Reviewed by Jo Wood
Stars Joanna Lumley, David McCallum, Gerald James, Tom Kelly,
David Collings, Tamasin Bridge, David Cann, Steven O'Shea,
David Gant, Catherine Hal, Peter Lairdl
Written by Peter Hammond
UK certification PG | UK RRP £59.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 850 minutes
Directed by David Foster & Shaun O'Riordan
Made between 1979 and 1982, these six ‘stories’ over 34 episodes, are probably enjoyed most by those who enjoyed it the first time around. My Mum used to watch it because she loved Joanna Lumley, saying: ‘Well, it was Sunday night crap television — compared to crap television today, it was probably rather good.’ As an outsider to the yesteryear thirst for some good old sci-fi — this was ITV’s answer to the BBC’s Doctor Who — I found it nigh-on impossible to absorb myself into, as stories are built painstakingly slowly to create, I suppose, suspense. Whereas Doctor Who was interesting and brave, Sapphire and Steel comes across as, well, just a bit weird.
Alien Sapphire (Lumley) and Steel (McCallum), resonating a poor man’s Mulder and Scully, are sent to Earth, popping up in various locations to solve bizarre time anomalies. Lumley’s Sapphire, forever beautiful, with a fantastic wardrobe, plays the softer more human-like counterpart (although her eyes are prone to glowing every now and again) to McCallums humourless and awkwardly acted Steel. Sets are small and limited, as are the special affects, and music budget. Creating more questions than it ever seems to answer, the stories are triggered by anachronisms — a nursery rhyme, or altered photograph, which allow the corridor of time to break into present day removing or altering things. I think directors O'Riordan and Foster were on to an interesting idea, if only they’d tackled it 20 years later when they could have executed it in a more digestible manner. I’m afraid I didn’t feel this 6-disc box set warranted over 14 hours of my life, but should you be researching interior design or fashion of the 1970s, this is surely the place to start.
EXTRAS * A new documentary about the making of the show, image galleries, script PDFs and designer floor plans.
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