We’ve just finished the first season of Farscape, the Jim Henson sci-fi series that features, human, puppets and CGI all working together. This was a new achievement in TV back in 1999, and as far as I know, there still aren’t (m)any adult TV shows using puppets to tell their stories today.
I first watched Farscape when it showed on BBC2 at 6pm on a week night, back when Buffy, Due South, The Simpsons and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air made that a must see hour, right after Neighbours finished on BBC1. But then the BBC decided cult shows such as these were for graveyard slots or the digital realms, so I think I only actually saw a couple of seasons of Farscape – though I’ve definitely seen all of season 1 before.
Watching season 1 again, I found more to enjoy in the series than I’d seen previously. I appreciated how well drawn the characters are, and how subtle some of their interactions are. The concept of Farscape – John Crichton, a human, ends up on a prison ship with a collection of fugitives and tries to find his way back to Earth – has always intrigued me. These characters were (mostly) prisoners, although prisoners of the nefarious and falsely named Peacekeepers, so their crimes are not as cut and dried as they first appear. This show has no basic ‘explore the galaxy’ remit, rather the ship and it’s inhabitants are on the run from the Peacekeepers they escaped from, and each is trying to get to their home planet, although they are currently, inconveniently, in the Uncharted Territories. Each character is distinct and has their own priorities, and each is selfish in different ways. As the season evolves so too do the characters’ relationships with each other, as they develop respect and learn how to interact with others.
Crichton (Ben Browder) is the hunky, pop-culture-referencing Earthling stranded on Moya, a living ship (although as hard as they try, she doesn’t really ‘look’ like a living being, but it’s a very interesting concept, especially when she gives birth at the season’s end), and he is the audience’s way in to this world. Very occasionally, Browder’s performance edges on annoying, but mostly he’s both fun and funny. Claudia Black plays Aeryn Sun, one of favourite characters for she grows immensely from her role as a simple Peacekeeper grunt into a compassionate member of the crew, and her relationship with Crichton is so playful they’ve just go to get it on any minute!
The non-human looking members of the crew are: Ka D’Argo (Anthony Simcoe), a Luxan warrior who is initially very head strong, but like Aeryn learns to use his head before his Qualta Blade; Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan (Virginia Hey), a blue woman who’s actually a plant, and the slightly hippy one with a knack for medicine; Dominar Rygel XVI, a hilarious puppet creation who resembles a toad or a large slug, but in a nice way!; and Pilot, the massive animatronic at the heart of Moya. Gigi Edgley joined the regular cast for the last few episodes, playing Chiana, and she created some excellent new dynamics with the rest of the cast.
I love the humour in Farscape, and not just Crichton’s pop culture references. The fact that Rygel farts helium is brilliant in itself, and when he’s stuck in a pod with Chiana and can’t help but break wind it lightens a very tense episode. Initially made up of monster of the week style episodes featuring either a new planet or a new visitor to Moya, the latter half of season 1 really ups the stakes with story arcs and recurring villains Crais and Scorpius (re)introduced into the mix, creating more jeopardy and a chance for the actors to really show their acting chops. That is not to say that the first episodes are poor, far from it, although sometimes the ideas on display are better than their execution, it is that the later episodes are noticeably more exciting and tighter scripted. Any new series needs time to find it’s feet, just look at The X-Files and Buffy’s first seasons.
One of the other distinctive features of Farscape that set it apart from other sci-fi series (other than the imaginative puppet and costume work that Jim Henson’s workshop creates every episode) is that it was filmed in Australia, and thus most of the cast and guest cast are Australian. Although our hero, John Crichton, is as American as they come, everyone else in this part of the world usually speaks with an Aussie twang. It’s refreshing to hear that Crichton’s translator microbes work with an Australian accent!
I first watched Farscape when it showed on BBC2 at 6pm on a week night, back when Buffy, Due South, The Simpsons and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air made that a must see hour, right after Neighbours finished on BBC1. But then the BBC decided cult shows such as these were for graveyard slots or the digital realms, so I think I only actually saw a couple of seasons of Farscape – though I’ve definitely seen all of season 1 before.
Watching season 1 again, I found more to enjoy in the series than I’d seen previously. I appreciated how well drawn the characters are, and how subtle some of their interactions are. The concept of Farscape – John Crichton, a human, ends up on a prison ship with a collection of fugitives and tries to find his way back to Earth – has always intrigued me. These characters were (mostly) prisoners, although prisoners of the nefarious and falsely named Peacekeepers, so their crimes are not as cut and dried as they first appear. This show has no basic ‘explore the galaxy’ remit, rather the ship and it’s inhabitants are on the run from the Peacekeepers they escaped from, and each is trying to get to their home planet, although they are currently, inconveniently, in the Uncharted Territories. Each character is distinct and has their own priorities, and each is selfish in different ways. As the season evolves so too do the characters’ relationships with each other, as they develop respect and learn how to interact with others.
Crichton (Ben Browder) is the hunky, pop-culture-referencing Earthling stranded on Moya, a living ship (although as hard as they try, she doesn’t really ‘look’ like a living being, but it’s a very interesting concept, especially when she gives birth at the season’s end), and he is the audience’s way in to this world. Very occasionally, Browder’s performance edges on annoying, but mostly he’s both fun and funny. Claudia Black plays Aeryn Sun, one of favourite characters for she grows immensely from her role as a simple Peacekeeper grunt into a compassionate member of the crew, and her relationship with Crichton is so playful they’ve just go to get it on any minute!
The non-human looking members of the crew are: Ka D’Argo (Anthony Simcoe), a Luxan warrior who is initially very head strong, but like Aeryn learns to use his head before his Qualta Blade; Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan (Virginia Hey), a blue woman who’s actually a plant, and the slightly hippy one with a knack for medicine; Dominar Rygel XVI, a hilarious puppet creation who resembles a toad or a large slug, but in a nice way!; and Pilot, the massive animatronic at the heart of Moya. Gigi Edgley joined the regular cast for the last few episodes, playing Chiana, and she created some excellent new dynamics with the rest of the cast.I love the humour in Farscape, and not just Crichton’s pop culture references. The fact that Rygel farts helium is brilliant in itself, and when he’s stuck in a pod with Chiana and can’t help but break wind it lightens a very tense episode. Initially made up of monster of the week style episodes featuring either a new planet or a new visitor to Moya, the latter half of season 1 really ups the stakes with story arcs and recurring villains Crais and Scorpius (re)introduced into the mix, creating more jeopardy and a chance for the actors to really show their acting chops. That is not to say that the first episodes are poor, far from it, although sometimes the ideas on display are better than their execution, it is that the later episodes are noticeably more exciting and tighter scripted. Any new series needs time to find it’s feet, just look at The X-Files and Buffy’s first seasons.
One of the other distinctive features of Farscape that set it apart from other sci-fi series (other than the imaginative puppet and costume work that Jim Henson’s workshop creates every episode) is that it was filmed in Australia, and thus most of the cast and guest cast are Australian. Although our hero, John Crichton, is as American as they come, everyone else in this part of the world usually speaks with an Aussie twang. It’s refreshing to hear that Crichton’s translator microbes work with an Australian accent!
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