Earth 2 The Complete Series - The Memorable TV DVD Review

Distributor: Universal
Certificate: Not Rated | 17 hrs 5 minutes | Region 1 NTSC | 4 disc double sided set
Available to buy

Extras: Yes

ANYONE IN IT WE KNOW?

Debrah Farentino, Joey Zimmerman, Clancy Brown, J. Madison Wright, Jessica Steen, Rebecca Gayheart, Sullivan Walker

WHAT’S IT ABOUT THEN?

Like a futuristic Wagon Train of the stars Earth 2 (which aired in 1994 for a single season) follows a group of disparate people in the year 2192 as they search for a new home, heading up the group is Devon Adair (Debrah Farentino) who is struggling to find a healthy

environment for her deathly ill son Ulysses (Joey Zimmerman – Ulysses has a condition called The Syndrome and most of the 250 families in the group are also troubled by this syndrome), putting together an expedition she and her “team” find themselves 22 light years in the future on the wrong side of the planet G889 following an unexpected crash landing. The series real premise then begins as the business of establishing a new world begins.

Opening with an ambitious two hour splash Earth 2 is a sci-fi series (for example Adair believes the planet to be uninhabited by other sentient beings but an alien race who live inside the earth and resemble mud people are already there as are various criminal types whom the Earth government have shunted off to G889) but its also a quality human drama that draws you in with a simple what would you do in their place.

One of the key motifs of the series is that of young Ulysses and the alien race The Terrians, early on in the series Ulysses is kidnapped by the Terrians and is later returned cured of his illness but not without changes to his DNA, he has actually become part Terrian and is able to harness some of their powers, as the episodes progress it is clear that Ulysses and his “transformation” hold the key to the survival of the humans on the planet.

A clever and entertaining series Earth 2 was beset with bad scheduling spots and consequent poor ratings which meant only a single season aired but this great new 4 disc (double sided) set shows that there was plenty of mileage left in the concept. For any fan of intelligent scifi this is must see TV.

ANY SPECIAL FEATURES?

Extras feature various deleted and extended scenes as well as a set of out-takes. As a bonus there are also individual episodes of Cleopatra 2525 (A Quest For Firepower) and Sliders (Rules of the Game) both of which are also released by Universal this month.