Olivia Sutton's Fanfic Journal

This review originally appeared on my GoodReads Page, and was posted on October 4, 2012.

This is a tie-in to the wonderful British Science Fiction television show Doctor Who. It is not a novelization of an episode but rather an original story, that borrows the characters of the Sixth Doctor (played by Colin Baker) and Melanie Bush (played by Bonnie Langford) under license from the BBC. Doctor Who is the world's longest-running science fiction program, having run continuously from 1963 to 1989, picked up for a TV movie in 1996, and then returned to the screens in 2005 and still running strong. The program will celebrate it's 50th Anniversary next year (2013). The BBC Past Doctor Adventures (sometimes referred to as PDAs) were published by BBC Books and are one of five series of original tie-in novels. There was also a series of novelizations published by Target Books (the paperback arm of UK publisher WH Allen). Of all the various Doctor Whonovels I've read I find the PDAs and EDAs (Eighth Doctor Adventures, published at the same time) to be the best.

This was one of the best Doctor Who BBC Books Past Doctor Adventures I've read. The story felt like a good Doctor Who story, something that could have been done on the series - if they'd had the budget. It's actually a complex tale. The Doctor and Mel head to Carsus, the universe's ultimate library to meet an old friend of the Doctor's, a retired Time Lord named Rummas. It's not quite a vacation, but not quite a mission to save the universe - yet. However, while traveling to Carsus, various other versions of the Doctor and sometimes Mel appear in the TARDIS. When they arrive at the library, first the Doctor find Rummas dead, then he's alive. Mel sees other versions of his helpers at the library. And before long she and the Doctor have to save the universe.

However, it isn't just the universe at stake -- it's the multiverse. Spiral Scratch deals with multi-universe theory in a highly interesting way without being too bogged down in long explanations. Before long, The Doctor and Mel are trying to save Helen, but as things get more complex, and they continuously fail and return to the Library, it becomes apparent that something bigger is going on.

What that is... is Monica, a Lamprey, a creature that lives in the Vortex itself and devoures Chronon (Time) Energy. However, Rummas has become trapped - because Monica lives outside of time, and Rummas lives life in a normal line and cannot change his own past -- every time Rummas tries to stop Monica, she can simply slip back and stop him. Rummas, unaware of this, continues to call the Doctor to him, bringing in more and more versions of the Doctor from different alternate universes.

Our version of the Doctor, and Mel, are unaware of this - as is the reader at first, as they try to rescue various time-sensitives, from various planets, in various different universes of the multi-verse. And each time the Doctor fails - he or Mel sees ghost images of other versions of himself in the TARDIS control room.

The fun of this novel starts with the various different universes such as an Imperial Earth where Rome never fell. The novel also includes chapters without the Doctor or Mel as Monica goes about her business of wrecking havoc - which the reader can slowly put together like clues in a great mystery novel. I also liked the other versions of the Doctor -- one dressed in mourning black, with a scar on his face, missing an eye. He's kinder and gentler than "our Doctor" but also blames himself for Peri's death (in the universe where Rome never fell - she was from the Americas and a native princess named Brown Perpugilliam). Another Doctor travels with a human/Silurian hybrid named Melanie Baal. These "other" Doctors and Mels are fascinating.

The conclusion of the story is fantastic, and I loved it. I'm not going to spoil it here, but trust me... if you're a long-time Who fan, familiar with various versions of the show and official tie-ins to it, you will enjoy Spiral Scratch. Also, this novel fills in a continuity gap from the original series that most fans will recognize. I also loved, loved, loved that. And I will say, though normally I don't really like the companion Mel, I found that this book made me much more sympathetic to her, which is an accomplishment. I highly, highly, highly recommend this novel to fans of the TV Series Doctor Who. I also think that if you like a good tie-in novel with a strong SF plot, you'll enjoy this... though if you don't know Doctor Who you'll probably miss some subtleties of the plot.

The Map of Time by Félix J. Palma was the best novel I read in 2011 (I read the e-book edition). I enjoyed it because it almost parodies the classic British novels that I love so much. But it also reads like a Victorian early SF novel (think Wells or Verne) and, indeed, HG Wells is one of the characters in the book. The novel has three distinct parts, and it really heats up at the end when you realize exactly what is going on (I'd love to read a sequel or another book in the series but with new characters). My e-copy was bundled with a copyright-free copy of The Time Machine by HG Wells (which I didn't really need because I've read it before and own copies in hardcover, paperback, and e-book formats).

The novel involves a time travel con game, HG Wells, real time travelers, and Jack-the-Ripper. I know that sounds like a lot -- but it pulls it off. I cannot recommend this enough - five stars!

UPDATE: I recently bought the paperback version of this novel, and the hardcover of the sequel, The Map of the Stars. An updated review will be forthcoming when I get a chance to read it again, and to read the sequel. (5/7/2015)

The review was originally posted to my GoodReads account on 22 May 2013.

Recently, I decided to start re-reading Dorothy Sayer's Lord Peter Whimsey mysteries in chronological order. I hadn't read them since high school or maybe college, and I wasn't sure I'd even read them all.

Whose Body? introduces Lord Peter and his friends, and concerns two mysteries: a man who's gone missing in mysterious circumstances, and a body found in a bathtub, wearing nothing but a pince-nez (literally a "pinch-nose"; it's an old-fashioned type of glasses without ear pieces to hold them on). It quickly becomes apparent that the dead body that was found is not the missing man, however, Sayers weaves an intricate plot that does link the two crimes.

She's also introducing her characters in the "typical plot" fashion. That is, Lord Peter and his detective friend, Inspector Parker, have known each other for awhile and already trust each other. Bunter has been Lord Peter's valet and butler since The War (World War I) and possibly earlier, so all the characters all already fully formed. Lord Peter is a bit of a deceptive character -- at first he seems flighty and without a care or a thought in his head (like Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster) but actually he's cunning and clever -- and he desperately needs something to do, thus the turn at solving crimes. And he already has made a name for himself at being extremely good at it.

What I always found most interesting about Lord Peter, though, and Whose Body? contains a fine example of this, is that he's damaged... Peter's experiences in the war have left him with a fine case of PTSD (though as the novel was written in 1927 no one uses that term -- the 19th/early 20th century terms "shell shock" and "battle fatigue" are mentioned, however.) Sayers description of what Peter's going through is brilliant -- he's sitting in his study at night, thinking about the case, the fire has burned down to embers, and it's dark. He realises what must have happened (in the case), and starts to think of a plan to prove it... the next thing you know, he's waking up Bunter with shouts of "the guns" and "too loud" and the like, Bunter thinks to himself that Peter hasn't had such an attack in quite a while, and he calms him down, and gets him back into bed. The next morning, Lord Peter, none the worse for wear, goes out and with help from Inspector Parker (and Inspector Sugg, the first on the bathtub case) solves both cases. The intricate series of plot points works really well, and I liked it, so I won't spoil it here.

Overall, I'd recommend Whose Body? and any of the other Lord Peter books. One quickly becomes used to the "flighty" style of narration and language, and can delve into the story itself, which is quite fine.

This review was originally posted to GoodReads on 23 Feb 2013. It is a review of one of the BBC Books original Past Doctor Adventures (or PDA) novels.

This novel is very, well, novel. As the photo-cover and title suggest, it really is a cross-over with all the Gerry Anderson stuff. Mostly it crosses Doctor Who (Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe) with Captain Scarlet -- the indestrcutible man of the title, and with UFO, thus Zoe's purple wig. But other Anderson shows make an appearance, including, Thunderbirds.

I was expecting, therefore, for this novel to be very funny, and it wasn't, from what I remember it was actually kinda'; depressing. However, I did read it awhile ago, and it's one of the Past Doctor Adventures, I'd definitely read again.

Overall, definitely a book to read and add to your Doctor Who collection. It's something to also recommend to the Gerry Anderson fan you know.

Wormhole weapons - the only way to win, is not to play.

I actually watched the entire mini-series two nights in a row, all the way through.  It seems the original production was a two-night event, on the DVD it’s edited into a single long movie, which is fine.

The first time I watched this, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.  Not only because it’s a very intense, action-packed mini-series, but because I honestly expected them to “Blake’s 7” the show, in other words, I expected all the main characters to die, especially John Crichton.

The second time through I was able to enjoy the story more, knowing that, despite even the hints dropped during the mini-series itself, that John would survive.

The mini-series opens two months after the last episode of Season 4, with Rygel swimming underwater picking up something in his mouth.  It turns out what he is doing is capturing the bits and pieces of John and Aeryn from the ocean floor.  I loved seeing Rygel in his element so to speak, and his swimming was rather elegant.  John and Aeryn are quickly re-assembled.  They are fine, but to her shock Aeryn is no longer pregnant.  It’s quickly discovered that Rygel is now carrying Aeryn and John’s baby.  The Hynerian will do so until after the first quad-mester and the large enough baby can be transferred to Aeryn.

Aeryn and John decide to get married by the priestess on the non-quite uninhabited water planet, only to have the ceremony interrupted.  This will be a theme, as their wedding on Moya with Rygel officiating is also interrupted when the Leviathan is attacked.

Things happen.  Essentially, the Scarrans and Peacekeepers are now at all-out war with each other.  The natives of the water planet are the descendants of a famous race of peace-making diplomats, who have lost their genetic ability to influence people into a state of calm and rationality.  John agrees to ferry two of these people to the temple planet (from Season 4’s “What Was Lost”).  They are attacked en route, and “reunited” with Scorpius and Sikozu (sporting a new “punk” haircut). Moya, damaged, manages to get to the temple.  At the temple, they are reunited with Jool, and it’s John who convinces the 1200-year-old diplomatic race to train the guy from the other planet, so he, in turn, can train his people.

However, a Scarran vessel turns up.  The ship destroys the temple, including Jool.  John, Aeryn, Rygel, Stark,  the head priest/diplomat from the temple, the acolyte from the other planet, and the acolyte’s guard, as well as Sikozu and Scorpius are taken prisoner by the Scarrans.  The Scarrans want John’s wormhole weapons knowledge, and hold the pregnant Rygel (as well as Aeryn and the others) hostage against John.

Meanwhile, D’Argo and Chiana are in D’argo’s invisible spaceship.  Chiana, who had been blinded at the end of Season 4, has had her eyes replaced, with a few upgrades.  She’s able to read energy signatures on the ship and tell D’Argo how to disable it.

John, knowing the threat to his unborn child (and Rygel’s life) is real, and fearing for Aeryn, and with no place to turn after the Scarrans have killed the head priest, finds he has no choice.  He takes the Scarran in his module down the wormhole to meet the ancient alien, “Einstein”, who still looks like Simon Pegg”s “Editor” in the Doctor Who episode, “The Long Game”.  The Scarran is convinced that John can sense and navigate wormholes, even cause them to appear, but he cannot create a worm-hole weapon, and to do so would be a really bad idea.

The Scarrans meanwhile, destroy D’Argo’s ship.  The Scarran general’s chief assistant and war minister, meanwhile intends to kill Rygel.  The general and John return just in time to prevent it.  Aeryn tells John D’Argo and Chiana are dead.  The Scarrans attempt to kill everyone, flooding the room they are being held in with deadly gas, while Rygel’s to the point in his pregnancy that the embryo needs to be transferred to Aeryn or he’ll die.  Sizozu creates an explosion so they can escape, as a group of Luxans arrive to attack the Scarran vessel, having rescued D’Argo and Chiana.  The Luxan attack squad is headed by Jothee, D’Argo’s son, who is now a military commander.

Everyone is rescued.  Stark is more bonkers than normal from having absorbed the high priest’s essence.  They return to Moya and high-tail it back to the water planet, because John and the others know that the Peacekeepers and Scarrans know of the location of the planet, and it’s a target.

Arriving at the planet, a major battle ensues.  Braca is there with a few troops, though most of his men have been killed.  The Luxan assault force is there. Moya’s crew lands, with the intent of rescuing the diplomatic race and trying to end the war.  Aeryn’s child has been transferred to her from Rygel successfully.

On the planet, in the midst of the  chaos, John and Aeryn are finally married by Stark while Aeryn is in labor.  The child is born in the midst of a battle.  D’Argo is stabbed with a pike, and, dying, agrees to cover the retreat.  With some help from Jothee (who’s primary, and successful mission was to rescue as many of the descendant-race diplomat-priests as possible), and Moya (who is finally recovered, after a time on the seabed under repair) John’s crew escape the planet, with some of the diplomat-priests.

Arriving on Moya, in command, John sees the wormhole weapon device. He had gone down a wormhole a second time, and obtained the knowledge necessary to build it.  And he had discussed it with Pilot.  Though Pilot had many misgivings, and sounded like he was going to say “no”, he had changed his mind and had the DRDs construct the device while John and Aeryn were planetside.

John sends out a message, giving the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers one last chance to make peace.  The Scarrans and Peacekeepers instead continue to fire intensely at each other.  John ignites the weapon, which produces an expontentially-growing Black Hole.  The hole’s gravity captures and destroys everything close enough to be caught in the gravity well, and as it grows, doubling each time, that gravity well also increases in size.  The planet below is destroyed, ripped apart by gravity.  John points out, Moya is next, then each of the battle fleets, and who knows what next - the galaxy, the universe?  The Scarrans and Peacekeepers stand down.  John gets them to agree to have the diplomat-priests broker a lasting accord, which they do.  He goes back into his machine to reverse the black hole.  He succeeds but collapses, looking like he’s dead.

However, Aeryn brings their child to Crichton, where his “body” lies on a bed, Crichton wakes.  He and Aeryn have a formal naming ceremony for their child, looking out among the stars, and name the boy, “D’Argo Sun Crichton”.

The Peacekeeper Wars is really busy and intense.  It’s obviously a compressed version of what Season 5 would have been.  However, the story also works.  Surprisingly, the second time around, I caught a certain amount of foreshadowing that I didn’t even notice the first time.  That means the foreshadowing was used correctly - it prepares you for what’s going to happen, without spoiling the fun.  The only obvious “spoilers” or “foreshadowing” was Aeryn and later Crichton’s voice-overs, which clarify the plot.  But the subtler ones really work.

The action scenes are very intense - which often means character suffers.  And, though, there would have been more character-stuff in a full 22-episode season (or even a shorter season of 16 or 13 episodes) the mini-series still works.  When D’Argo’s ship was destroyed and D’Argo and Chiana were assumed dead — I believed it.  I was expecting everyone to die anyway, so I believed it.  And that scene, Aeryn’s reaction to it, and later John’s reaction when Aeryn tells him what’s happened, is no less intense when you know that at that point D’Argo isn’t really dead and Chiana survives ‘til the end.

One of the most difficult plot points for the story to sell is John actually triggering the wormhole weapon device.  Yet, when he does, it’s totally believable.  John’s rant on how everyone - Scorpius, Rygel, the Peacekeepers, the Scarrans, wanted the weapon - is brilliantly played by Browder.

And Aeryn and John’s attempts to get married, which are finally finished with Stark marrying them while Aeryn gives birth is beautiful (as is Aeryn’s water birth of her son, and Crichton’s pure joy at becoming a father).  Though, for their story, I think the naming scene… with their child being told the stars are his playground, and John saying that he hopes that his child will never know war was the most beautiful scene in the mini-series.

I enjoyed the mini-series very much.  I think they did an incredible writing and editing job to get a season’s worth of material in to between three/four hours.  All of the cast were terrific as always, especially Ben Browder and Claudia Black.  There were references to events, people, and characters from throughout the four years of Farscape, which I felt were there for the fans, but they worked and didn’t stand out like a sore thumb, the way “inside” references sometimes can.  The only person I would have liked to see or at least referenced was John’s father, Jack.  But other than that tiny detail, I loved the mini-series, it was really well-done, and it gave a satisfying conclusion to the Farscape television series.

I enjoyed Season 3 of Farscape more than Season 2.  Captain Bylar Crais, Stark, and Scorpius have all been promoted to regulars.  Zhann is quickly killed off (to heal Aeryn, who “died” at the end of last Season). Most of this season is split into two distinct plot threads, as we now have ten (depending on how you count them) regular characters.  In the zombie episode, “Eat Me”, Chiana, D’Argo, and John are cloned, twinned, or doubled by a mad scientist to provide zombie food.  The extra Chiana and D’Argo are killed, but when they finally escape the Leviathan of the  Living Dead — it’s with two Johns.  One John stays aboard Moya with D’Argo, Chiana, and a new character called Jewel.

The other John joins Aeryn, Crais, and Rygel aboard Talon.  ”Eat Me” was a really gross and disgusting episode that I could barely watch - but then, I don’t like zombie movies.  However, it also serves only a single purpose - producing a duplicate of John.  The episode ends with both Johns playing rock-paper-scissors and always throwing the same thing.

I preferred the Talon episodes for two reasons - they were the more dramatic episodes, and I’m a sucker for drama and melodrama.  But I also really liked Capt. Crais.  You saw a lot of growth in his character, from a man in Season 1 who only wanted revenge on John (for an accident no less) to a man willing to sacrifice himself by the end of the season.  Crais was a complicated character and you really did not know which way he’d jump, what he really wanted, or what he’d do.  You could never completely trust Crais, but honestly, on Farscape - you could never completely trust anyone.  I loved the character development for Bylar Crais.  Like Aeryn, once outside the Peacekeeper sphere of influence (and likely brainwashing and propaganda) Crais began to think for himself and chose his own  path.

The Moya episodes tended to be silly.  Yes, they were the comic relief following the dramatic episodes in the Talon storyline, but I felt they went overboard.  ”Scratch-and-Sniff” felt like something written after the writer had had a few too many Pina Coladas.  Or, like someone’s explanation of Spring Break.  Essentially, John has to explain to Pilot, who’s now acting like an exasperated parent, just how he got himself and D’Argo banned from a pleasure planet.  I just thought it didn’t quite measure up to Farscape standards.  ”Revenging Angel” or John Challenges Scorpius in Looney Tunes Land, was probably novel at the time it aired (tho’ the “Jessica Rabbit” comment indicates the creative team knew about Who Framed Roger Rabbit) but it didn’t work for me. I just thought some of those episodes, especially “Scratch ‘N’ Sniff” and “Revenging Angel” went overboard in the humor and had characters, especially D’Argo acting out of character.

Also - I couldn’t stand Jewel.  Or screaming girl, which was about the only thing she could do.  Every time she got in the least bit of danger, I didn’t feel any sympathy for her at all - I wanted her to get killed off.  Which is not something you want for a major character.

I really liked “Infinite Possiblities” parts 1 and 2, because finally, John (or John 2 — the one aboard Talon) gets everything he wants:  Aeryn’s in love with him and even willing to go with him to Earth if he can find a wormhole, he’s destroyed the Scorpius clone in his head, and he’s figured out the wormhole equations.  So, what happens to John 2?  He dies of course.  The death scene is marvelous, and I loved that Aeryn was with him.  I also thought Rygel’s funeral for John was beautiful, but it’s the nature of the show that once John gets everything… he dies.  And Aeryn is in such shock after the death of “her John” she can’t accept the other Crichton on Moya.

After John 2’s death, all the characters re-connect.  Stark, who disappears again after “Infinite Possibilities”, leaves a message for John 1 (Moya John) from John 2 (Talon John); the message is dying Talon John warns Moya John about wormhole weapons.  But the last thing he does is throw rock-paper-scissors.  Moya John does the same thing.  The throws are different.  This suggests that although the two started from the same place, they are now different people.

The combined crew quickly form a new plan, to assault and destroy Scorpius’s command carrier, so that Wormhole Technology cannot be used as a weapon.  You know this won’t go well, right?  They do manage to destroy the ship.  They do so in such a way that the majority of the 50,000 men, women, and children aboard can escape, abandon ship and survive.  Crais and a now suddenly-mad Talon (that was introduced too quickly) sacrifice themselves to destroy the command carrier.  All of Scorpius’s wormhole data is destroyed.  It was unclear to me if Scorpius died or not.  It’s suggested he did - but he also seems to always return, so I wouldn’t bet on it.

After the successful assault, everyone is seriously ready to split up.  D’Argo wants to go back to the Luxans to warn them not  to ally themselves with the Peacekeepers.  Chiana wants to find her brother and the Nibari resistance.  Rygel wants to try to take back his throne as Dominar.  Aeryn, unable to face a double of her lover, just wants to leave.  And even John, thinking he might now be able to figure out wormholes, wants to return to Earth.  They decide they will help Moya take Talon's remains to the Leviathan burial space, then split up.

The last episode of Season 3, “Dog with Two Bones”, felt rushed and confused.  Suddenly, there’s a mysterious witch or shaman on Moya, who’s messing with John’s head.  This John’s head is pretty busy, because Scorpius’s neural clone is still there. Moya’s attacked by another Leviathan, without a pilot, so that takes up much of the episode.  Aeryn in her new prowler, and John and D’Argo in his Luxan ship attack and easily destroy the mad Leviathan, which disappears.  Somehow, I expect that plot line will be revisited (or at least I hope so).  However, at the end, John, almost out of fuel, in his Farscape module, is still trying to figure out what to do.  A wormhole appears and sucks in Moya.  Aeryn’s already gone in her prowler.  And John is left, sitting alone, in his low on fuel capsule, drifting by himself in space.

Technically, for Season 3, it seemed they decided to film two episodes simultaneously - the Talon episode and the Moya episode.  This gave everyone time off except Ben Browder who played two characters - and Lani Tupu, who played both the voice of Pilot and Capt Crais, tho’ the dubbing of Pilot’s voice may have been done in separate post-filming blocks.  The “making of” featurette on the Farscape Season 1 set, suggested that during filming Rygel was voiced by the puppeteer, and Jonathan Hardy dubbed in the voice later.  I’d guess the same thing was true for Lani Tupu and pilot.  It must of been exhausting for Browder - but then, he’d been the point of view character for this show for three years.

Overall, I really liked Season 3.  It was especially successful on DVD.  When I watch a TV series on DVD it’s like reading a book, and the individual episodes are chapters.  Well, with a structure like this, with one episode following one set of characters, and the next episode following a different set of characters, it was like reading a book that flips between different settings and characters - I wanted to know what was happening to everyone so I read, or in this case, watched it faster, normally four or five episodes a day.  That’s a lot of Farscape.  But I liked it.

Oh, and the creatures were back!  Yeah, for the interesting, different, and unique creatures!

• Series:  Farscape


• Season: 1


• Format:  DVD


• Creative Team:  Rockne S. O’Bannon, Brian Henson, Henson Productions


• Cast:  Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Virginia Hey, Anthony Simcoe

Farscape was a series that frustrated me to no end when it originally aired, running first in first-run syndication, where it was impossible to find, and later on the Sci-Fi channel (which I didn’t have access to at the time), Farscape was a show I wanted to watch but couldn’t.  Farscape also had bad luck for it’s first DVD release - it was sold by episode, not by season set.  This made the show prohibitively expensive to buy - and collecting it would also take up too much space.  In short, the only series I’m willing to buy that way is original (classic) Doctor Who - and that only because the original stories were movie length.

Farscape is one of the most unique SF programs I’ve seen.  The only analogies I can compare it to are: Blake’s 7 and a role-playing adventure game like D&D but set in space.  Like Blake’s 7, the characters are all fugitives, throw together, who don’t trust each other - and may even sell each other out for the right price/motivation.  Like a adventure game, the characters are a priest, a warrior, a thief/deposed king, a warrior/romantic interest, and The New Guy (tm), however, the setting isn’t medieval Europe, or a hidden cave system, but deep, deep space.

In the pilot, John Crichton, an astronaut and scientist is performing an experiment in Earth’s orbit in a one-man capsule.  It goes horribly wrong, and John is shot through a worm-hole.  He’s picked up by a living ship, called Moya, with it’s convict crew who are in the midst of an escape attempt.  John’s shot up with translator microbes allowing him to understand his very strange, alien shipmates.  His shipmates include:  D’Argo — a Lexan Warrior, who’s still young for his species, although at first he seems the tough “shoot first” type, later he turns out to have a heart and to be completely innocent of his accused crime of murder.  Zhaan is a priestess, though her encounter with Moya’s crew is already turning her down a darker, more violent path.  Zhaan is also a living, breathing, thinking, talking plant - who’s bright blue.  Rygel the 16th, Dominar, is a deposed despot and thief - he’s also small and green, and normally gets around on a floating throne chair.  Though he looks Yoda-like and cute — he can be a nasty bugger.  Pilot is built into the ship and pilots Moya - translating between the ship’s needs and the crew’s commands.  Finally, Officer Aeryn Sun looks Human but she is a Sabacean, and a Peace-keeper (law officer).  In the pilot, she’s accused of desertion and “irreversible contamination” and has  no choice but to join John and Moya’s crew of escaped prisoners.  At first the others see Aeryn as an enemy (they all were, after all, at some point, all prisoners of the peacekeepers), but Aeryn proves her mettle and loyalty.

Farscape has a very unique look, in part because of the work of the Jim Henson creature shop (run by Brian Henson).  The aliens, both regulars and the many varied guest creatures are very different.  This show does not, like Star Trek or Stargate, merely stick funny ears or a funky face mask on an actor - and call them alien.  The aliens all look very different and have different reactions to things.  Aeryn is extremely sensitive to heat - prolonged exposure can even produce ‘the living death”, a condition of mental debilitation like Alzhiemers.  Zhaan is a living plant - who even experiences “photogasms” when exposed to high levels of radiation or sunlight.  These types of examples make the universe of Farscape feel strange and alien.

John Crichton, in the first season, is shown to be a scientist, not only with the ability to figure things out or build stuff, but with an intense curiosity about the new world he finds himself in.  Where one or more of his shipmates might want to shoot something, John often asks questions and tries to figure out what something that looks like an alien or monster might want.  He has, in a strange way, a “Doctor-ish” quality.

Overall, I enjoyed the first season of this show that I missed the first time around.

Title: Framed
Cast: Trevor Eve, Eve Myles
BBC
Masterpiece Contemporary (PBS)

Framed is a wonderful story, filmed in gorgeous Welsh countryside. When the National Gallery in London is flooded, curator Quentin Lester proposes temporarily moving the paintings to a cave in Northern Wales, just as they were during World War II during the London Blitz. Upon arriving in Wales, Quentin in thrown into a completely alien world. Always more at home with priceless works of art than people, the characters of the town pull Quentin out of his shell. And as he realizes that art is to be shared not hidden away, and shared with everyone – rich or poor, Quentin's perspective changes. From the strange butcher who's inspired by an Impressionist painting to re-open the town's lake-side park, to a pair of ancient sisters who discover the "worthless" painting they own is actually a priceless one that went missing the last time the paintings were stored in the town – everyone is changed. Quentin begins to fall for the beautiful, clever, and enigmatic schoolteacher played by Eve Myles. In the end, not only are the townspeople changed but so is Quentin.

During the painting's exile, one painting a month was shipped back to London. There Londoners would queue up to see one painting, one masterpiece. After the Gallery is cleaned, dried, and repaired, the paintings are shipped back. However, Quentin is instrumental in starting a new program – he has one painting a month moved to the town in Wales and displayed for the people to see – in different venues around the town. Quentin Lester, a man who once stated that art was "for those who can appreciate it", has come to realize that art is for anybody and for all. That beauty is something that anyone – rich or poor, from urban areas or the countryside, young or old can appreciate. And, really, since they rarely see such treasures, the folks of the town are more appreciative than the bored school children on field trips in the city.

Framed is filmed in Wales, and the scenery is breath-takingly beautiful. Every outdoor scene is simply gorgeous – the mountains, hills, clouds, sky and everything is incredible. I loved the shades of green and grey everywhere. Definitely, something that makes one want to visit Wales.