outcasts no more
geek, scifi, tv March 16th, 2011It was with disappointment that I read that the BBC had cancelled their much hyped new sci-fi series Outcasts.
Outcasts Daniel Mays, Hermione Norris and Ashley Walters
Set in the not too distant future, it told (or started to tell) the tale of some 70,000 survivors of a devastated Earth living on an alien planet they know as Carpathia. Their main (only?) settlement of Forthaven is generally peaceful, but there are hidden divisions, political tensions and secret histories that come to light, as well as more than a few mysteries of alien origin.
Outcasts had a big-name cast, decent budget and talented writers, and was aimed at a larger “mainstream” audience, but none of these managed to save it from being another one-series-wonder.
The show had its problems, which the writers acknowledge, but it was improving as it went on and, I’m sure, the shortcomings would have been addressed had it been given a second season. But no, ratings are king, and Outcasts failed to make the quota from the outset.
So another short-lived sci-fi for grown-ups series joins the BBC’s back catalogue. I’m disappointed, and a little bit bitter, but I can’t say that I’m surprised.
Should I instead be grateful for whatever sci-fi crumbs the BBC can afford to toss my way? Should I be hopeful that lessons will be learned and a new, improved, longer running grown-up sci-fi series will spring from Outcasts’ ashes? I could try, I guess.
In the meantime, it’s back to Stargate Universe.
Oh, wait.
Damn.
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John Girvin is a software engineer, sci-fi buff, cyclist and retrocomputer fan (ie: nerd) from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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March 25th, 2011 at 9:39 am
Many people watch this online.I certainly do.I thought this was a great series. Such a shame! I’m sure if this was on a thursday ,friday,the ratings would be roaring.One of the few adventures you could watch with young members of the family,while still being intelligent for adults.What a bloody waste of a good story!
May 20th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
“Outcasts” would’ve been interesting if it had actually worked with its own premise. Someone at the Telegraph wrote this after Episode 1:
“Outcasts is a 2011 British television serial science-fiction drama, portraying a group of pointless colonists who spend their time ignoring the fact they are probably the last humans left alive. They mostly miss the point that they need to concentrate on populating an alien planet, Carpathia, if they do not want to be extinct in a generation. Unfortunately, the Earth has met some strange fate requiring the complete evacuation of the British middle-classes sometime in the next ten to twenty years. Having made “hard choices” about not having children, the females form the local police force while the males become unemployed brutes with a gun fixation, occupying their time together at the local gym.”
And that general outlook (add and stirr strange aliens for taste) didn’t change. The show could have been great drama AND great scifi if it had tackled the issues of exploring an alien planet and facing a choice between maintaining their egalitarian PC (it was *really* blatant) society or preserving the human race. It did neither.