingly more enemies now than ever existed prior to the Time War – did the Time Lords not see this coming? At least the master has not be overused just yet but watch this space and I wonder how long before the Time Lords make a reappearance?

Rose is another issue, bless her. We did love Rose and were sad to see her go but just how many times do we really have to say goodbye? We had the big dramatic tear wrenching goodbye, then the close emotional single tear farewell, then the swan song as Rose went off with another Doctor, and now we hear she may reappear for yet another goodbye. How long before the Doctor shouts “If you’re going then go for heaven sake.”

The sadness and impact of the Donna farewell will no doubt re-emerge and be replayed in future story lines as we will likely get to say goodbye to her half a dozen more times. We really liked Catherine Tate’s Donna from the outset, she was funny when she needed to be and full of drama when required but she had an uphill struggle to win fans over (though - I think most of us Dad’s were already won over!). By the end of her run she was the perfect companion and we really didn’t want to see her go. David Tennant returned sad and lonely to his Tardis, sans Donna Doctor, which could have provided the perfect opportunity to perhaps apply a voluntary regeneration – and get the moral discussion going in this area – but the legacy went on as the Doctor headed off and was soon to face the Cybermen yet again in “The Next Doctor”.

It is a shame because there have been some really excellent story lines including The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, The Idiot’s Lantern, The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, Blink, Midnight, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead.

Doctor Who is great, we love it but we really hope the creators take the opportunity to move the story forward when Matt Smith steps into the Doctors sneakers.

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Credit: BBC

“When every single child on Earth stops, Torchwood is thrown into a world of terror.“

Ok, so its only five parts but its Torchwood and we are more than ready for “Children of the Earth” set to be broadcast on BBC One in the UK from 6th July 2009 (9pm). The third (albeit short) season three of Torchwood will feature Captain Jack, Ianto Jones and Gwen Cooper in a brand-new story so even new viewers can enjoy the Torchwood experience. Rhys Williams will also return – on the run with Gwen from government hit squads.

With little to no Doctor Who on the screens at the moment, Primeval all done and dusted there is really little else to watch out for in Science Fiction terms (not including the hilarious The Legend of Dick and Dom). If you really can’t wait that long you could catch the re-run of the classic Day of the Triffids on BBC Four from 5th July starting at 7pm.

One of the strengths of Torchwood is that it can cross the boundaries into darker storylines as well as lighter ones and it doesn’t have to be held back by much of the canon that Who often falls back on. In this five part series the human race faces its darkest days and the Torchwood team need to call upon every ounce of strength and resourcefulness to protect the Earth from the oncoming threat from the 456.

Credit: BBC

We are expecting a fast, focused and yet epic storyline, with action, drama and cliff hangers aplenty. If Torchwood is to stand on its own and finally prove the doubters it has the strength to carry its own audience then now is that time to pull out all the stops and show it. With writing from Russell T Davies, John Fay (Mobile, Clocking Off, and recently Robin Hood) and James Moran (Severance, Doctor Who) and in the hands of Direction from Euros Lyn (Phoo Action, Inspector George Gently, Casualty), Production from Peter Bennett (Honest, Agatha Christie: Poirot, Sea of Souls), and Executive Production from Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner (Ashes to Ashes, Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures) all the elements are there to provide a rip roaring week of excitement.

Looking forward for the series as a whole the introduction of Captain John Hart, in season 2, opens up the possibility of a potential replacement for Captain Jack should the need arise – as John Barrowman has his fingers in many entertainment pies and the replacement of the lead character is a common trait in the Whoniverse – but we hope Captain Jack stays for a few seasons yet. Actually the often referred to Time Agency opens up the possibility of any number of potential replacements as they slip through time which could all add a unique twist to the show. We know Captain Jack can’t run indefinitely as he is going to be quite busy with his pre-destined future as the Face of Boe.

If this mini season is a success it could lead the way to future Torchwood especially a season 4 – lets hope so – we will be watching – will you?

Images: BBC

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I guess its always going to be tricky with time travel programs but for example, Hiro and his friends are worried he may die if he slows time again – but hasn’t he already met his future self in season 1? Surely this assures everything will turn out well for him?

Nathan is no more, sort of, but what about Claire’s healing blood – did someone forget about that before they sit him alight? Sylar is fine but isn’t it about time we moved on and they met another foe – he is almost becoming his own cartoon character as the never ending return of Sylar is becoming almost laughable.

Parkman can make anyone see and believe almost anything so why did he not intervene with the President earlier? Or do his apparently clever trick on Sylar earlier?

Whatever happened to exploring the human side of many of these characters as it started out? This exploration seems to have fallen by the wayside as they all embark on missions to save the world. Come on, if they did nothing the world would probably be fine – in a lot of cases it seems like their meddling are causing more problems than they are fixing.

I am hopeful for the next Chapter but the story really needs to move on.

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