Paradox (British TV series): Difference between revisions
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'''''Paradox''''' |
'''''Paradox''''' is a 2009 [[United Kingdom|British]] [[science fiction]] [[Police procedural|police drama]], starring [[Tamzin Outhwaite]] as Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint. Written by [[Lizzie Mickery]] and produced by [[Clerkenwell Films]] for the [[BBC]], it was filmed and set in [[Manchester]], [[England]]. |
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Flint heads a police team played by [[Mark Bonnar]] and [[Chiké Okonkwo]], working with a scientist played by [[Emun Elliott]], as they attempt to prevent disasters foretold by images being sent from 18 hours into the future. |
Flint heads a police team played by [[Mark Bonnar]] and [[Chiké Okonkwo]], working with a scientist played by [[Emun Elliott]], as they attempt to prevent disasters foretold by images being sent from 18 hours into the future. |
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Revision as of 11:03, 5 January 2010
| Paradox | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sci-fi crime drama |
| Written by | Lizzie Mickery |
| Directed by | Simon Cellan-Jones Omar Madha |
| Starring | Tamzin Outhwaite Mark Bonnar Emun Elliott Chiké Okonkwo |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Murray Ferguson Patrick Spence |
| Producer | Marcus Wilson |
| Production locations | Manchester, England |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | Clerkenwell Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One, BBC HD |
| Release | 24 November – 22 December 2009 |
Paradox is a 2009 British science fiction police drama, starring Tamzin Outhwaite as Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint. Written by Lizzie Mickery and produced by Clerkenwell Films for the BBC, it was filmed and set in Manchester, England.
Flint heads a police team played by Mark Bonnar and Chiké Okonkwo, working with a scientist played by Emun Elliott, as they attempt to prevent disasters foretold by images being sent from 18 hours into the future.
A first series aired on BBC One and BBC HD during November and December in five hour-long episodes. It received mostly negative reviews from critics.
Production
Murray Ferguson, chief executive of Clerkenwell Films, said that they were looking for something "different from the traditional formula of investigating a crime that has already taken place" and premise for the series, the police having knowledge of future incidents, was developed. Lizzie Mickery (The 39 Steps, The State Within) was chosen to write the series and she said she has "always been interested in the decisions you're not aware you are making" and the series was based on the "moral and emotional implications of having the ability to change the future". The series was then commissioned by Ben Stephenson and Jay Hunt for BBC One with executive producers Patrick Spence, for BBC Northern Ireland, and Ferguson. The series was produced by Marcus Wilson and directed by Simon Cellan-Jones and Omar Madha.[1] Filming began in Greater Manchester, England in June 2009,[2] with the majority of filming in the Northern Quarter district[citation needed] of the City of Manchester. The Imperial War Museum North is used as the backdrop for Dr King's place of employment, Prometheus Labs.
Filming was completed over 13 weeks and Fergison said: "Each episode is set within a very short time period so the changeable weather caused havoc."[1]
Synopsis
Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint (Tamzin Outhwaite), Detective Sergeant Ben Holt (Mark Bonnar) and Detective Constable Callum Gada (Chiké Okonkwo) investigate images being broadcast to an eminent astrophysicist Dr Christian King's (Emun Elliott) laboratory, which appear to show catastrophic events in the future.[2][3]
Episodes
| # | Episode | Director | Original airdate | Viewers[4] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Simon Cellan-Jones | 24 November 2009 | 4.81 million | |
|
The team cannot stop an explosion caused by a road tanker hitting a low railway bridge | |||||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Simon Cellan-Jones | 1 December 2009 | 2.94 million | |
|
The team save the life of kidnapped boy locked in a flooding garage basement, and the life of DS Holt in the same incident | |||||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Simon Cellan-Jones | 8 December 2009 | 3.32 million | |
|
The team apparently prevent a sex-attacker from killing a woman outside a nightlcub, but cannot prevent him from being free to attack again | |||||
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Omar Madha | 15 December 2009 | 3.12 million | |
|
The team are apparently able to save a woman from being burned in an arson attack, but cannot stop a man falling to his death after his abseiling rig breaks | |||||
| 5 | "Episode 5" | Omar Madha | 22 December 2009 | 3.11 million | |
|
The team save a group of teenagers from being shot, but Christian is shot, and presumed dead | |||||
Reception
The series peaked at 4.81 million viewers for the first episode.
In The Daily Telegraph, James Walton said that despite the "exciting" climating scenes, "[s]adly, by then the show's complete absence of internal logic (or, if you prefer, its overwhelming silliness) meant that it was beyond help."[5] Comparing with American series FlashForward and ITV1's Collision, Alex Hardy from The Times said that the former "is currently doing a much better job at such space-time contemplation" and that the "'working back from an accident' format unfolded much more deliciously" in the latter.[6] Following the second episode, The Times' Andrew Billen said that although the last 10 minutes were exciting, "[t]he difficulty lay in the 50 minutes of scratchy dialogue, robotic acting and general misery that it took to get there."[7] Jeremy Clay from the Leicester Mercury also liked the climax but said "the rest was utterly daft",[8] the programme tried the patience of The Observer's Phil Hogan[9] and Tom Sutcliffe from The Independent said that "the Prometheus Innovation Satellite Downlink offers a perfect acronym for the state you'd have to be in to take this kind of thing seriously".[10]
References
- ^ a b "Paradox press pack". BBC Press Office. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Outhwaite to star in sci-fi drama". BBC News Online. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
- ^ "Outhwaite to play cop in new BBC drama". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
- ^ http://www.barb.co.uk
- ^ Walton, James (24 November 2009). "Paradox, BBC One, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ Hardy, Alex (25 November 2009). "Cast Offs; Paradox". Times Online. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ Billen, Andrew (2 December 2009). "Imagine; The Queen; Paradox". Times Online. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ Clay, Jeremy (25 November 2009). "TV Review: Paradox". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ Hogan, Phil (29 November 2009). "Paradox, Gavin & Stacey, This World: an Iranian Martyr, Gracie! and Cast Offs". The Observer. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ Sutcliffe, Tom (25 November 2009). "Last Night's Television - Paradox, BBC1; Cast Offs, Channel 4". The Independent. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
External links
- Paradox at BBC Online
- Paradox at IMDb