Jasmine Sahu is well suited with this new American drama exclusive to Dave.
Lois Cameron explains why this series is much more than your average cosy period drama.
The last episode of this series sees Sherlock and Moriarty attempt to solve the final problem with devastating consequences.
With major cast changes afoot, Jacob Martin ponders whether Being Human can live up to its own scarily high standard.
Bold, original, imaginative dramas are hard to come by in this age of “recommission until there’s no one left watching”. In fact, looking at this year’s winter schedule, it is cluttered with returning shows and very little originality. But, finally, the BBC have given us something a bit more unexpected.
Outcasts is set in the near future on the planet of Carpathia. The residents of this planet, led by President Richard Tate (Liam Cunningham) and Dr. Stella Isen (Hermione Norris), left the no longer sustainable Earth 10 years ago to prepare Carpathia for the rest of the population’s arrival. The first episode saw the first public transport shuttle arriving, but the joy was short-lived as it crash landed, which led to a search for survivors in the second episode.
The plot summary above is definitely just a summary. There was an awful lot going on in these episodes, and this made Outcasts far more engaging sci-fi than we’ve come to expect from the BBC (outside of Doctor Who, of course). BBC1’s track record with big-budget sci-fi/ fantasy dramas is, to put it mildly, not great. Look at the depths that were plummeted by The Deep, and the laughable Bonekickers. Others have been very entertaining, such as the underrated Survivors, but none of them have ever tried to be anything more than enjoyable hokum. Outcasts, on the other hand, has much bigger prospects in its sights.
It is astonishingly believable, with the set-design, cinematography and location shooting creating a futuristic, otherworldly feel. However, the two episodes were far from perfect, with the second episode being noticeably weaker than the strong episode that preceded it. The first episode seemed to have a clear idea of where the show is ultimately heading, and there was a pleasing multitude of intriguing sub-plots. While the second episode still showed some structure, it was much slower paced, largely because of the reduction in screen time of many of the sub-plots, instead choosing to drag one of them out for a full episode.
In addition, much has been made of the show’s premise being reminiscent of Battlestar Galactica, and the similarities don’t end there: The clones are very Cylon-esque, and Julius Berger (Eric Mabius) is a poor man’s Gaius Baltar. Such similarities are unfavourable, as comparing any show to Battlestar is always going to be unfair.
That’s not to say that there aren’t positives as well. One of the most pleasing things about it is that neither the back-story of how the outcasts came to be on the planet, nor the events that happened in the past 10 years have been revealed, which is a more efficient way of getting viewers hooked than the alternative. The standard of acting is also high, with Jamie Bamber, Daniel Mays and, as ever, Hermione Norris, standing out. The producers have thankfully realised that three-dimensional characters play a vital part in the success of a show (especially one that is aiming for a mainstream audience), and Outcasts has them in spades.
So while Outcasts isn’t quite rocketing up the list of Best Sci-Fi Programmes, it definitely shows signs of having the potential to develop into a compulsive cult show, with the intelligence and structure that was present in, primarily, the first of these opening episodes being very promising indeed. The BBC would be mad to cast this out.
See the next two episodes of Outcasts next Monday and Tuesday at 9pm on BBC1.
You must log in to submit a comment.
