The Ultraviolet Appreciation Thread by NervousPete

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

The Ultraviolet Appreciation Thread

POSTED BY: NERVOUSPETE
UPDATED: Saturday, December 4, 2004 23:03
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VIEWED: 4224
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Tuesday, November 23, 2004 5:35 AM

"Our free range days are over..."

My apologies for harping on about this show again, but, y'know, when you love something...

Got Post-Firefly, Pre-Serenity blues? What you need is Ultraviolet! A six part intelligent slick-Brit sci-fi series from 1998!

"What does it have to offer?", I hear you ask. In my head.

Well, Ultraviolet approaches the vampire mythos from a new and refreshing angle. The vampires, known exclusively as either 'Code 5's' or 'Leeches', are highly organised, well funded and in positions of financial power. They look exactly like us, but are far stronger, faster, and worryingly more intelligent. They recruit from the ranks of the middle age, who begin to have their first fears of mortality and want to preserve their youth. They boast that they never take anyone who doesn't want to be taken - but they have sometimes terrible ways of making you want it. Moving in the realm of law, medicine and high finance - pulling scams, fraud, medical experiments, they are working towards a hidden goal. They do not go unopposed however, a secret force funded by the Vatican church and organised by the government seek to eliminate this threat once and for all. Using ultraviolet as a tool of detection - either in lab or as a special camera fitted to a gun - they hunt down and neutralise the leeches, with a carbon bullet to the heart. The leeches explode, leaving a fine powder, which the team seal in vaults, as the leeches can resurrect by some unknown means if their comrades are able to retrieve their remains.

But are the leeches all that bad? They have begun to make overtures to the team, desiring peace. They claim that can live peacefully side by side with humans, that they are researching synthetic blood as an alternative food source, that they want the war to end. These earnest pleas, compared to the occassionally brutal death squad tactics of the agency, have an effect on latest recruit; a detective Michael Colefield (Jack Davenport) who is increasingly unsure whether he can stomach the cold life of the obsessive agency cell he belongs to.

Cinematically shot, with a resounding yet sparse score, great acting and a strong emphasis on realism, Ultraviolet is an amazing mini-series that combines a depth of character with ethical issues and a medical-edged creepy horror. The series builds to a tense climax which reveals the true picture of what is going on in the war between the leaches and the humans, one with devestating implications.

The only snag is, that like Firefly, it ended too soon. Though the series is self-contained, there are more than enough threads left dangling for another - which makes the experience as frustrating as our beloved.

But really, this is a must see. Get it at either www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk.

Here are some links...

http://www.world-productions.com/wp/content/shows/other/uv/uvhome.htm (Warning, has theme music on start up so check those speaker levels!)

Reviews:

http://www.misfit.org/views/2000/August/mlee20000802.htm

http://www.reelcriticism.com/ziggyrealm/televideo/ultraviolet_overview
.html

So! Anyone else seen this gem? Please tell me it's not just me! If you have, then let us know what you thought of it and lend some pressure to put upon the waverers. You won't regret watching this, it's within an ace of being as good as Firefly!

Pete

"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash

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Tuesday, November 23, 2004 6:15 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

I have not seen this Ultraviolet series, but I must admit that I am intrigued after reading this post.

I will go to the link you posted and check it out.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Meet Up:
http://firefly.meetup.com/9/boards/

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Thursday, November 25, 2004 2:36 PM

KAELOR03

I saw it. A friend of mine is a hardcore British Sci-Fi fan. He let me borrow his vhs tapes of it. I enjoyed the show. Although, getting used to hearing the Queen's English was a little rough for me. But, I thought the show was very well done and would have liked to see some more episodes.

Chaos, Panic & Disorder My Work Here Is Done.

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Thursday, November 25, 2004 3:15 PM

SIMONWHO

I watched it when it first came out then bought the DVD a few years ago and it still holds up as being a fresh, vivid take on an old myth. It certainly helps that the main actors are very talented and respected indeed plus there's several great moments in it (those who have seen it will know the one in particular I'm thinking of).

But again, it went too soon. Apparently there was a US remake with one member of the British cast going over but I don't think it even made it to air (shades of Red Dwarf USA). Can thoroughly recommend it.

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Thursday, November 25, 2004 4:38 PM

STATIC

I caught a SINGLE episode on SciFi a couple of years ago and was intrigued, so whilst in Afghanistan I bought the DVD set(God bless Amazon). I LOVE IT!

I would LOVE to see further exploits.

Am I the only one who gets the "Code 5" gag?

Roman Numeral for 5 = V

V = Vampire.

==================================================
"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."

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Saturday, November 27, 2004 2:30 PM

MISGUIDED BY VOICES

Quote:
Originally posted by Static:
I caught a SINGLE episode on SciFi a couple of years ago and was intrigued, so whilst in Afghanistan I bought the DVD set(God bless Amazon). I LOVE IT!

Saw it on its original UK broadcast and picked up the DVD set when it appeared. Its flawed, and it never really beats what is a great opening episode (a common flaw with a lot of UK mini or limited series I've noticed), but it proved that we could still make decent quality, well written and well acted speculative drama.

So what did we do? We made more Casualty and Eastenders instead.

"I threw up on your bed"

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Saturday, November 27, 2004 4:19 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

NervousPete, if I am not mistaken the first time I ever heard of Ultraviolet is when you mentioned it here shortly after your arrival on the site. Since then I realized it had already aired on the Sci-Fi Channel here, before your mentioning it, but I still haven't seen it. Recently one of the reviewers for my site mentioned it as well, and I asked him for a review and he complied.

http://templetongate.tripod.com/ultraviolet.htm

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 2:15 AM

RELFEXIVE

I saw it when it was first shown on C4, and got the DVDs when they came out.

I liked the fact that they did a few things no other "vampire series" had done, like the whole machines thing. Plus, of course, they never used the 'V' word at all, sticking entirely to 'Code 5' and 'leech'.

Good stuff.

Mal: "We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so... very... pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

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Friday, December 3, 2004 1:30 PM

MRSKBORG

I watched this when it originally aired in the UK too I think its still around somewhere on a battered vhs tape. I need to get this on DVD. It was one of our better attempts at Scifi/Horror. Very shiny.

"This movie may be a beautiful butterfly, but I loved that damn caterpillar." Joss Whedon.

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Friday, December 3, 2004 1:39 PM

SHINYSEVEN

I have the VHS (didn't know it was on DVD) and I like it a lot.

For people who like good-looking men, oooohhh...Jack Davenport!

No touching release dates!

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Saturday, December 4, 2004 2:47 PM

BRUISERSMOM

I ordered it today and then saw your post. It sounds like a good series. I'll find out what I think of it when it arrives. Are all of the episodes on the DVDs or are there going to be more DVDs in the future?

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Saturday, December 4, 2004 3:26 PM

SIMONWHO

Nope, 6 episodes and that's your lot. It joins the ranks of British shows that despite being absolute classics, still have less episodes than Firefly. Amongst this fine group of men are Fawlty Towers (12 episodes), The Young Ones (12 episodes), the Office (14 episodes), the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (6 episodes) and Queer as Folk (8 episodes).

Of course, there are American brothers-in-arms such as Police Squad! (6 episodes), Clerks (6 episodes, only 2 aired), and Wonderfalls (13 episodes).

Makes you realise we could be a lot worse off plus we get a big budget movie. Don't know why they didn't do another Ultraviolet series, it went down pretty well. Probably more to do with the cast's availability I'd think.

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Saturday, December 4, 2004 6:49 PM

QUICKSAND

The first time I heard about this series was actually on another FF.net thread, under the heading "Worst Sci-Fi Ever."

Of course, if I recall correctly, that was only one post, and THIS thread currently has over a dozen, so, maybe I should check it out.... if American TV ever gets a clue.

--qs--

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Saturday, December 4, 2004 11:03 PM

JENSKI

I absolutely looooved this show!

Saw it on TV when it was screened in Australia. It took a little bit of time to get into the plot, but once there - fabulous.

And as an extra bonus, it starred Jack Davenport!!! Mmmmm! HOTTIE!

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