MovieChat Forums > Sapphire & Steel (1979) Discussion > Worst British Series I Have Ever Seen

Worst British Series I Have Ever Seen

posted 17 years ago by djammons
38 replies | jump to latest

I love British television. I love British comedies, mysteries, and science fiction.

David McCallum and Joanna Lumley are old favorites of mine from their days when he was in The Man From UNCLE and she was in The New Avengers.

So it was with great anticipation that I purchsed the Sapphire & Steel DVD box set.

I have only watched the first six episodes that compreise one story but it was so awful I am not sure I have the time or energy to watch any more.

The production values looked more like 1969 than 1979. It looked like something a High School video club and drama department might collaberate and produce in the early 70's.

David MCCallum's acting and that of the young boy in the first episode were good. Joana Lumley looked miserable, like she knew this was a turkey. The little girl in the first six episodes was one of the worst child actors I have ever seen.

Someone please tell me the other stories, acting, and production values get better on the other discs in the set!!!!

In the meantme I will keep on enjoying The Prisoner, The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Dr. Who, and Torchwood.

[–] fortean2 17 years ago

Watch the second story (the one set in the railway station) THEN let us know if your opinion has been revised. If it hasn't then there's no hope for you. ;-)

[–] justb-2 17 years ago

This show is NOT about production values or flasshy special effects, it's about the stories and the atmosphere.

The first story was more of a pilot and kind of intended to be for children.

After the first story it was aimed more at adults and that's why there are not the annoying children in any others.

Like Fortean2 says, watch the second story.

[–] ianh45 17 years ago

i originally saw assignment 2 - the railway station - when it was first screened and i was very young. it has never left my head. really do watch it before making up your mind on the series. (the 'photographer' assignment is also pretty strong.

'Pack up you troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.'

<shudder>

[–] Doris_Wildthyme 17 years ago

'Pack up you troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.'

I actually just got a shiver up my spine just reading that. Genuinely creepy.

[–] ewgf 17 years ago

Sapphire and Steel is excellent.

It's very well written and imaginative, but what really makes it stand out so much is that it is so frightening. I've seen and read so many supposedly scary horror or supernatural books and films that I'm largely immune to their intended affects, especially since I'm old enough to know that it's just a bunch of actors, or a writers imagination on a typewriter, but SaS can still make my skin crawl. It really was done so very well, and most of the horror was implied, so it stays with you when the program is over and you're thinking about the program, unlike the graphic images favoured today, whose emotive affects fade from you even if the image remains in your mind.

Come to think of it, SaS and Blake's 7, which has much in common with SaS (low budget, some excellent scripts and dialogues, both mostly forgotten or ignored today) are my two favourite science fiction programs by far.

[–] jsmcdonnell 16 years ago

Funny, but the same for me, saw that episode one night, sitting on my mums living room floor, probably aged about 8, and it has never left my mind, ever since, in fact I was thinking about it just a few days ago.

That's pretty powerful, 30 years ago and something I only ever saw once.

[–] [email protected] 17 years ago

I don't think the production values are that bad.

Don't get me wrong - the titles couldn't look cheaper if they tried, but generally the design, sets and costumes are good, imo.

I don't dislike 1 in particular, but it's true that 2,4 and 6 are significantly better.

[–] Batwoman_the_Crimson_Avenger 16 years ago

I agree. Doctor Who had cheaper sets and costumes. Besides, I think they did a fantastic job using what they had for special effects. For instance, the way they portrayed the being in the second story. Very cleverly done.

And I've become a bigger A/V geek as I've gotten older! But I grew up in the 70s and 80s, so I wasn't spoiled with all the special effects they have now.

[–] Royalcourtier 12 years ago

Production values were deliberately (semi-deliberately!) limited. The whole idea was to convey the claustrophobia of the scenes. Whether stuck in time and space, a house, a shop or a railway station, the characters were either trapped or waiting for something. This was never going to be a physically wide-ranging series.

This is one of the most intelligent (even intellectual) series ever filmed. Far and away above anything out of America. That is probably why many people do not understand or like it - they don't have the brains.

[–] spacemouse 15 years ago

I must have been only 10 when I watched this. I barely recall anyhting from it - though someone mentioned a trainstation which just that minute triggered an image of flaoting sheep???? wtf?

I recall a menacing poem - about a man on a stair who was there today but not tomorrow or soemthing.

I recall the floating sheep (I already said that) - and I recall nothing more except loving it as a kid - and being terrified for weeks after...lol.

fM.

[–] LadyCatherine 14 years ago

I recall a menacing poem - about a man on a stair who was there today but not tomorrow or soemthing.

I haven't hit that adventure--just finished #1. (I've never seen the show before, just picked up the DVDs online.) But I think what you're remembering is:

As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away!

The MAD Magazine version of this was:

As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I think he's from the CIA!

How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven. R.A. Heinlein

[–] TexasBullseyeJack 14 years ago

The poem (Antigonish) was written by William Hughes Mearns

Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!

Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away

[–] nickm-71961 9 years ago

agree the second storey is great the last is also great

[–] orac101 17 years ago

djammons - did you know that both the new Dr Who and the utterly awful Torchwood both draw inspiration from Sapphire & Steel. If you make it through the finale then you'll understand what I mean.
The first adventure is easily the worst of the 6 (5 is quite poor and is the only one not written by the show's creator PJ Hammond).
The S&S finale is up there with the conclusion of Blake's 7 for jaw dropping brilliance.
You should also have waited for the new UK DVD set as it contains a 'making of' documentary that features new interviews with both Lumley and McCallum.

[–] djammons 17 years ago

I will heed all of the advice given here that the first story is the worst and not representative of the series. I will watch the second story as soon I have time and report back!

[–] crugsy 17 years ago

I love the 5th story. It's fantastic!

[–] crackpot1 17 years ago

i like sapphire and steel. its really nice

[–] EnZa_Pylamas 17 years ago

It was the time before Special Effects, I know, but many people found this bit surprisingly entertaining when it was re-aired twenty years later.

Crying department is upstairs, Lady.

[–] teknostalgia 17 years ago

That railway station, the whistling soldier, the empty platform!
Shudder indeed!
Great suspensful drama from my childhood that still chills me today.

[–] Prismark10 17 years ago

One of the best sci fi drama made by ITV!!

Its that man again!!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] g-kemp 17 years ago

I love Sapphire & Steel i was 13 when it first went out and it never left my mind nearly 30 years later i still can watch it through the eyes of a child
and enjoy the pure magic of the show

But i can see our American cousins point of view back them they had Battlestar and other great sci shows but they had the money to make them as well

Sapphire & Steel was made on a shoestring budget and it didnt matter because we loved it

Watch a new Doctor who with there large budget and then watch a Tom Baker episode the new one looks and feels better but can any true Doctor Who fan say that they noticed the cheesey sets and naff monsters

another one is the America original sci fi Star Trek the sets were rubbish every planet looked the same but we all loved Jim Kirk much more than any Captain after him

In short use you eyes for wonder and believe what you are watching because if you just want great effects then im afaid your imagination will just fad and die

[–] rtitchener-1 17 years ago

Oh come on - its not that bad - its tv not a feature film
The photography story was bloody scary - poor ruth - those chilling screams at the end of episode 3 - go girl! - she really gave it some welly

[–] jgarner136 17 years ago

I know you have said you will give the show a second chance, but may I make you an offer? If at the end you still do not like S&S, post here and I will purchase your DVD set from you at a reasonable price. Seriously.

[–] cee100 17 years ago

I loved the programme when it first came out and the first one was my favorite! I guess it was because i was a young teenage girl who had the hots for "Rob". The link between the nursery rhymes and the bad force was great at gripping the young audience particularly as at the time it was billed as ATV's answer to Dr Who!!! Not many shows tried to rival that show and I say hats off for trying.

Yeah, particulary since that out of all the current episodes of the new show of Dr Who Blink was the one that got me jumping in my seat at the grand age of 41 only to hear later on it was PJ Hammond who wrote it- what a surprise eh?

I've just been rekindling this show and have the green box set to catch up with now too, I remember some of the stories and its interesting to see them again with an almost blank memory of how the stories go until they are in front of you.

[–] steinlilch 16 years ago

PS. Didn't 'djammons' ever have the misfortune of witnessing ITV's 'comedy' Bottle Boys, with Robin Askwith in the mid '80's. Now that was the pits/ *beep*

The name's Lilch, Stein Lilch. Licenced to swill.....

[–] dixdouze 17 years ago

I have to admit I was a skeptic, too, at first and stopped watching after the first three episodes of Assignment 1. But then I soldiered on largely due to the hearty recommendations given on this board... and became addicted to this series.
- It gets dramatically better beginning with Season 2 (and even that wasn't up there with the best).
- Despite all the obvious TV budget/confined sets-related limitations, this show is as a matter of fact more mind-blowing (not to mention creepy, even unsettling as in S. 4 and 6) than most of the big budget sci-fi shows of later times.
- One word about the ending: Wow. The S&S finale really has to be one of the greatest knockout endings in both TV and movie history. Take heed JJ Abrams.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Livewire242 17 years ago

The first story was most definitely garbage. Based on what I've read in these forums, I'll give the second story a try. But I'm expecting more of the same.

Why was it garbage? It has absolutely no frame of reference. At least with a show like Doctor Who, you know that the police box travels through time like a train on rails, and to any point in space.

What is "time" in the first episode of Sapphire and Steel? Who knows? It's whatever the god in the machine wants it to be at that particular moment. There's absolutely no suspense, because there's no frame of reference. There's no way to know what sort of danger the protagonists are in. Could they die? It's never mentioned whether they're in any real mortal danger. They could merely be at risk of dire inconvenience. Good gravy, we might be late for tea!

It was like Pertwee-era Doctor Who, but without the action.

It might have worked if the sci-fi aspects were replaced with supernatural, which is essentially what the show was about; ghosts from the past, whispers from nowehere, etc. At least with supernatural shows my expectations are suitably low. How this thing got rated over 8 on IMDB is more than I can comprehend.

[–] Rachael89 17 years ago

To be honest, your problem with Sapphire and Steel is simply a result of your taste in programming. You give the impression of needing your televisions shows to have fixed boundaries and rules; Sapphire and Steel is, as you have pointed out, devoid of both.

I for one like that, the show trusts the viewer to imagine their own rules and to create their own theories about what Sapphire and Steel actually are, who they are serving and what they are risking during their missions.

I, and many others judging by the high rating this show has received, enjoy ambiguity and mystery whereas you do not.

In my opinion that's it in a nutshell though please feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong.

[–] Otkon 12 years ago

This is the statement I most agree with. The first story arc set in the cottage was dreadfully slow, hollow, repetitious and hokey. I don't need flashy state-of-the-art effects to enjoy televised fantasy fiction. But what I do need is grounded story-telling. The first series was Lumley and McCallum (both of whom I simply adore) feeding us the most overwrought hooey in the most zoned-out Quaalude delivery that the 70's could buy.

When I started to watched the second series (as most had suggested), I got ten minutes in and felt the same lotus-eater lilt pulling my interest away. I watched later bits and it is still not my thing.

[–] FriedEggMan 16 years ago

It's not the worst British TV programm

"Yus My Dear" proudly take that accolade. Not Sci-fi but ....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072587/

[–] Irish_Pete 16 years ago

The worst British series you have ever seen? I take it that you haven't watched Blake's 7 in that case.

[–] steinlilch 16 years ago

The djammons fella who commenced this chin-wag has failed to return in almost 2 years, having dismissed the very first story of the S&S canon. That's fairly wise of him, methinks.
I have the box-set en route right now & it will hopefully arrive first thing tomorrow. The 'one at the train station' & unquestionably the story featuring the faceless school master I simply CANNOT wait to see again. After all, it's been nearly 30 years & I was barely 10 at the time. But they left such vivid memories.
I'm certain that I won't be let down.

The name's Lilch, Stein Lilch. Licenced to swill.....

[–] samantha_232 15 years ago

the person who said sapphire and steel was rubbish obviously has no concept of what the show was about. it wasnt about lavish costumes or sets it was about the concept of time being a corridor where entitys can break through into the present and disrupt the course of time either to do harm or to change events, such as Dr MCDee and his work on viruses. orignally he was shot by his lover before the virus escaped hence no scenario like 28 days later. Sapphire and steel were sent to make sure that time was on its proper course and he did actually die before that could happen but they were working against an entity of time which wanted to change events. Like most of the stories. it is all explained in the first adventure when Sapphire explains time to the little girl. i love sapphire and steel i wish they had made more of them, i am only glad that i am now old enough to appreciate them and understand them, they used to scare me.......