Outcasts

After a friend of mine suggested I watch this, I decided to play catch-up on BBC iplayer a few weeks ago. The first 15 minutes of it and I thought "OMG - this is like an updated Blake's 7 I can't watch this!!" Recently the same friend complained I hadn't given it a chance and told me it was "getting good". So I gave it another go ... I thought "I'm gonna sit through this and REALLY try to like it".

Okay - the first episode was PAINFUL. The characters seemed boring, the kid that kept repeating his "tiger tiger" poem almost put me off watching ... but I struggled through. First episode felt very long. However I persevered and watched a second episode ... then a third ... then a fourth ...

It's actually turning out to be quite interesting in certain respects but doesn't have me completely hooked as yet.

I think the characters could be improved - they are currently REALLY difficult to warm to - they have no spark. They feel a bit like cardboard cut-outs at the moment, stilted and awkward - and certainly need a bit more depth.

Looking past the stilted characters are the predictable character relationships ... just a bit boring and uninspiring - again no SPARK.

The story is somewhat intriguing in parts but with the lack of charismatic characters or interesting dialogue it just makes it difficult to wade through.

The jury is still hung for me on this.

This show COULD be better, but needs a whole lot of fine-tuning if it ever wants to become a really good show.

I read the previous review, and I totally disagree. Em Squared apparently hasn't got a clue about the sci-fi genre. He condemns the lack of "phasers" and the abundance of lens flare. My friend, you need to stop watching Star Trek, I believe that 20 times is enough... Now, in my opinion this series was a good one, the only down side to it might be the fact that it got canceled ahead of time. The story is decent, and so are the performances. It has that bit of drama which reminds you that you are not watching a continuous gun/"phaser"/light saber fight. All in all, I would definitely recommend it for all SG and BSG fans.

A bit of a shame that this series is being ripped to shreds when it is actually quite interesting - it has some good scifi elements for example aliens and genetically engineered humans. The story that links all these things together is actually pretty good.

Sure it is not the same as the fast paced series like Battlestar Galactica however it is its own show that is taking its time in revealing all its secrets.

What I think the haters do not like is the fact the actors.....act. When they do it well they are very good however when they do it bad they are very very bad - the main baddie is very very bad.

Sometimes I think it is weird watching British TV shows as we are so used to the way Americans act - it takes a few episodes and it will probably not be for folk that want to see explosions in space but if you stick in there it really is a wee gem.

Anyone who knocks this series because it 'isn't exciting enough' should realise that the audience who might get this series are not died-in-the-wool sci-fi fans. It is a series about normal, believable, 'now' people, undergoing a change in their lives that could happen to any of us based on one technological advance, space travel.

The fact that there are no space weapons, intense galactic star battles, aliens and similar shouldn't take away from the fact that this series managed on a relatively small budget to do somewhat what the newer battlestar galactica did, in that it made it about individual, believable humans, and more than that it made you think about what might happen in 'our'lifetime.

You may not like every character. You may not like the lack of star battles, but if this series does not get it's promised second series it will be a travesty. All the actors and actresses were up to the task, at least by the end of series one, and the basic storyline and potential for it to develop to great literature is all there.

Don't watch one, watch them all, and hope for more. Great show.

I don't normally write reviews but I was compelled to do so for this series in light of many of the general downbeat comments. I have to say that I am enjoying this show. Like anything new, I believe it is important to give it a chance and by the third episode I was finding it to be quite a good series, for what it is - light evening entertainment. It's filled with plot holes and the characterisation is a little light, but when you have an 8 episode series character development probably isn't going to be a major factor of a show, particularly in action dominated sci-fi. The concept is interesting, and hopefully more questions about what happened on earth and why there is no military presence in the colony will be answered over the series. The acting is good, as are the set pieces and most of the FX, particularly in episode 3. Script wise it is at times a little clunky but I think the actors have done a respectable job with what they have to work with.

A note now on all the "one star" reviews. Writing a negative review and brandishing one star ratings is unfortunately a way for people to excercise a little bit of the power that is lacking in their life. I do not believe this series is a one star show, but that is my opinion. I think people can state if they truly feel something is poor without resorting to some of the vindictive things being said here. No one deliberately sets out to make a bad show just to ruin your day. Many people have worked very hard on this series (and no I am not one of them or affiliated with anybody involved). Ultimately it is about entertainment, and if people do not like it, don't watch it. Why waste your time writing such horrid things. There are zillions of channels to choose from now. Often the comments people write online are things they would never dare say to someones face, and are a complete overeaction to what is in reality just a TV show. All that negative energy could be channelled into something much more constructive.

So, soldier on Outcasts. I for one am enjoying the ride, and grateful to the BBC for trying something new in sci-fi.