BBC Focus Magazine

[Willxx]

Hi I'm a noob here so apologies if I'm breaking some long held taboo in this section but I was wondering which "classic" (subjective term I know) sci-fi series would benefit most from being remade al la Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek and Dr Who, to some extent?

Theres a whole pantheon of TV and films to pick from but my own choice will firmly carbon date me!

I'd love to see a modern reworking of Blakes 7! I imagine something very special could be created if it was actually graced with a special effects budget and modern CGI combined with a typically bleak 1970's British take on sci-fi.

It wont happen but t'interweb is the place to talk such rubbish isn't it?

[Dark One]

Ahhhh but it will, Will. (See what I did there?) Apparently the BBC are remaking Blakes 7. And given that it was always a pretty bleak programme, it will be a nice change from the adolescent tosh of Doctor Who.
Hopefully this time the ships wont be made of washing up bottles though.

I would personally like to see a remake of Space 1999. Ok, the science was dubious, but it had without doubt the greatest opening theme ever. If you haven't already heard it, you haven't lived.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WZW4groJro

[Willxx]

I spent my early youth running around the playground chasing friends pretending to be in an Eagle, and later wondering why Maya made me feel all tingly!

I had heard seveal rumours about a B7 remake but they tended to die every time Paul Darrow was rumoured to be involved, I'm probably wrong but I also heard he aquired the rights to B7? Do you have more recent info than : http://www.blakes7.com/

[Shadowwolf]

Gotta hand some due respect to a series that kills everyone at the end, don't get bleaker than that

[M Paul Lloyd]

Just so long as we can have alien worlds that don't look like they were shot in quarries or Kew Gardens!

My earliest sci-fi experience was 'Supercar'............... sadly not many people remember that one, but as for possible remakes................... ooh now then...................how about 'The Champions' ... 'Sheena, Queen of the Jungle' ... 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'? Maybe?

[Thinker]

I think Red Dwarf is well over it's sell by date. Sad, because the first two series were hilarious nad it went down hill from there.

I used to love Lost in Space. Haven't seen the film, because I think it will destroy the wonderful memories I have of it.

[M Paul Lloyd]

The film of 'Lost in Space' really didn't work for me, in the original TV series I found the charectors much more engaging but in the film they just failed to create any magic at all, possibly because of some friction between the actors?

[Lateralman]

A live action no strings attached version of Captain Scarlet and the whole of the first ever Star Trek series re shot with the cast from the latest Star Trek movie, as the casting was brilliant.
Both Blade Runner and Aliens should have been made into a series, opportunity missed!
Combining Supercar with Superman may also be a possibility? Then again, on second thoughts, maybe not. And what about the Clangers!!! The best Sci Fi series ever! How about shooting that series again on location?

[Shadowwolf]

Both Blade Runner and Aliens should have been made into a series, opportunity missed!

Not really, they worked fantastically as stand alone stories but I'll be damned if there is much scope to generate a series out of. What would happen each week? Bladerunner merely becomes a futuristic cop show which we've had and it was not that good and Aliens? It would end up some random series set in the Alien's verse but having little or nothing to do with the movie. Recall the abominable sin that was the Robocop series, a warning if ever there was about merely porting a movie into the small screen.

Ps: I realise that Stargate worked but that's because the device in question allowed essentially Startrek without the ships which is exactly what SG1 is - in fact all of SG copies Startrek, beyond the device there is almost no connection to the movies world at all.

[M Paul Lloyd]

A good example of a film that became a rubbish TV series was Logans Run.

I have to agree with the cast of the Star Trek film, (with perhaps the exception of Scotty?) they really looked the part but I doubt such 'filmstars' would be happy being downgraded to the small screen. Which stikes me as a bit silly given that some TV productions are now more lavish than many a Hollywood production.

Perhaps improving TV technology will change the way we view films in the future? No more sitting in smelly seats next to noisy, crisp eating people you don't know and in the dark?

[Lateralman]

With limited thinking, a Blade Runner series may have only been another cop show set in the future but to take the over riding idea of replicants running riot along side the secondary theme of how they may interact with humans, by getting emotionally involved with us, may have been ammunition for creatively making the film into a series, as it was a fairly new thought at the time. If you remember it did have an open ended ending.

Alien was virtually a series's anyway, with the amount of films made. Space exploration and the discovery of unknown alien species is similar to Star trek. The major difference with Alien being, that humans come in contact with only the one nasty species, that seems close to what I personally would anticipate being what we will really will discover one day. As opposed to a plethora of life forms that mirrors are own.

CGI makes it possible to do or create anything these days, so there is no reason for any series to look naff. I do realise that all these thoughts have been explored to the best of our Sci Fi knowledge. Do you remember the Outer Limits some of the concepts in that old series could do with a revival, as they where good.

Having said all that, I do prefer watching just a well made Sci Fi film.

[M Paul Lloyd]

As it happens the Outer limits was first broadcast in the early 60's and was redone in the 90's, still worth a third incarnation though.

[Shadowwolf]

CGI makes it possible to do or create anything these days, so there is no reason for any series to look naff.

Only if you pay for it, there are still productions that employ CGI which looks like it was only invented yesterday like anything on Syfy these days.

[Willxx]

I'd like to have seen another series of Ultraviolet, the 90's vampire series with Jack Davenport but that won't happen.

Expanding on Starship troopers as a live series would have been interesting, the animated series was ok but for kids.

As a half-break from original topic I'd also like to see a decent fantasy novel like David Gemmells Legend turned into a big budget HBO type series

[Shadowwolf]

I second all the above, loved Ultraviolet and far too short it was. Troopers might actually have scope for a series if it keeps to the first movie and not the awful c-movie sequels.

[Healerman]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that can remember Supercar.

Now a live action version of Captain Scarlet, I like that idea (wonder if they could get George Clooney for the title role?). Stingray might be interesting, too. A really good remake of Thunderbirds would be FAB ( ) and would make up for that execrable movie of a few years ago. In fact anything Anderson, except for Terrahawks.

Crossing the Atlantic; indeed, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, or Time Tunnel or even Man from UNCLE (like 1999, worth it just for the theme tune).But please, not Land of the Giants!
The idea of a series from Starship Troopers, I'm not so sure about. Expending thousands of rounds each week on a two dimensional enemy is a bit limited (worked for The 'A' Team though ) . My main worry is the original story, which I loved, by Bob Heinlen, was a satire, tongue firmly in cheek, and they tried to do that in the movie (though not in the terrible sequels) but an awful lot of folks didn't seem to get it. The series would probably end up like the sequel movies, gung-ho action and not a lot else.
Object of (not remake) Sci-Fi Desire: Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat"

[Shadowwolf]

but an awful lot of folks didn't seem to get it.

I did but I see your point, bit like how the suits reckoned the viewing populace didn't get Firefly.

[Colm]

I'd love to see the Star Trek universe made "Open Source" to use an analogy.

i.e. The license is opened up so that anyone can make a film set in the Star Trek universe, all they have to do is not go against the canon of Star Trek, and gain special permission before adding any new major items to the canon. And maybe pay a small royalty to Paramount or the writers or something.

So you could have anyone making films with any possible story or any possible genre (with Sci-Fi of course!) and not have to worry about including Kirk or Picard or whatever. Then you could have all different story lines and different styles of directing by big names and staring big name actors. It could be about, say, a mutiny on a totally unrelated starship á la Crimson Tide, or a drama about a Klingon's struggle to become a warrior after his father dishonourably killed his brother or something, or a Ferengi conspiracy thriller, or the equivalent of a modern day war film but set in a famous war that occurred in the Star Trek back story, or whatever.

Even have like trilogies of films, all set in the Star Trek world.

Nothing to do with The Enterprise, or Deep Space 9, or Voyager or any of the characters we know and love - it's just a setting in which to put your film, in the same way most films made are set in the real world.

The only condition is that they must all be possible to have happened in the same universe i.e. don't have one where the Borg never came, or have one where Klingons defeated the Romulans in one particular battle, while in another the battle didn't happen.

It's such an expansive universe that I think this is possible. All that would remain would be the branding - it couldn't be called "Star Trek" because of course it's not all about trekking through the stars... (Like they mightn't necessarily even go into space)

[Healerman]

I like you thinking Colm.

It certainly has worked already in books. Niven's "Known Space" has been explored, expanded and populated by many authors. Open source says it neatly. Nice one.

[M Paul Lloyd]

I may well be wrong but I think you can write a novel based upon the Star Trek 'universe' without incurring the wrath of copyright (but I repeat, I could be wrong) provided you avoid any existing charectors, locations or common references. Then this work might (and I stress only 'might') then get picked up by those that make the films but who will have to buy into the system to get it produced.

But copyright law is a really tricky business.

It is generally accepted that you can put pretty much anything in print but 0nce you enter the realms of TV/cinema things get complicated.

Personally I would like to see remakes of Forbidden Planet, Metropolis and Mad Max.