Stargate SG-1: Season 01 (1997–98)

SG-1: Season 01 (1997–98)

Dirs. Various | 22 episodes, approx 44 minutes each.

The first (and best) TV Series to continue the story of the Stargate (1994) movie was SG-1.

It kicks off with a feature-length Pilot episode titled Children of the Gods. Set approximately one year after the movie's end, the Stargate program at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex has been shut down, with just a handful of guards watching over it. But when a previously unseen Goa'uld 'God' is encountered, the wheel spins again and the team must return to Abydos.

Some significant but excellent recasting means we lose Kurt Russell as Colonel Jack O'Neill but gain Richard Dean Anderson (aka MacGyver), who quickly makes the role his own.

Likewise, actor James Spader, who starred as Egyptologist Daniel Jackson in the movie, is replaced by Michael Shanks. For me, both replacements do a better job than the original duo; though with SG-1 being episodic the new stars have more time to develop the characters.

Marduk: Fuck Me Jesus (1991 / 1995)

Marduk: Fuck Me Jesus (1991 / 1995)

Wrapped in what's surely a strong contender for BM cover art of the Century, the boldly named FMJ was an early demo release from the 'most blasphemous band in the world'.

It's a hell of a lot better than I'd anticipated it would be, given what I'd read in other media. It's an interesting blend of down-tuned Black and Death Metal with a cluster of unexpected tempo changes that keep things fresh. There's even some creeping Doom influences in there.

It was originally released on cassette in '91, but the version you're likely to find if you go shopping — and the one that I've been referring to — is the '95 Osmose reissue. That version had an additional three tracks, two of which are Bathory covers. If you're paying tribute to any artist in the genre that Marduk are best known for, then early Bathory is a logical choice.

Prey: Series Two (2015)

Prey: Series Two (2015)

Dir. Lewis Arnold | 3 episodes, approx 45 mins each.

Like Series 1 it begins in the thick of it and then skips back (eighteen hours this time) to show how the 'prey' got to be in their current situation. Most of the characters are new, as is the story, so you don't need to have seen the previous miniseries beforehand.

There's some minor continuity, but it's with one cast member only. Not having seen the previous episodes won't have any major impact on your viewing.

Alas, the person in question is DS Susan Reinhart (Rosie Cavaliero), the officer in charge of both cases and who was, for me, the weakest aspect of both. 

Everyone has their strengths — she'd maybe be well-cast as a scullery maid in a BBC period drama — but she's not convincing as a leader and driving force.

The duo she's chasing fare much better. David Murdoch and Jules Hope, played by Philip Glenister and MyAnna Buring, respectively, are on the run together but they aren't friends.

A.D. Kingdom and Empire (2015)

A.D. Kingdom and Empire (2015)

Dirs. Ciaran Donnelly (Eps 01, 02, 03) / Tony Mitchell (Eps 04, 05, 06) / Brian Kelly (Eps 07, 08) / Rob Evans (09, 10) / Paul Wilmshurst (11, 12)  | 12 episodes, approx 45 mins each.

Also known as A.D. The Bible Continues, it's a continuation of The Bible: Miniseries (2013) with the same dramatic stylings as before, but lacks the v/o narration this time.

It begins by retelling the crucifixion story and then moves onto the fifth book of The New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, showing how the religious message outlives the man who was sent to deliver it.

The vast jumps through differing eras that made up the first half of the previous miniseries aren't an issue this time - it's now one lengthy multi-part story with the same characters in the closing episode as were in the opening one, but it suffers from the same belief system 'promotion' that I feel weakened the latter half of the earlier series.

Tremors: The Series (2003)

Tremors: The Series (2003)

13 episodes, approx 43 minutes each.

The short-lived series takes place after the events of Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001), so it's advisable to watch T3 first. I'm going to proceed under the assumption that you already have. If not, then any SPOILERS that you encounter for the first three films from this point onward are encountered at your own discretion.

Were back in Perfection Valley, Nevada, home of gun-loving Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) and his very own Moby Dick, the state protected Graboid known as El Blanco. The small community refuse to move and the indigenous El Blanco is unable to move because of the mountainous regions that are located on either side, so a co-existence between man and beast is the only viable answer.

Luckily, for us viewers but not for the residents, Perfection Valley has other secrets under its sands, so there's more than just El Blanco to keep the watchful eye and trigger-finger of Burt Gummer twitching.

Prey: Series One (2014)

Prey: Series One (2014)

Dir. Nick Murphy | 3 episodes, approx 47 mins each.

It kicks off with an overturned police vehicle on a public road and a subsequent prisoner escape, but that event isn't the start of the story. After the damage is assessed there, it jumps back three days to the life of DC Marcus Farrow (John Simm) of the Manchester Metropolitan Police, characterising him through his job, his friendships, and his relationship with his ex-wife and their two young children.

Of the three things mentioned, the most notable for the viewer seems to be the job, specifically regarding the discovery of a body on the moors. But things thereafter don't go the way that most investigative TV procedural dramas usually do, it takes a left turn into a man-on-the-run conspiracy thriller. The body is important, but the main drive of the series is that of an innocent man (the 'prey' of the title) trying desperately to find the real killer so he can clear his name - all the while unsure of who he can trust.

Solaris (2002)

Solaris (2002)

Dir. Steven Soderbergh

A thought-provoking work based on Stanisław Lem's 1961 novel of the same name, with a sombre tone that even in its most doleful moments somehow shines with an aura that's supportive of the whole. It explores a great many themes, but its broadest focus is arguably on relationships and the multifaceted nature of detachment and emotional engagement.

It's the human story with telltale foibles and failings laid bare, made all the more poignant by an enveloping unknown; i.e. the titular planet, which functions as a catalyst that seems to exist as something both observable and observing. It appears to create a bubble-reality in which certain feelings are able to think for themselves. In a way it makes the unreal real, which is both a blessing and a curse for the crew of the research station that sits in the swirling planet's orbit.