Farscape 1.2 [1999] (DVD)
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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.In this second box set there are five episodes spread across two discs. Although the generic Star Trek-style storylines seem a little over-familiar, the witty and fast-paced scripts help to keep things fresh. In "Exodus from Genesis" the crew of Moya are invaded by space cockroaches, who, in a suprising twist then help them fend off the Peacekeepers. "Thank God it's Friday Again" shows D'Argo finding happiness in a hippy commune where all is not what it seems; Crichton has a Matrix-style worm inserted in his navel before Rygel's bodily functions prove to be instrumental in rescuing the crew. Crichton finds love with the "PK Tech Girl", much to the consternation of Aeryn Sun, who goes into full Lt. Ripley mode and spends the episode running around with a pulse rifle under flickering strobe lighting. In "That Old Black Magic", a malevolent magician forces a confrontation between Crichton and his nemesis, Crais; Zhaan must revive her bad old ways in order to save the day. "DNA Mad Scientist" is the most original episode, with a neat twist on the Frankenstein scenario thanks to the splendid villain, Namtar; a distinctly unpleasant side to some of the characters is revealed as they bargain body parts in exchange for a map home. On the DVD: Because the first disc contains three episodes instead of the usual two, special features are limited to a trailer and some conceptual art. The second disc also has a profile of Zhaan. --Mark Walker
