In a well presented and paced episode a cut above what the second season has so far delivered the Alphans are visited by a being who claims to be their creator. Sporting a long blue robe and a slightly dodgy moustache, this being selects four people to settle on a nearby planet he has dubbed New Earth. It may seem idyllic when they first arrive but it soon becomes clear that their colonisation comes with caveats. He cuts off communication with the Moon, creates a forcefield to contain them in an area and creates pair bondings that couple Helena with Tony and Maya with Koenig! If the natural pairings touch each gets a nasty static shock although this doesn’t happen when Tony handles Maya as an eagle. So far so Love Island yet thankfully the urge to play this for laughs is subjugated as the foursome start to discover chinks in the hitherto all powerful one’s armour not least of which the fact that they are not alone on this planet.
Directed with verve by Charles Crichton, Terence Feely’s script is home to some interesting notions dispensed as almost throwaway lines yet worthy of an episode to themselves. We are finally a long way from tasting Tony’s coffee or indulging in playful flirting. Can this character really be God? He suggests that written religion is a falsehood. Later he is described as the “last of the cosmic magicians.” The Alphan four debate the nature of God- Maya says her race discovered their God only to find he had a God as well! Such highbrow discussion does distract from the fact that Feely utilises a number of tv sci-fi clichés during the course of the episode yet manages to do so with a freshness that means you barely notice.
The creator character himself comes over as so powerful appearing at will, controlling matters with great force that it does make the viewer wonder just how he can be defeated. Interestingly we are first to discover he is not quite a God thanks to a sequence where he is clearly struggling to contain an Eagle that is attempting to take off on the Moon. Via some caves the quartet find out the character is called Magus and he is attempting some rather crude genetic engineering. Later he claims to have been several historical or mythical characters including Merlin and Nostradamus. Yet Koenig realises he needs the power of the Sun and Maya suggests she somehow can harness light creating his powers.
In the role of Magus, Guy Rolfe is brilliantly infuriating playing up to God like ways without overdoing it. It’s a shame about that false moustache which is so distracting because it looks like its about to fly off in high winds. Adding a darker tone to the tale is Bernard Kay’s mutant who simply wants to die.
Along the way we get a gorilla, giant lizards done very well using miniature caves and the lovely visual when the planet turns suddenly from day to night. It is rather good that Koenig and co use a very old fashioned way to trap Magus and cut off the light by covering a hole with twigs and branches just like early Man did to catch animals. I’m not entirely sure Magus would lose all his powers instantly or why the subsequent disintegrating planet didn’t uncover the hole but they take this episode to its farthest run time before the denouement plays out.
Given the premise and some of the episodes this season `New Adam New Eve` could have been silly or clunky but instead is something of a triumph.
No comments:
Post a Comment