Sci Fi shows today are chuck full of special effects, and short on script. This show was just the opposite.
Blake, a political prisoner in a future ruled by an evil Federation, is being transfered to a prison world with a shipload of other criminals. The shuttle find a derelict space ship en route, and stops to investigate. The guards who go on board, are killed.
The remaining guards send a few "expendable" prisoners into the ship. But they figure out the way to disarm the security system, and take over the ship.
So now Blake and a half dozen petty crooks are in charge of an alien vessel that is the most powerful ship the Federation has ever seen. The Federation wants the ship, and the crew doesn't trust one another.
The amazing thing about this show was it's revolving cast of semi - regulars. Characters you came to love would die, or disappear . Sometime heroicly, sometime tragically, and usually unexpectedly. I was constantly wondering who would survive. You never knew.
The bottom line is that the characters and stories were compelling and complex. Sure the effects were bargain basement, (a notch below Dr. Who), but the stories, for the most part, were first rate.
I won't spoil the ending, but suffice it to say that it was something I've never seen before of since. I wish someone would remake it using todays special effects, and most of yesterdays scripts.
If you love Science Fiction, rent the series. Give it a few episodes to grow on you.
Blake, a political prisoner in a future ruled by an evil Federation, is being transfered to a prison world with a shipload of other criminals. The shuttle find a derelict space ship en route, and stops to investigate. The guards who go on board, are killed.
The remaining guards send a few "expendable" prisoners into the ship. But they figure out the way to disarm the security system, and take over the ship.
So now Blake and a half dozen petty crooks are in charge of an alien vessel that is the most powerful ship the Federation has ever seen. The Federation wants the ship, and the crew doesn't trust one another.
The amazing thing about this show was it's revolving cast of semi - regulars. Characters you came to love would die, or disappear . Sometime heroicly, sometime tragically, and usually unexpectedly. I was constantly wondering who would survive. You never knew.
The bottom line is that the characters and stories were compelling and complex. Sure the effects were bargain basement, (a notch below Dr. Who), but the stories, for the most part, were first rate.
I won't spoil the ending, but suffice it to say that it was something I've never seen before of since. I wish someone would remake it using todays special effects, and most of yesterdays scripts.
If you love Science Fiction, rent the series. Give it a few episodes to grow on you.