BBC AMERICA PREMIERES NEW ORIGINAL DOCU-SERIES THE REAL HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION ON APRIL 19
As told by the genre’s greatest
pioneers, the four-part docu-series explores recurring science fiction themes:
Robots, Space, Invasion and Time
New York –,
2014 – BBC AMERICA
delves into the real history of science fiction with filmmakers, writers, actors
and graphic artists looking back on their experiences and on how their obsession
and imagination has taken them into the unknown. The new original documentary
series is a BBC AMERICA and BBC Two co-production. The Real History of
Science Fiction premieres Saturday, April 19, 10:00pm
ET.
From Star Wars to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and from
Jurassic Park to Doctor Who, each program is packed with
contributors behind these creations and traces the developments of
Robots, Space, Invasion and Time. Narrated by
Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who writer, actor and co-creator of the BBC’s
Sherlock, the series determines why science fiction is not merely a
genre... for its audience it’s a portal to a multi-verse – one that is all too
easy to get lost in.
Among those taking part are: William Shatner (Star
Trek), Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Zoe Saldana
(Avatar, Star Trek), Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Richard
Dreyfuss (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Chris Carter
(The X-Files), Ronald D Moore (Battlestar Galactica),
John Landis (An American Werewolf in London, Schlock), David
Tennant (Doctor Who), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the
Future), Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner), John Carpenter
(Dark Star, The Thing), Karen Gillan (Doctor Who), Neil
Gaiman (The Sandman, Stardust), Kim Stanley Robinson
(Mars Trilogy), Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap, Star Trek:
Enterprise), Ursula K Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness),
Syd Mead (Blade Runner), Kenny Baker (Star Wars),
Anthony Daniels (Star Wars), Nichelle Nichols (Star
Trek), Peter Weller (Robocop), Edward James Olmos
(Blade Runner, Battlestar Galactica) and many more.
On
one level, sci-fi can deliver a ‘white knuckle-ride’ – jaw-dropping special
effects, and thrills that have cinemagoers flying out of their seats. But also,
it is possibly the only area of pop culture that engages with big ideas. Good
science fiction engages audiences on a deeper level than mere spectacle; it
becomes a place to discuss not just the universe and how it works – but what it
means to be emotional, sentient human beings.
Note to editors
Narrator
Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Doctor Who)
Executive
Producers Michael Poole
Series
Producer Ben Southwell
The Real History
of Science Fiction is a BBC AMERICA
and BBC Two co-production.
EPISODE
SYNOPSES
SEASON
PREMIERE
EPISODE 1 – ROBOTS
What if
our creations turn against us? The idea of creating life has fascinated society
since the earliest days of science fiction. The first installment of the
four-part series, Robots transports viewers from the first steps of
Frankenstein’s monster to the threat provided by the Terminator and the world of
Cyberspace. Find out how Rutger Hauer created one of the greatest speeches in
all of science fiction for Blade Runner. Discover from Kenny Baker the
challenge of acting in Star Wars while inside the body of R2D2, and learn
how Anthony Daniels was drawn to the role of C-3PO by concept art modeled
closely on the robot from the silent classic Metropolis. Douglas Trumbull
(2001: A Space
Odyssey,
Blade Runner) discusses how he managed to
create a whole new approach to robot design. The creators of the original
Robocop describe how its hidden depths have given it enduring appeal and
William Gibson reveals the origins of his seminal novel Neuromancer. From
HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey to the Cylons of the reimagined
Battlestar Galactica and the world of The Matrix, this is a
journey that asks – what does it mean to be human?
Episode 1 premieres Saturday,
April 19, 10:00pm ET
EPISODE 2 –
SPACE
What if we could explore the vastness of Space? Science fiction has
always fed upon our need to explore – to wonder what is out there. Space
journeys from Jules Verne’s earliest ideas about attempts to leave our planet,
to the Star Wars far away galaxy through to Nichelle Nichols revealing
how her groundbreaking role as Lt. Uhura in Star Trek led to her
participation in the recruitment of NASA’s astronauts. It explores the deep sea
inspiration for Avatar, finds out why Ursula K Le Guin wrote The Left
Hand of Darkness and discovers how Stanley Kubrick was able to make 2001:
A Space Odyssey seem so believable. In addition, the program looks at the
way Dune and The Mars Trilogy embraced the challenge of world
building and discusses the appeal of the beaten up ‘dirty space’ of Dark
Star and Firefly. From the horrifying scenes of Alien, to the
epic spectacle of Star Wars, this is a journey to the stars and the alien
encounters that await us there.
Episode 2 premieres Saturday,
April 26, 10:00pm ET
EPISODE 3 –
INVASION
What if aliens landed on Earth? Much of science fiction explores the
moment of first contact – what will people do when the aliens land? From H. G.
Wells’ pioneering The War of the Worlds to Independence Day,
Men in Black and District 9, Invasion deals with our fears
of alien invasions of earth. David Tennant explains the appeal of Doctor
Who’s Daleks and Cybermen while John Carpenter and Chris Carter explore the
rich appeal of the paranoia fuelled by hidden aliens with The Thing and
The X-Files. It also asks, what if the monsters were our own creation?
With the aid of rarely seen animation tests, Phil Tippett takes us behind the
scenes in the creation of the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. But not all
invasions are hostile. Peter Coyote and Richard Dreyfuss discuss the creation of
Spielberg’s spellbinding classics E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Close
Encounters of the Third Kind. There is more than one kind of invasion.
Episode 3 premieres Saturday,
May 3, 10:00pm ET
EPISODE 4 – TIME
What if we could travel not just through space, but through time
itself? If you could travel through time, would you change the past or the
future? What if you found it couldn’t be changed? What price does the time
traveller – and the people they are closest to – pay? This is a journey from H.
G. Wells The Time Machine through ideas like The Grandfather
Paradox and The Butterfly Effect to the professional time traveller
that is the ever popular Doctor Who. Steven Moffat, David Tennant, Karen
Gillan and Neil Gaiman offer a unique perspective on the Doctor. Edward James
Olmos reveals the hidden meaning of the language he created for the vision of
the future that is Blade Runner. Bob Gale and Christopher Lloyd take us
behind the scenes of Back to the Future, while Ed Solomon describes the
joy of solving a time travel conundrum for Bill & Ted’s Excellent
Adventure. But what would be the physical and emotional cost to the time
traveller? Audrey Niffenegger explains what inspired her novel The Time
Traveller’s Wife. And what if someone from the future tried to travel back
in time to warn us? Would we believe them? From the apocalyptic tones of 12
Monkeys to the drama of Quantum Leap and the comedy of Groundhog
Day, time travel is a subject that has been irresistible to the creators of
every type of science fiction.
Episode 4 premiere TBC.
I look forward to this but generally these shows often leave out key series or movies based on who they have for interviews and what they have licenses to show clips from. Obviously you are not going to cover everything and of course BBC America will concentrate on new Who. From the description it looks promising.
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