Author Archives: Jack Knoll

It’s the episode so good nobody wanted it to end. I went into Deathwatch well aware of its reputation as one of the strongest episodes of Space Precinct, but I was also wary of the novel way in which this story accidentally became a two-part adventure. If you’re not familiar, Deathwatch was written and filmed as a single installment that just so happened to have a very ambiguous ending. Only when filming was finished was the decision taken to tie up the loose ends by writing an extra episode – Deathwatch Conclusion. This is why Deathwatch is episode 20 in the series’ production order, while Deathwatch Conclusion doesn’t come until number 24. Conclusion was filmed over a month later with a script penned by a different writer. In the Security Hazard tradition, I will be strictly following the production order so that I can chart the development of the series as it went before the cameras. So, at the time of writing this, I haven’t actually seen Deathwatch Conclusion, and have a few other episodes to review before I return to it. But you’ll be pleased to know that I came out of Deathwatch positively excited to see what Deathwatch Conclusion adds. While Deathwatch is certainly a triumph in isolation, my gut reaction is that there’s too much good material in there to leave unexplored. It’s always a good sign when I finish an episode wanting more.

As soon as I learned that Smelter Skelter’s original director, Silvio Narizzano, left the production halfway through shooting the episode, I could think about little else in preparation for writing this review. Juicy behind the scenes drama is an absolute gift when you’re into your nineteenth consecutive week of studying something as formulaic as a television series. Smelter Skelter is a fairly average episode of Space Precinct with nobody trying all that hard to push the envelope in any department. The result is an entertaining but inconsequential bit of television. So, it’s all the more remarkable to learn that this is the one that drove Ted Shackelford to breaking point, left another member of the repertory cast in tears, and saw the end of a prolific director’s career.

This episode of Space Precinct aired on BBC2 on Christmas Eve 1995, just before the worldwide premiere of Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave. What a double bill. That screening of A Close Shave gained BBC2 its highest ever audience figure up to that point of 10.62 million viewers. I wonder how many of those viewers caught the end of Friends and therefore received their first exposure to Space Precinct. Would those last few minutes of lukewarm Haldane and Castle romance hook you for the rest of the series? Somehow, I feel like Wallace and Wendolene charmed more hearts that Christmas.

Hate Street is another episode that took me by surprise! It’s a good one! Maybe not perfect, but definitely up towards the top of my list so far. I’m learning that Space Precinct is an absolute roller coaster of quality with spectacular summits and stomach-churning drops from week to week. I had anticipated more of a steady climb in quality, thinking that with each episode the production team would learn from their mistakes and make adjustments by the time the following installment went before the cameras. But the Space Precinct production line was forced to move at such a pace, and swap out directors and writers so haphazardly, that those course corrections seem to come through luck rather than judgement.

Call me a sensitive soul, but I’m just not sure what the appeal is of a television programme depicting a police officer forcing his hand over the mouth of an alien child in readiness to stab her while she sleeps. Now, you’ve heard me complain about Space Precinct’s chaotic approach to tone and audience suitability in the past, but at the very least I’ve understood roughly the reasoning behind that approach. It came out of a desire to make a show that appealed to children and to adults in the same breath. However misguided and whiplash-inducing the results, I always understood why the producers wanted moments where Tarn hookers were propositioning police officers before launching into a cool laser gun battle against a creepy alien vampire guy (see Predator and Prey). In theory, the adults watched for the sleazy drama and the kids liked the action. It’s a clumsy approach, but I understood it. With today’s episode, The Witness, I watched with my head in my hands, totally bewildered by just how dark the show chooses to go in places – so grim that even well-adjusted grown-ups like myself would wince. The question in my mind changed from the usual “Who is Space Precinct made for?” and became “Is Space Precinct made for anyone?”