SciFi

First published in 1976 'The HAB Theory' was accepted as one of the finest Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic works of fiction. Based on a theory postulated by a real scientist named Hugh Auchincloss Brown it deals with the inevitable possibility that soon the Earths magnetic poles with swop.

The HAB Theory has an immediately disturbing hypothesis: The earth falls over on it's side or ''capsizes'' about every 3,000 - 7,100 years. During a period of about 12 hours, the land that was under the North and South poles moves from the cold point at the earth's axis of spin to a hot point in the tropics.

What the book dwells on is the effect on the planet and its inhabitants when a catastrophic event occurs.

The novel is currently being produced as a movie and is expected to air in about 2010. But if you want a gripping read it is still available, last being reprinted in 2000, and is 500 pages long.

After watching last nights episode of Battlestar, I got thinking at what stage in Earth's development will the Capricans et el find us when they finally arrive?

My colleague feels that the fact that they talk of 'returning' to Earth means that at some stage they must have left to seed the universe. This being so, it must have been a future Earth say the 23rd century.

I think that the exodus occurred originally when Earth was threatened by some cataclysmic disaster and they will return to re-seed the Earth around 10,000 BC. The religious disparity in this weeks episode has lead me to think more along this lines as:

* If they had left Earth in our future why are they obsessed with Gods and religions that have been dead for centuries?
* Last night there was references to Saturnalia and Mithraism as well as depictions of Egyptian deities and Athena.
* If they are forced to land on Earth in the past after a final battle with the Cylons, and the 12 Cylon types (which cover most race groups) plus the remaining humans have to live in harmony to survive surely the religious bias of the groups we met last night would migrate into different tribal groups so propagating the Earth as we know it today.
* This could explain the Watchers or fallen Angels as being the Cylons.

Any other suggestions?

After a couple of so so episodes Dr Who comes back with a belter.
Loved the Sontarans in the 70's with the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) and now they have come back smaller and uglier than ever.

The 'spud heads' a militaristic society obsessed by war from the planet Sontar of the "southern spiral arm of the galaxy", seem to have a complex about there height.

This two parter sees the return of Martha Jones and the Doctors association with UNIT. The story line is good and the visualization of the Sontarans doesn't divert much from the originals.

Can't wait till next week.

Want one of these? Go to here

Having children comes in handy when you get the chance to read books like Artemis Fowl. The novels by Eoin Colfer deal with a young lad Artemis Fowl, a child genius with a bent towards crime. He catches a LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance) captain called Holly Short, an elf with an auburn crewcut, hazel eyes, and a chatty mouth, in the hopes to hold her for a ransom of fairy gold. He is aided and abetted by Domovoi Butler his body guard and butler (Artemis by the way comes from a well to do family).

Commander of the LEPrecon is one Julius Root, who smokes noxious fungus cigars, and has a short temper which earns him the nickname of "Beetroot". He and Foaly, a lone centaur (LEPrecon's technological genius) plot to get Holly back without giving up any gold.
There is also Mulch Diggums a kleptomaniacal dwarf with explosive flatulence brought in by Julius to break into Fowl manor. Mulch tunnels using his unhingeable jaw, accelerated digestion, and loose trouser flap.

The stories have now gained enough readership to merit being made into a movie with Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal(Meet the Fockers, Rent) as producers.

If you have (or don't have) kids these stories make great bed time reading and the mix of adventure and humour have lead to them being referred to as "Die Hard with fairies."

Blake 7 is to return to our screens, alas only on SKY TV.
Two 60 minute episodes have been given the go ahead with a possible series if these are well met.

Sky is working alongside Blake's 7 Productions, a subsidiary of Blake's 7 Media who owns the license to the show.

"The time is ripe for a revival of a show that represents the best traditions of the genre, not to mention one of the best-loved and most successful dramas of all time,"

Elaine Pyke, commissioning editor for drama at Sky One, Two and Three, said.

Tripping the Rift had the tag line 'Lust in Space' and to watch it you would understand why. It deals with the story of Chode, a three-eyed, purple alien with green spots, who serves as captain of the smuggling spaceship Jupiter 42. T'nuk is the ill-tempered, triple-breasted, quadrupedal pilot of the ship, Whip is a bipedal alien reptile, and Chode's nephew. He serves as the ship's foreman.Gus is Chode's robot-slave. He is the ship's engineer and is implied to be homosexual Six of One/Six of Nine (or just Six) is a sexy cyborg that was designed as a sex slave. She acts as the ship's science officer, thanks to a programming upgrade by Chode, then comes Spaceship Bob is the A.I. that controls the ship. He suffers from agoraphobia, and often has panic attacks at inconvenient times.

We then have Chode's nemesis Darph Bobo is the supreme Dark Clown. He wants to take over the universe because he was teased as a child.

Finally we have Captain Adam Francis Shatner— Captain Adam is the captain of a Confederation ship. He resembles Al Gore, has a wife named Nancy and a clone/son named Adam 12. He has been known to blackmail Chode into doing his dirty work.

A movie version of the series has just been released and is worth a watch.

Just as I thought it couldn't get darker, so BSG proved me wrong.
Last nights episode (spoiler warning) plunged us in to depravity, ethnic cleansing and murder resulting in the loss of one of the key players.
Kara 'Frak me' Trace seemed to be losing the plot until a timely sex session with hubby Sam 'I'm your Boy' Anders.
The original 'Cylon 7' have started in-fighting and are getting dirty and then to cap it all we have the suicide/murder of Cally at the hands of Tory Foster. I have always had my suspicions about Tory, but she showed a hard bitch streak last night that even I wasn't prepared for.

Oh this is going to be a great final series.

Stan Lee and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Comics have announced a joint venture to bring new comic heroes to the populace of Earth... Lee says "I can't wait to start pitting my newest, most exciting superheroes against comicdom's most powerful, diabolical super villains and then have the fun of tossing them into far-out, thrill-a-minute adventures to challenge the readers' imagination! And who better to share in the fun, creating wondrous new worlds without limit, than the incredibly talented and dedicated guys at Virgin Comics!"

"Stan Lee is a cultural icon and we welcome him to his new home, Virgin Comics, for this bold new chapter in his great legacy," said Virgin Group president and founder,Sir Richard Branson.

See Virgin Comics for more details.

For all you Babylon 5 fans the first series is now available to view on-line at hulu.com including the original version of 'The Gathering' rather than the edition released on DVD.

UPDATE sorry only available in the US, what a bummer, have to do with this clip.

The immortal wizard Shazam, who dwells in the Rock of Eternity, seeks a champion to fight for the cause of truth and justice. He finds Billy Batson, a young orphan who was thrown out by a cruel and uncaring uncle. Despite the hardship he has faced in his life, Billy's spirit has not succumbed to evil. Shazam sends an emissary to lead him to the Rock, where he explains to Billy what he has been chosen for. Imbuing him with the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury, Billy Batson becomes Captain Marvel by speaking the name of the wizard: Shazam!

'Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam' is to be directed by Peter Segal. The movie is due for release next year and so far only Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson has been cast.

Due for release June 2008 Battle Angel is the James Cameron adaptation of the Yukito Kishiro graphic novels. Set in the 26th century the story surrounds the mysterious Dr. Ido who whilst trolling for cyborg parts in a post war earth finds Alita a female cyborg.

The original graphical novel storyline is a such:

Battle Angel Alita tells the story of Gally (Alita in the American version), an amnesiac female cyborg. This cyborg's intact head and upper torso are found in a state of suspended animation by the cybermedic expert Daisuke Ido while he is out searching for useful scrap. Amazed by his discovery, Ido quickly returns home and works to revive her. Upon finding that the girl has lost her memory, Ido names her Alita, the name of his recently deceased cat.

The rebuilt Alita soon discovers that she possesses instinctive knowledge of the legendary Martian martial art Panzer Kunst, although she has no other memories of her previous life. Alita must learn to navigate, exist, and fight in the Scrapyard, whose inhabitants themselves live in the shadow of the tantalizingly close floating city, Tiphares. Her journeys take Alita across the Scrapyard and surrounding areas, as she tries to recall more of her past.

This will be James Cameron's first venture into a full Manga,3D,CGI production.

Best Dr Who alien yet?

24th April 2008 see the return of Heroes to BBC2.

Four months after the events of Peter's explosion, we find the heroes at different places in their lives. Claire, HRG and family try to stay below the radar in their new town, but a classmate of Claire's with some powers of his own knows there's something different about her. Matt Parkman and Mohinder Suresh are now guardians of Molly Parker, who has been suffering from horrible nightmares about the man who is more evil than Sylar. Mohinder and HRG are still trying to take the company down. Kaito Nakamura and Angela Petrelli receive ominous notices of their impending deaths, clearly sent by one of "the elders". Nathan has pushed his family away and is in a very dark place, feeling that Peter has survived and is alive somewhere. In Ireland, we find Peter Petrelli is alive, but doesn't remember who he is. Maya and Alejandro, two new characters, are wanted for murder due to her accidentally killing multiple people because of her ability to host a plague.

Can't wait.....

It looks like Stargate producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper will get the funding for a third Stargate franchise called Stargate:Universe after their pitch to the SciFi Channel was widely excepted. The new series will deal with the 'Ancients' seeding the Universe with Stargates prior to Ascension.
Sounds good to me and no Amanda Tapping in sight....

Considering his latest film roles have all but bombed, you would think that choosing Eddie Murphy as 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' as suitable. This version of the 1957 classic is to be 'played for laughs', which automatically gets my thumbs down. The premise of this version revolves around a famous Las Vegas magician who is put under a spell that causes him to shrink. He must find a way to reverse the spell before he gets so small that he "disappears."

Sorry Eddie, think I will give this a miss.....

Due to be released 11th July this latest remake of the ageless Jules Verne story stars Brendan Fraser and promises to be a big hit with the kids. It has been reported that the 3D effects make the movie an hour and a half theme park ride.

Last Saturday saw the first episode of the new ITV hit series Pushing Daisies.

Ned is a piemaker who realizes at an early age that his has a fantastic gift of re-animating dead things with a single touch. It starts with his dog when it gets run over and then his mother when she drops dead. The problem is when he brings one thing to life another elsewhere has to die. This is unless within 1 minute he touches the person/thing again and then it dies once again and is dead forever (with no repercussions).

His skills come to the attention of a private detective and they agree a deal where he brings murder victims back to life so as to question them as to who their murderers were.

The twist is his childhood crush turns up as a victim who he only recognizes after he brings her back to life, but now cannot touch ever again otherwise she will die forever.

The series (of only 9 episodes) has been nominated for 3 Golden Globes but the ITV will only show 8 (episode 2 is skipped) due to commitments to showing the European Cup.

Worth a watch anyway.

SKY TV are to show a reworking of the Michael Crichton’s sci-fi novel The Andromeda Strain over two nights (10th & 11th May) on Sky Movies Premiere.

The story about the whole population of a town in Arizona that mysteriously die, from an alien bacteria, originally aired as a movie in 1971. The new production is produced by Scott Free Productions (Tony & Ridley Scott).

The show will star Benjamin Bratt (Law & Order), Eric McCormack (Will & Grace), Rick Schroder (24, The Champ), and Christa Miller (Scrubs),in 2 x 2 hour shows.

For those who haven't read the book or seen the movie the story is thus:

The fallen satellite, Scoop VII, crash lands outside a small town in Arizona, within hours the entire population of Piedmont are dead; the entire population with the exception of an alcoholic old man and a baby. So begins the Wildfire Project, led by Dr. Jeremy Stone, a team of the world’s best scientists are urgently transported to an underground lab specifically prepared for such circumstances. Ready with the most up-to-date equipment science has to offer, the lab houses the scientists as they work around the clock attempting to unlock the secrets of this unknown killer before the quarantine breaks and the bacteria threatens America’s and the world’s entire population.

The Champions was a British espionage/science fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company. The series was first broadcast in the US on NBC, starting in summer 1968. Last year Guillermo del Toro (Pans Labyrinth) signed up to write and direct a film version once Hell Boy 2: The Golden Army is complete.
I must admit that Sharron Macready (Alexandra Bastedo) in the orignal series was my first crush.

Another franchise to get a roll out this year is Starship Troopers 3:Marauder.

The war against the Bugs continues! A Federation Starship crash-lands on the distant Alien planet OM-1, stranding beloved leader Sky Marshal Anoke and several others, including comely but tough pilot Lola Beck. It's up to Colonel/General Johnny Rico, reluctant hero of the original Bug Invasion on Planet P, to lead a team of Troopers on a daring rescue mission.

Casper Van Dien returns as Johnny Rico and Lola Beck is to be played by Star Trek 'Enterprise' star Jolene Blalock.

The release date will be July 15th and will be straight to DVD.

Another movie due a remake this year.
Keanu Reeves is to revisit the role of Klaatu with Jennifer Connelly as Helen. They aim to be true to the original 1951 movie based on the short story by Harry Bates, "Farewell to the Master". With the emphasis on Global Warming as the reason for Klaatu's intervention in Earth's politics.

If you are of about my age you would have watched the tv series 'V' back in the 80's. Well like most things they wouldn't let it lie and the series is to return next year 25 years on.

The premise for the new series is thus:

Twenty years after their arrival on Earth, the Visitors have deeply entrenched themselves on the planet, enslaving the human race turning them into followers. The Resistance is losing the war with their alien masters until they gain a powerful and mysterious new ally.

Already signing up for the new series from the original cast are Marc Singer (Mike Donovan), Faye Grant (Juliet Parrish), Jane Badler (Diana), and Robert Englund (Willie). Also the original writer/director Kenneth Johnson is back on board.

Well Battlestar Galactica got off to a flying start last night and the roller coaster ride was breath taking. Great acting yet again especially from Katee Sackhoff.
Great messianic story line with Gaius Baltar.
Love the infighting between the 'original 7' Cylons and
how will the 'Final 4/5' come to terms with their being Cylon?

Evident from the imdb database that this series is to be split into 2 with 11 episodes being shown in America up till mid June and the final 9 episodes in the new year. Milking it a bit me thinks.....

ALIEN NATION: ULTIMATE MOVIE COLLECTION ON DVD

Fox Home Entertainment announce the release of Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection on DVD from today April 15, 2008.
Continuing where the original television series left off, the Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection includes all-five suspenseful, sci-fi movies for the first time on DVD. Nominated for a combined three Emmy Awards, the films follow the continuing action-packed adventures of Los Angeles police detective Matt Sikes (Gary Graham) and his partner George Francisco (Eric Pierpoint), an alien fugitive slave who must, along with his brethren, struggle to assimilate into life on his adopted planet Earth, without sacrificing his own cultural identity.

The nominations for the 2008 Hugo Awards for SF achievement in 2007 are out.
The principal category nominations are:-
Novel

• Brasyl by Ian McDonald
• Halting State by Charles Stross
• The Last Colony by John Scalzi
• Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer
• The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon.

Related Book (non-fiction SF)

• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher
• Breakfast in the Ruins: Science Fiction in the Last Millennium by Barry N. Malzberg
• The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Glyer
• Emshwiller: Infinity x Two by Luis Ortiz

Dramatic Presentation (long form)

• Enchanted directed by Kevin Lima
• The Golden Compass directed by Chris Weitz.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix directed by David Yates
• Heroes, Season 1 Created by Tim Kring
• Stardust directed by Matthew Vaughn

Dramatic Presentation (short form)

• Battlestar Galactica: Razor directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and Wayne Rose (note that this is the televised version and not the film which presumably would be long form?)
• Doctor Who: 'Blink' directed by Hettie Macdonald
• Doctor Who: 'Human Nature'; 'The Family of Blood' directed by Charles Palmer
• Star Trek New Voyages: 'World Enough and Time' directed by Marc Scott Zicree
• Torchwood: 'Captain Jack Harkness' directed by Ashley Way

The results of the vote for the winners in each category will be announced at the end of the summer at this year's SF Worldcon.

As we sit and wait for the 4th and final series of Battlestar Galactica, spare a thought for those speculating the series end. Recently a re-envisioned depiction of Da Vinci's last supper was posed using the stars of BSG and this has lead to speculation that it gives spoilers for the series (see Battlestar Blog )

But I have always had my theory to the series end.

It seemed strange that the 7 (now 12) Cylons are of different race types which lead me to speculate that they reach Earth at a stage in our development some 10,000 years ago and seed the various continents like the biblical falling from grace of the Watchers.

So it comes to pass that we are the offspring of the Cylon/Human interbreeding and not a coincidence that the first prime is called Adam(a).....

Have you got any theories?

Incidentally looking at the picture over lunch my work colleague and I have argued the symbolism of the 2 open and 2 closed books, the one full and one empty glass of water. The goblet and the burning pyre which Roslin has lit. Oh I love a conundrum......

AD 2000 magazine is now available via download PDF on Clickwheel.net