Happy 20th Birthday to BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (2.0)

On 8 December 2003, the Sci-Fi Channel aired a two-part TV movie based on Glen A. Larson's 1978 space opera, Battlestar Galactica. This new show had been preceded by very low expectations: none of the cast or crew of the original show was involved, and two previous reboot pitches which had been direct sequels to the original show had been cancelled in development. Redesigns of iconic ships and vehicles had annoyed the original fanbase, as had the "gender-swapping" of established characters like Starbuck and Boomer. However, early critical reviews were positive and some of the casting for the show, such as Edward James Olmos as the new version of Commander Adama (in the role played by Lorne Green in the original) and Mary McDonnell as the new President of the Colonies, seemed promising.

A promotional image for Battlestar Galactica's third season (2006-07).

The road to relaunching Battlestar Galactica had been a long one. ABC had commissioned Glen A. Larson to create the original show back in 1977, keen to jump on the bandwagon of space opera and impressive visual effects generated by the release of the original Star Wars movie. They even brought in John Dykstra, who had created Star Wars's special effects, to work on the show. Borrowing heavily from Egyptian mythology and Mormon theology, the show told the story of the annihilation of the Twelve Colonies of Man at the hands of a hostile alien race, the Cylons, consisting of cyborg leaders and fully-robotic soldiers. The last surviving human warship, the battlestar Galactica, leads a "ragtag fugitive fleet" in search of the mythical Thirteenth Colony, also known as Earth. Despite schmaltzy acting, the presence of cute kid and animal actors (including the still-bizarre decision to have a chimp playing a robot dog) and whiplash-inducing shifts in tone, the show built up a strong following for its impressive effects and its emphasis on family.

The show launched to enormous ratings, but these fell drastically over the course of the first season. Combined with the show's eye-watering cost, ABC decided to cancel it and resurrect it two years later as Galactica 1980, a much lower-budged show meant more to appeal to kids. Galactica 1980 holds a strong claim to be the worst TV show ever made (with the solitary exception of a flashback episode set during the original series timeline) and was quickly put out of its misery.

The original Battlestar Galactica had spectacular visual effects for 1978 but less impressive scripts.

Larson moved on to other projects, but always felt there was more mileage in the Battlestar concept. Richard Hatch, who'd played Captain Apollo on the original series, agreed, and with Larson's blessing undertook various attempts to relaunch the show. Successful novel and comic series followed through the 1980s and 1990s, and in 1998 Hatch produced a proof-of-concept video dubbed Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming. Ignoring Galactica 1980, this would have been a "next generation" concept picking up on the story twenty years later with the Galactica crew still searching for Earth with a whole new generation growing up in the fleet. Despite being popular at fan conventions, the idea did not find fertile ground with a studio. A year later Glen A. Larson started developing a movie concept which would have followed up on the fate of the battlestar Pegasus from the original series, but again this didn't get very far.

A much more serious attempt followed in 2000. Producers Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto were the hot flavour of the month in Hollywood for the success of their movie X-Men and Singer, a huge fan of the original Battlestar Galactica, was determined to get the show launched again. His concept was similar to Hatch's and would have been a next generation reboot. Fox TV signed on, but were somewhat sceptical that BSG's relatively small fanbase could help propel the show to a larger audience, especially as it was a continuation. Nevertheless, the project moved to within a few weeks production starting (including some early set construction and lots of concept art being produced) when Fox put all new projects on hold in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Fox were slow to get the show moving again, so when Singer and DeSanto left the project to focus on the next X-Men movie, Fox let the idea lapse.

Promotional artwork for Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto's planned Battlestar reboot (2001).

Universal Pictures, who held the rights to the original BSG, decided to push forwards with a new version of the show themselves. Whilst 9/11 had disrupted Fox's plans, Universal saw it as an opportunity to tell a very different kind of story. Critics of the original BSG - and even some fans - had felt that the original series had massively undersold the darkness and trauma that would have resulted from the destruction of twelve planets and billions of lives on the survivors. Universal asked producer David Eick to work on ideas for the new series, but the first directive was that this was going to be a page one rewrite and remake set in a new continuity. Eick decided he needed to bring on board someone who really understood science fiction, and in particular space opera, and called a writer he knew Ronald D. Moore.

Moore had cut his teeth as a very young writer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which he'd joined in 1989 in its third season. He was just about the only staff writer to survive the chaotic third season into the fourth, and became a key creative lead on the show in its latter five seasons. When the show wrapped, he co-wrote the movies Generations and First Contact as well as moving over to Deep Space Nine for its third season, again playing a key creative role on that show. When Deep Space Nine wrapped in 1999, he moved over to Star Trek: Voyager but immediately found a much more restrictive creative environment. Moore was in particular frustrated by the fact that the starship Voyager was still clean and pristine despite being trapped on the other side of the galaxy with very limited chances for resupply or repairs. His feeling was that the show should have been darker, more challenging and engaged in more morally murky discussions about the morality of the Federation when a ship was put in a difficult position. The showrunners disagreed, feeling that cookie-cutter philosophising and constantly hitting a big red reset button at the end of every episode was the way forwards instead. Moore duly quit, going to work first on Roswell at the WB and then Carnivale at HBO.

Executive producer and showrunner Ronald D. Moore on the hanger set of Battlestar Galactica.

He was still working on Carnivale when Eick called. Moore had watched Battlestar when it first aired and seen great promise in it, but had also disliked the campy and sillier elements of the show (such as the cute kids, robots and the "casino planet" in the pilot). He rewatched the pilot movie and realised there was a lot of strength in the basic premise and agreed that it could be reworked in a post-9/11 environment for greater emotional impact. He agreed to write a new pilot for Universal's subsidiary, the Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy). This ballooned into a (relatively) high-budget three-hour mini-series which could also work as a backdoor pilot for a full series.

Moore penned the pilot and oversaw some elements of production, including exercising his desire for a slightly darker aesthetic than Star Trek and to have a completely new (for SF) way of shooting the action with handheld cameras, even the space scenes. Director Michael Rymer immediately locked into what Moore was thinking of and his directorial style immediately became a hallmark of the show. Moore also wanted a more understated and less symphonic way of doing music for a space series and lucked out when Richard Gibbs also picked up that idea and ran with it. A young composer named Bear McCreary assisted Gibbs on the pilot.

Edward James Olmos as Commander William Adama and Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin.

Casting proved interesting but controversial. Moore wanted distinct actors with gravitas and experience, but was aware that it was very unusual for producers to get their first choices. In this case, he wanted Edward James Olmos for Adama and Mary McDonnell for Roslin and was flabbergasted when both said yes, sold on the quality of the scripts. The casting department also scored a steady series of successes when they found a lot of fresh young talent for the series, from Jamie Bamber for Apollo to James Callis for Baltar and, most iconically, Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck and former model Tricia Helfer as Caprica Six. Established fans of the show were furious to learn that both Starbuck and Boomer (to be played by Grace Park) had been changed from male characters to a female one for the show and some of the original castmembers agreed with them: Dirk Benedict (who played Starbuck in the original show) scathingly referred to the new character as "Stardoe".

For visual effects, the team at Zoic were called in to produce the huge amount of CGI needed for the mini-series. Zoic had just come off the back of Joss Whedon's newly-cancelled Firefly so the commission was good news for them. The CG team included many veterans of both Babylon 5 and Deep Space Nine, who relished on rendering effects on a new, more powerful hardware and having the ability to design lots of new ships, although honouring the designs laid down in the original show.

The Battlestar Galactica mini-series was critically acclaimed on its release. The reviews were excellent across the board, with a lot praise for the actors, direction and acting, and the ratings were very high, setting new records for SyFy. It was an easy choice to commission a full first season, especially once Ron Moore confirmed he would drop Carnivale (which was being torn apart by corporate politics and would be cancelled after its second season) to move over as full-time showrunner. When the first season proper debuted a year later, with 33 (the episode that won the show a Hugo Award), it was even better.

Of course, the show could not quite sustain that early acclaim and its ending would become one of the most divisive in television history, but that's another story. Battlestar Galactica did for space-set science fiction what Game of Thrones later did for epic fantasy, making it grittier, more real and more resonant with a wider audience previously dismissive of the art form. It's a shame we haven't seen more space opera shows come along in its wake, but finally, with shows like The Expanse and Foundation, it seems that promise has come good. Battlestar Galactica remains, despite its debatable quality later on, one of the strongest SF TV shows ever made, and essential viewing for any fan of the genre.

Note: an earlier version of this article was published here.

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BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 3.0 gets its showrunner, confirmed to be another remake

The third TV version of Battlestar Galactica (fourth if you count Galactica 1980 as a separate thing, which you probably shouldn't) is heading to the screen with a new showrunner appointed.

Michael Lesslie (AMC's The Little Drummer Girl, MacBeth, Assassin's Creed) has been tapped to take the lead as writer, co-creator and showrunner on the project. Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) is serving as co-creator, writer and executive producer, and may direct the first episode. However, it sounds like Esmail's role may be more in launching the project and then stepping back, which will probably dismay those who were only interested in the project because of Esmail's involvement.

The new Battlestar Galactica was originally touted as not a reboot or reimagining, but instead as a new chapter in the universe created by Ronald D. Moore for the 2003-09 SyFy series. Indeed, Esmail called Moore to get his blessing to develop the idea before taking it to NBC. However, in today's statement, Lesslie says the new series will pay tribute to both Moore and the original 1978-80 series created and run by Glen A. Larson. The press release also says it will be set in a "reimagined world," suggesting it will offer a new, fresh take on the franchise.

The news will likely not go down well among fans of either Battlestar iteration, perhaps feeling that between the bright and optimistic original take on the idea and Moore's much darker, grittier iteration, there really isn't anywhere else to take the premise. We will see as it the idea develops further.

The third Battlestar Galactica will launch on NBC's streaming service, Peacock, with a production schedule to be decided once the pandemic has ended.

The Expanse: Season 3

The Solar system is on the brink of war, with the numerically superior forces of the UN-controlled Earth and the technologically superior forces of the Martian Congressional Republic poised to unleash their ships and weapons. The crew of the starship Rocinante race to Io to expose the protomolecule conspiracy which has brought the Solar system to the brink, but face serious opposition. Meanwhile, the protomolecule fragment that landed on Venus has not been idle, and beneath the impenetrable clouds of the planet something is taking shape.

The first season of The Expanse was good. The second season was superb, the best season of space opera television since (at least) the second season of the newer Battlestar Galactica. The series, based on the novels by James S.A. Corey (aka Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), paints a picture of a near-future Solar system riven by competing corporate interests, political tension and the dangers of unrestrained technological development. As well as the compelling main storyline, a host of finely-judged character arcs unfold, with the whole thing hinging on a (relatively) realistic depiction of Newtonian physics and space travel.

Season 3 continues in this vein. It is divided into two strands. The first six episodes round off the events of Caliban's War, the second novel in the series, and focus on the political showdown between Earth and Mars, which goes further than it does in the book. The latter seven episodes have the steep challenge of adapting the third novel in the series, Abaddon's Gate, in full. This breaks up the season quite nicely, with the first half being more of a political and war story and the second being more of a hard SF mystery, complete with multiple Big Dumb Objects to investigate and some excellent use of the laws of physics to provide obstacles to the characters.

There are also new characters this season, particularly Anna Volovodov, played with aplomb by genre veteran Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), and the highly morally ambiguous character of Klaes Ashford, played with charisma by David Strathairn (Lincoln). Both are excellent additions to the cast. There is also a significantly expanded role for fan-favourite character Drummer, played by Cara Gee, a recognition of her superb performance.

On a thematic level, the show continues to contrast politics, science, war, expediency and ideology as clashing ideals, with even Holden's idealism and desire to "do the right thing" being scrutinised as not always possible (or even logical). Sometimes the good guys do bad things for the greater good (summed up by Amos's chilling, "I am that guy," in possibly the season's best single scene), sometimes people make what appears to be perfectly reasonable decisions which have horrendous consequences (the look on Errinwright's face when Earth's defensive railguns fail to shoot down a Martian nuke is priceless, and horrific) and life is messy and chaotic, with arguing over the way forwards. If anything, the show makes a case (through Avasarala) for political compromise and negotiation, no matter how boring, as it is preferable to people dying as a result of nationalist propaganda. There's a powerful message of hope in The Expanse which sometimes wins out over the cynical, morally murky manoeuvrings elsewhere in the story.

There's also the idea of the mystery, with the protomolecule and its later creation, the Ring, being the implacable Unknown which humanity is struggling to understand, and only doing so imperfectly and through its own morass of selfish, competing viewpoints. The Unknown hits back several times, reminding humanity of just how tiny and insignificant they are in the universe, something which gains added traction in the cliffhanger, which seems to be going for Arthur C. Clarke levels of awe and wonder.

Season 3 of The Expanse (*****) continues the show's streak of being the best SF series on air this decade, with outstanding production values, pacing, effects and acting. It is available to watch now on Amazon Prime (UK, USA). Filming for Season 4 is already complete and should air later this year, also on Amazon Prime.

Happy 15th Anniversary to BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (2.0)

On 8 December 2003, the Sci-Fi Channel aired a two-part TV movie based on Glen A. Larson's 1978 space opera, Battlestar Galactica. This new show had been preceded by very low expectations: none of the cast or crew of the original show was involved, and two previous reboot pitches which had been direct sequels to the original show had been cancelled in favour of a total remake. Redesigns of iconic ships and vehicles had annoyed the original fanbase, as had the "gender-swapping" of established characters like Starbuck and Boomer. However, early critical reviews were positive and some of the casting for the show, such as Edward James Olmos as the new version of Commander Adama (in the role played by Lorne Green in the original) and Mary McDonnell as the new President of the Colonies, seemed promising.

A promotional image for Battlestar Galactica's third season (2006-07).

The road to relaunching Battlestar Galactica had been a long one. ABC had commissioned Glen A. Larson to create the original show back in 1977, keen to launch on the bandwagon of space opera and impressive visual effects generated by the release of the original Star Wars movie. They even brought in John Dykstra, who had created Star Wars's special effects, to work on the show. Borrowing heavily from Egyptian mythology and Mormon theology, the show told the story of the annihilation of the Twelve Colonies of Man at the hands of a hostile alien race, the Cylons, consisting of cyborg leaders and fully-robotic soldiers. The last surviving human warship, the battlestar Galactica, leads a "ragtag fugitive fleet" in search of the mythical Thirteenth Colony, also known as Earth. Despite schmaltzy acting, the presence of cute kid and animal actors (including the still-bizarre decision to have a chimp playing a robot dog) and whiplash-inducing shifts in tone, the show built up a strong following for its impressive effects and its emphasis on family.

The show launched to enormous ratings, but these fell drastically over the course of the first season. Combined with the show's eye-watering cost, ABC decided to cancel it and resurrect it two years later as Galactica 1980, a much lower-budged show meant more to appeal to kids. Galactica 1980 holds a strong claim to be the worst TV show ever made (with the solitary exception of a flashback episode set during the original series) and was quickly put out of its misery.

The original Battlestar Galactica had spectacular visual effects for 1978 but less impressive scripts.

Larson moved on to other projects, but always felt there was more mileage in the Battlestar concept. Richard Hatch, who'd played Captain Apollo on the original series, agreed, and with Larson's blessing undertook various attempts to relaunch the show. Successful novel and comic series followed through the 1980s and 1990s and in 1998 Hatch produced a proof-of-concept video dubbed Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming. Ignoring Galactica 1980, this would have been a "next generation" concept picking up on the story twenty years later with the Galactica crew still searching for Earth with a whole new generation growing up in the fleet. Despite being popular at fan conventions, the idea did not find fertile ground with a studio. A year later Glen A. Larson started developing a movie concept which would have followed up on the fate of the battlestar Pegasus from the original series, but again this didn't get very far.

A much more serious attempt followed in 2000. Producers Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto were the hot flavour of the month in Hollywood for the success of their movie X-Men and Singer, a huge fan of the original Battlestar Galactica, was determined to get the show launched again. His concept was similar to Hatch's and would have been a next generation reboot. Fox TV signed on, but were somewhat sceptical that BSG's relatively small fanbase could help propel the show to a larger audience, especially as it was a continuation. Nevertheless, the project moved to within a few weeks production starting (including some early set construction and lots of concept art being produced) when Fox put all new projects on hold in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Fox were slow to get the show moving again, so when Singer and DeSanto left the project to focus on the next X-Men movie, Fox let the idea lapse.

Promotional artwork for Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto's planned Battlestar reboot (2001).

Universal Pictures, who held the rights to the original BSG, decided to push forwards with a new version of the show themselves. Whilst 9/11 had disrupted Fox's plans, Universal saw it as an opportunity to tell a very different kind of story. Critics of the original BSG - and even some fans - had felt that the original series had massively undersold the darkness and trauma that would have resulted from the destruction of twelve planets and billions of human beings on the survivors. Universal asked producer David Eick to work on ideas for the new series, but the first directive was that this was going to be a page one rewrite and remake set in a new continuity. Eick decided he needed to bring on board someone who really understood science fiction and in particular space opera and brought on board a writer named Ronald D. Moore.

Moore had cut his teeth as a very young writer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which he'd joined in 1989 in its third season. He was just about the only staff writer to survive the chaotic third season into the fourth, and became a key creative lead on the show in its latter five seasons. When the show wrapped, he co-wrote the movies Generations and First Contact as well as moving over to Deep Space Nine for its third season, again playing a key creative role on that show. When Deep Space Nine wrapped in 1999, he moved over to Star Trek: Voyager but immediately found a much more restrictive creative environment. Moore was in particular frustrated by the fact that the starship Voyager was still clean and pristine despite being trapped on the other side of the galaxy with very limited chances for resupply. His feeling was that the show should have been darker, more challenging and engaged in more morally murky discussions about the morality of the Federation when a ship was put in a difficult position. The producers disagreed, feeling that cookie-cutter philosophising and constantly hitting a big red reset button at the end of every episode was the way forwards instead. Moore duly quit, going to work first on Roswell at the WB and then Carnivale at HBO.

Executive producer and showrunner Ronald D. Moore on the hanger set of Battlestar Galactica.

He was still working on Carnivale when Eick called. Moore had watched Battlestar when it first aired and seen great promise in it, but had also disliked the campy and sillier elements of the show (such as the cute kids, robots and the "casino planet" in the pilot). He rewatched the pilot movie and realised there was a lot of strength in the basic premise and agreed that it could be reworked in a post-9/11 environment for greater emotional impact. He agreed to write a new pilot for Universal's subsidiary, the Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy). This ballooned into a (relatively) high-budget three-hour mini-series which could also work as a backdoor pilot for a full series.

Moore penned the pilot and oversaw some elements of production, including exercising his desire for a slightly darker aesthetic than Star Trek and to have a completely new (for SF) way of shooting the action with handheld cameras, even the space scenes. Director Michael Rymer immediately locked into what Moore was thinking of and his directorial style immediately became a hallmark of the show. Moore also wanted a more understated and less symphonic way of doing music for a space series and lucked out when Richard Gibbs also picked up that idea and ran with it. A young composer named Bear McCreary also assisted Gibbs on the pilot.

Edward James Olmos as Commander William Adama and Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin.

Casting proved interesting but controversial. Moore wanted distinct actors with gravitas and experience, but was aware that it was very unusual for producers to get their first choices. In this case, he wanted Edward James Olmos for Adama and Mary McDonnell for Roslin and was flabbergasted when both said yes, sold on the quality of the scripts. The casting department also scored a steady series of successes when they found a lot of fresh young talent for the series, from Jamie Bamber for Apollo to James Callis for Baltar and, most iconically, Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck and former model Tricia Helfer as Caprica Six. Established fans of the show were furious to learn that both Starbuck and Boomer (to be played by Grace Park) had been changed from male characters to a female one for the show and some of the original castmembers agreed with them: Dirk Benedict (who played Starbuck in the original show) scathingly referred to the new character as "Stardoe".

For visual effects, the team at Zoic were called in to produce the huge amount of CGI needed for the mini-series. Zoic had just come off the back of Joss Whedon's newly-cancelled Firefly so the commission was good news for them. The CG team included many veterans of both Babylon 5 and Deep Space Nine, who relished on rendering effects on a new, more powerful hardware and having the ability to design lots of new ships, although honouring the designs laid down in the original show.

The Battlestar Galactica mini-series was critically acclaimed on its release. The reviews were excellent across the board, with a lot praise for the actors, direction and acting, and the ratings were very high, setting new records for SyFy. It was an easy choice to commission a full first season, especially once Ron Moore confirmed he would drop Carnivale (which was being torn apart by corporate politics and would be cancelled after its second season) to move over as full-time showrunner. When the first season proper debuted a year later, with 33 (the episode that won the show a Hugo Award), it was even better.

Of course, the show could not quite sustain that early acclaim and eventually went off the rails, but that's another story. Battlestar Galactica did for space-set science fiction what Game of Thrones later did for epic fantasy, making it grittier, more real and more resonant with a wider audience previously dismissive of the art form. It's a shame we haven't seen more shows come along in its wake, but finally, with shows like The Expanse, it seems that promise has come good. Battlestar Galactica remains, despite its declining quality later on, one of the strongest SF TV shows ever made, and essential viewing for any fan of the genre.

George R.R. Martin, a ton of fans and, er, the guy who founded Craigslist helped save THE EXPANSE

It was an impossible task: to convince Jeff Bezos, the richest man on Earth, to take mercy on the fans of an obscure science fiction show on SyFy and help save it after it had been cancelled. The fans rallied, sending cakes to Amazon TV headquarters, paying to fly a plane overhead for four hours with a banner saying "#SAVETHEEXPANSE" and even sending a model of the spaceship in the show, into space on a balloon.

It all paid off. According to Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, the outpouring of fan affection certainly helped save the show (along with sending her cake), but also key was a lot of critics recommending she watch the show (Bezos was already reportedly a fan of the books), which she did, bingeing the available episodes in just a couple of days. In an amusing moment, she confirms that Bezos was also receiving emails from the likes of George R.R. Martin and Craig Newmark (the founder of Craigslist) recommending he pick up the show.

Ultimately, Amazon decided to pick up the show and did the deal for the US rights from Alcon Entertainment. This is new information, as it suggests that Amazon may not yet have negotiated the international rights (currently held by Netflix), so we'll have to wait to hear about how fans outside the US will get to watch the show. Given that it was SyFy who insisted on the very silly six-month exclusivity period, it might be that, assuming Netflix holds onto the rights, future seasons will air much more closely with US transmission.

Amazon formally commissions Season 4 of THE EXPANSE

Amazon has reached a deal with Alcon Entertainment to produce a fourth season of The Expanse for its Amazon Prime TV streaming wing.

The Expanse was dropped a fortnight ago by SyFy, not over ratings but over their difficulties in monetising the show; their deal with Alcon meant that SyFy didn't get a cut from their streaming deal (with Amazon in the US and Netflix in the rest of the world), nor the DVD and Blu-Ray sales, making them unusually reliant on first-night viewing figures.

Jeff Bezos personally announced the pickup at the National Space Society, during a talk an hour after the Expanse cast and crew held a panel of their own.

I'll just let him say it...#TheExpanse#RocinanteIsSafe#BreakingNews

Thank you @JeffBezos pic.twitter.com/wxHN31zgJs

— Cas Anvar (@Casanvar) May 26, 2018

The news came after two weeks of hard campaigning by fans, the cast and crew, which resulted in an aircraft flying over Amazon's HQ trailing a "SAVE THE EXPANSE" banner for four hours and even resulted in a model of the Rocinante spacecraft being sent into space.

With the sets still standing and preliminary work on a fourth season apparently already underway, we can expect to see The Expanse join Amazon Prime's line-up in 2019.

Amazon in provisional talks to save THE EXPANSE

Amazon has reached a provisional agreement with Alcon Entertainment to save The Expanse.

SyFy dropped the show last week after disappointing ratings for the first few episodes of Season 3, despite the show scoring a rare 100% positive review metric at Rotten Tomatoes. The Expanse is the second-highest-rated show on the network (behind only The Magicians), but SyFy's deal with Alcon Entertainment means they only get first-run US broadcast rights. Streaming rights go to Amazon US and international broadcast rights go to Netflix. DVD and Blu-Ray sales also go to Alcon. This means that in order to monetise the show, SyFy needs the show to be a big hit on first-run broadcast or on reruns or DVR recordings watched within three days. And of course, that's not how people consume media any more.

Amazon's deal is provisional and apparently dependent on a financially suitable package being worked out that is agreeable to everyone. Potential sticking points relate to the show's international rights and whether it's possible for Amazon to pick them up for Netflix without it breaking the bank to do so, or even if it's possible for Amazon and Netflix to do a shared distribution deal, which would be breaking new ground.

The Expanse is an appealing pick-up for Amazon: it's critically acclaimed but also has mass appeal (which neither SyFy nor Netflix have fully realised), it is relatively cheap by Amazon's standards even as it was quite expensive by SyFy's, and it already has a production team and cast in place, along with standing sets and a shooting schedule. The show's team has also been surprisingly good at getting seasons out the door with only 12-14 months between them, unlike the 18-24 months being taken by other streaming shows. Amazon has picked up a whole raft of SF and fantasy projects based on books recently (including Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian, Ringworld and a show based on Iain Banks' Culture novels), so The Expanse fits into that wheelhouse perfectly. The good news is that with all of those projects at least three years away, The Expanse could get at least another two seasons on TV before they hit, giving Amazon some much needed original content.

Apparently Jeff Bezos is a fan of the books (the guy is a massive SFF fan) and was keen on Amazon getting involved in the first place when the US streaming rights came up, and is happy to shell out the money for the entire show as long as it makes sense to do so. It now looks like the deal will hinge on whether Amazon can extricate the international rights from Netflix, but so far the noises sound positive.

SyFy hints at a rethink on THE EXPANSE cancellation...if ratings improve

According to Expanse actor Cas Anvar, SyFy has suggested it might reverse its decision to drop The Expanse is there is an improvement in the show's ratings for the remainder of Season 3. This is on top of positive noises from Amazon that they are at least aware of the situation, with Netflix having passed on it.

According to Anvar, SyFy's metrics for measuring the success of the show are down to its first-run viewing figures (it's "live" figures when it first airs on SyFy). They also count all DVR recordings, as long as they are viewed within 3 days. Apparently - and SyFy themselves have rather oddly confirmed this (suggesting they're happy to game their own system) - if you do both, it counts as two viewings of the show.

Fans of the show paid to have this banner flown over Amazon HQ for four hours yesterday.

This is only helpful for American viewers, since international viewers won't be able to see Season 3 for another six months thanks to the (dubious) international distribution deal that was worked out between SyFy and Alcon Entertainment.

The window for saving the show is unclear: there are six episodes of Season 3 left to air before the season ends in June, but some reports have suggested that Alcon won't be willing to pay for storage for the sets and props beyond a few more weeks, so that if the show isn't picked up soon they'll strike the (very expensive) sets and that will make the cost of remounting the show much greater.

Netflix passes on THE EXPANSE, Amazon interested

According to Jim Murray, who works behind the scenes on The Expanse, Netflix have indicated they are not interested in continuing the series on their streaming service, despite already having the international airing rights. However, he also confirms that Amazon have shown an interest in picking up the slack.

Amazon already stream the show in the United States after the initial broadcast on SyFy. The show also arguably fits Amazon's original programming more than Netflix's. Amazon are on a major SF and fantasy binge, recently taking out options on the novels Ringworld, Snow Crash, Consider Phlebas and The Three-Body Problem, as well as developing new fantasy series based on the Dark Tower, Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings and Conan the Barbarian series. The Expanse is also based on a best-selling SF book series and some fans have noted that the show's focus on (relatively) near-future Solar system colonisation even makes it a good fit for promoting Jeff Bezos's Blue Origins space project.

You can contact Amazon Studios directly here, using the "For Your Consideration" tab.

THE EXPANSE and BROOKLYN NINE-NINE cancelled

Two of the most critically-acclaimed TV shows in their respective genres have been cancelled, including SF darling The Expanse.

The Expanse's cancellation was slightly unexpected, with the show drawing immense critical buzz of the kind that SyFy has not enjoyed since the second and early third season of Battlestar Galactica, well over a decade ago. First-run ratings were not as strong as might be wished given the show's relatively high budget (at between $4 and $5 million per episode, the show cost almost twice to make as BSG), but of course the metrics of how ratings are measured have changed dramatically in the last few years. By all accounts The Expanse also enjoyed healthy streams and sales through Amazon.

A key factor in the decision was the show's overseas performance and how it's finances are calculated. SyFy was not produced inhouse but was instead financed and produced by Alcon Entertainment and sold to SyFy. SyFy only had first-run transmission rights in the United States, with Alcon able to sell streaming rights to Amazon and international rights to Netflix. However, SyFy insisted on a six-month delay before Netflix could stream the show, despite overseas viewers having no other legal way of watching the show and thus there would have been no cannibalising of SyFy's US viewership. This decision seems to have cost the show international viewership, with hardcore international fans of the series downloading and torrenting the show long before it could be seen legally.

As a result, SyFy's deal meant that The Expanse's success was extremely dependent on first-run viewing figures and with these running at around 1 to 1.2 million per episode in Season 3, these figures were insufficient to support the high cost of the show (compared to SyFy's inhouse programming, such as the considerably cheaper - and vastly cheaper-looking - The Magicians).

Alcon Entertainment are shopping the show to other networks, which means that they may be able to find the show a new home elsewhere. Netflix may or may not be interested, given the lukewarm international figures. Amazon, who have recently been picking up almost every single SF and fantasy property of note (including Wheel of Time, Conan the Barbarian, Lord of the Rings, Ringworld, The Three-Body Problem and Snow Crash), may be a safer bet. Amazon in particular would find The Expanse's budget to be relatively cheap by their standards and they would probably prefer to have a show they can get on the air every year rather than waiting 18-24 months between seasons (The Expanse has gone about 14 months between each season). The momentum of just being able to continue production immediately rather than ramping up on a new show may also be attractive.

Meanwhile, Fox have cancelled Brooklyn Nine-Nine, their most critically-acclaimed comedy series. Brooklyn Nine-Nine's cancellation was more widely expected, with the show's viewing figures dropping by over half over its five-season run. Some fans were hoping for a reprieve, as viewing figures held relatively firm from Season 4 to Season 5 and the show enjoys widespread global popularity (in the UK it unusually has both reasonable audiences on Channel 4 and then again on Netflix). However, Fox have decided to swap out one of their TV drama nights for sports, which rendered the point moot. A whole swathe of other shows (such as Last Man on Earth) have also been axed to make room for this change in the schedule.

There has been hope that the show might be saved. Netflix are a possibility based on their success with the show internationally, and compared to most of their shows Brooklyn Nine-Nine would be incredibly cheap to make, as well as easily being able to get on the air every year. However, it's unclear if Fox would be willing to make the show for a company they are increasingly seeing as an adversary in the marketplace.

Possibly more likely is US streaming service Hulu. Hulu are are looking to beef up an original programming lineup strengthened by The Handmaid's Tale. Provisional talks between Hulu and Fox have already apparently taken place, with interest from other parties.

Hopefully both shows are saved, particularly The Expanse which was roughly only a third of the way through adapting James S.A. Corey's novel series.

SyFy release a teaser for George R.R. Martin's NIGHTFLYERS

SyFy has released a promo for their new series Nightflyers, based on the George R.R. Martin novella.

Nightflyers will debut on SyFy this autumn.

SyFy greenlights George R.R. Martin space opera TV series

SyFy has given the green light to Nightflyers, a TV show based on George R.R. Martin's 1980 novella of the same name, after the production of an internal pilot.

The TV series will adapt and expand the original novella, and may explore other aspects of the Thousand Worlds, a linked science fiction setting that the majority of Martin's SF short stories and novellas from the 1970s and 1980s were set in.

Jodie Turner-Smith (The Last Ship) will star as Melantha Jhirl, with Gretchen Mol (Boardwalk Empire) as Dr. Agatha Matheson. Eoin Macken, David Ajala, Sam Strike, Maya Eshet, Angus Sampson and Brian F. O'Byrne also star.

Martin will have a production credit but will not be working on the show, due to his commitments to finishing the Song of Ice and Fire novels and also aiding in the development of several potential Game of Thrones spin-off series for HBO. Martin has an exclusive development deal with HBO which prevents him from working for other broadcasters in a substantive role.

SyFy are also developing a TV series based on the Wild Cards superhero setting created by Martin, but have not yet decided to proceed with that project.

Nightflyers will be filmed in the Republic of Ireland and it sounds like SyFy may fast-track it to hit the air before the end of the year. Nightflyers will air on SyFy in the USA and Netflix in the rest of the world.

Pre-production underway on George R.R. Martin's NIGHTFLYERS

SyFy is rolling into pre-production on its new science fiction TV series, Nightflyers, based on George R.R. Martin's 1980 novella of the same name, which blends SF and horror.

SyFy greenlit a 10-episode first season a few months ago with a view to airing in 2018 (Netflix have picked up global broadcast rights).

Jeff Buhler (Pet Semetary) is writing whilst Daniel Cerone (The Blacklist, The Mentalist, Dexter) is the showrunner. George R.R. Martin met them recently and recounts their meeting here, as well as sharing some concept art (see above).

Nightflyers should begin shooting shortly at sound stages in Limerick in the Republic of Ireland with a substantial budget. We should hopefully have casting news and more information shortly.

The impact of the Amazon/Tolkien deal on the WHEEL OF TIME TV show

The news broke last night that Amazon are in talks with Warner Brothers about making a big-budget TV series based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, despite the perception that Peter Jackson's movie trilogy is too recent and a remake at this time is unnecessary. What's been less reported is how this will impact on Sony's TV version of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time novels, which were widely expected would end up at Amazon.

To rewind, in April 2017 it was confirmed that Sony TV had optioned the rights to The Wheel of Time in a complex deal involving the Robert Jordan Estate (aka the Bandersnatch Group) and Red Eagle Entertainment. A few months earlier it was heavily rumoured that Amazon were seriously considering making the series, as Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos is a huge fan of SF and fantasy in general (he had a cameo in the latest Star Trek movie, Beyond) and - apparently - Wheel of Time is one of his favourite book series. Amazon also recently reorganised their TV production division, cancelling several smaller shows and Bezos mandating the acquisition of a big-budget SFF project to compete with Game of Thrones on HBO. Wheel of Time was a no-brainer for this treatment.

However, seven months after Sony confirmed it had optioned the book rights, no production partner has been confirmed. Although not completely unusual - many years between optioning a property and greenlighting it is not unheard of - it was expected that studios would move quickly to snatch up the rights to a property that could comfortably go toe-to-toe with Game of Thrones in terms of epic scenes, number of characters and scale. Now it appears we know why there's been radio silence: Warner Brothers have been (quietly) shopping around their new Lord of the Rings TV project around at the same time. Although studios appear to be dubious about making a new LotR screen project so soon after Jackson's film series, they are also weighing carefully the benefits of picking up a much more well-known franchise which would get a lot of viewers from the off.

This leaves The Wheel of Time TV project in an awkward place. WoT was - comfortably - the biggest and most successful epic fantasy series not currently under an option, so it had a degree of brand value in the marketplace. With Middle-earth in play, that is no longer the case and the problems of adapting Wheel - its immense visual effects requirements, high budget and the challenges of adapting 14 books totalling 4 million words (eight times the length of Lord of the Rings) in a reasonable timeframe - may have come into greater focus.

It's worth looking now at the channels and broadcasters who may be in the running to adapt WoT and see how likely they are to follow through:

Amazon

Amazon are in deep discussion with Warner Brothers over the LotR TV show and Jeff Bezos is a noted fan of the books. He is personally involved in negotiations. They are clearly taking this approach very seriously. However, they have not committed yet. WB are asking for an astonishing amount of money up-front (totalling a third of a billion dollars) and are not bringing anything new to the table. Only The Lord of the Rings is on offer, with perhaps a possibility of The Hobbit as well, but none of Tolkien's other Middle-earth books are included in the deal, so no new material can be brought to the screen that hasn't been adapted previously. Although the deal is tempting, Amazon will likely have to weight up the benefits of the brand name and value versus the likely criticisms they will get for not going for a more original project.

If Amazon passes on LotR I could see them picking up WoT. This is a new project (for the screen) but also one that will last easily six or seven seasons (at least) and they can cross-market the show with the books and other merchandise. Amazon also appear to be the only company in the running who can stump up the significant budget that Wheel of Time will require. However, I strongly suspect that they will be more inclined to go with LotR if they can make the finances work.

HBO

HBO have already shot down the LotR project, citing their ongoing commitment to Game of Thrones and its in-development spin-offs. I think we can comfortably say that if they're not going to pick up LotR, they're not going to pick up Wheel of Time either. HBO are now 100% out of the picture.

Showtime

Showtime have committed to Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle prequel TV show. Until this project succeeds or fails, Showtime are also unlikely to seriously consider Wheel of Time.

AMC

Sony and AMC have an excellent prior relationship from Breaking Bad and I suspect AMC will be seriously considering the advantages of adapting Wheel of Time to add to their enviable SFF programming, which currently includes The Walking Dead and Preacher. However, AMC's preferred business model has them making shows for a very, very low budget and just making them look impressive, allowing them to maximise profits. They have already faced heavy criticism for the shoestring budget that The Walking Dead is made under, despite the show's massive global success. It is unlikely that AMC would give The Wheel of Time the $6-7 million per episode budget it will need as a minimal starting point. Still, AMC may still be in the picture if they can be persuaded to loosen the pursestrings.

Starz

Starz are also enjoying a spectacular surge in genre programming, with both Outlander and American Gods doing very well. Wheel of Time would be an enviable addition to their lineup, and Starz certainly are prepared to spend more money than AMC. They may be tempted to take another look at Wheel of Time if Amazon are now out of the picture.

FX

FX have been quietly building a slate of excellent shows recently, including Fargo, Legion, American Horror Story, Archer, The Americans and Atlanta. A high-budget, high-profile fantasy show is precisely what they are missing, and they also aired Red Eagle's proof-of-concept Wheel of Time pilot thing a couple of years ago, for which they received a lot of interest from viewers.

CBS

I'd previously dismissed CBS as being a likely home for the show, since their budgets for network shows are pretty small. Since then, however, they've launched the CBS All Access platform and achieved significant success with Star Trek: Discovery, which has a budget of $7 million per episode. If CBS wish to maintain momentum with the All Access project they will need another high-profile killer app, and Wheel of Time could well be it.

SyFy

SyFy has achieved some success with the TV show The Expanse, but has recently cancelled several shows and their bandwidth for making lots of big-budget shows at once is limited. I consider SyFy to have only an outside shot at the moment.

Netflix

Netflix would seem like a very probability on the list. They have developed a portfolio of shows, but they don't yet have an epic fantasy show to go toe-to-toe with GoT. It would seem likely that they would be interested. However, Netflix have gotten into significant debt to deliver their current slate of of shows and have axed expensive series such as Sense8 and House of Cards (it was widely reported that the sixth season would be the final one even before they axed Kevin Spacey) in favour of much cheaper programming, such as GLOW and American Vandal. Although Netflix's overall programming budget is increasing, the amount they are willing to pay per-show is definitely decreasing (although they have noted this may increase again, and certainly Stranger Things is not a cheap show to make). Wheel of Time would likely remain of interest to them, however, and if they decide a new high-profile show is needed they would likely stump up more money.

ETA: Netflix are developing a TV series based on The Witcher video games and books by Andrzej Sapkowksi, which likely would reduce their interest in another top-tier fantasy show.

Conclusion

The Amazon/LotR discussions are troubling to Wheel of Time fans as they would seem to shut down the most logical pairing of network and project. However, other networks remain in play. I would say at the moment that Starz, AMC and FX may now all be more likelier destinations for the project, with CBS All Access and Netflix as outsider players. If Amazon choose not to proceed with LotR, I suspect they would also take another look at Wheel of Time.

More concerning will be oversaturation of the market: if, by 2021 or thereabouts, we have a Kingkiller Chronicle TV show, a GoTspin-off (or two), a Lord of the Rings TV series and additional seasons of Shannara and American Gods all on air at the same time, it might be felt that further fantasy series would be redundant. As usual, time will tell.

George R.R. Martin's NIGHTFLYERS greenlit as a TV series

George R.R. Martin's 1980 novella Nightflyers has been greenlit as a TV series by SyFy. SyFy are currently producing a pilot based on the novella and the network were impressed enough to give a full series order. Netflix is also getting involved early, negotiating both international distribution and second-run rights in the US. This may be in response to its much-derided deal for SyFy's The Expanse, which seemingly (and nonsensically) requires that several months elapse between the US release and transmission elsewhere in the world.

Martin's novella was previously adapted as a forgettable, low-budget movie in 1987. The story, set in Martin's Thousand Worlds setting, sees an advanced starship and its crew drawn into a possible conflict with both a malevolent AI and a mysterious alien creature.

Martin is not involved with this new TV project, as his contract with HBO for Game of Thrones means he can only develop new projects exclusively with them for the next few years.

The Expanse: Season 2

An uncontrollable force has been unleashed on the Eros asteroid settlement, killing over a hundred thousand people. Eros has been quarantined whilst Earth, Mars and the Belt each blame one another for starting the crisis. But Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante know the truth, that what they are dealing with is far more powerful and far stranger than anything humanity has encountered so far. When Eros moves out of orbit and a recurrence of the crisis takes place on Ganymede, the Solar system moves to the brink of war.

Season 1 of The Expanse was the most satisfying slice of overtly science fiction drama seen on TV in many years. It was superbly-written and well-crafted, with fantastic production values and an absolutely stellar cast doing great work. Season 1 was undercut by pacing problems - a very slow first few episodes and then a mad rush at the end - and also a curious structural decision not to cover the entire first novel in the first season, but hold off on the book's ending until the start of Season 2, which both finishes Leviathan Wakes and covers part (but again, not all) of the second book, Caliban's War.

Season 2 of The Expanse shows that this decision had some merit: unlike the more relaxed first season, Season 2 starts with a bang and never lets up. For thirteen episodes on the trot, the story moves quite fast but also knows when to take the foot off the pedal for an important moment of characterisation or worldbuilding or simple beauty. The Expanse's CGI budget is clearly enormous and the show deserves credit for taking moments out of the action to show the haunting, empty beauty of space, the mind-boggling view of Jupiter from one of its moons or show sweeping shots of New York City two centuries from now.

Like the first season, the actors continue to knock it out of the park, particularly Thomas Jane as Miller and Wes Chatham as Amos, the letter coming into his own as he sells Amos's very complex motivations and personality issues with a minimum of fuss. Shohreh Aghdashloo continues to steal every scene she's in as Avasarala, especially now she moves into the Caliban's War story arc and actually has an active storyline to pursue. SyFy also clearly lifted the restriction on swearing between seasons, as she now employs the kind of invective she does in the books (if not quite as frequently). New addition Frankie Adams (as Martian marine Bobbie Draper) also does great work, although the split of the storyline means she spends a bit too much time as "blind patriot grunt" Bobbie rather than the more nuanced character she becomes later on. But Draper has presence and charm in the role. Terry Chen is also good as Prax, a POV character from the books who has a somewhat smaller (but still important) role on the show.

The season continues to explore the aesthetics of the first season, depicting space as dangerous and simply flying from point A to point B can be long, hard and extremely hazardous. Space battles have bits of metal flying through hulls with ease (meaning that it's rarely necessary to completely destroy enemy ships, just fillet them with gunfire so the crew can't breathe any more). The space battle between the Rocinante and the enemy stealth ship in close quarters around a space station is particularly gripping, with the CGI being utterly outstanding. The marine training exercise on Mars is also exceptional, although it's a shame we don't see the iconic battle on Ganymede in as much detail. In other areas the effects are a bit more limited, particularly the ocean view scenes in New York which look pretty fake.

What the second season does do very well is depict the politics of two great superpowers on the brink of war and the constant politicking and brinkmanship required to maintain the peace, and the impact of those decisions on the little people, with the fates of millions depending on the whims and horse-trading of people tens or hundreds of millions of miles away. Apart from Avasarala (who often isn't in as much control of circumstances as she'd like to think), our heroes are mostly at the short end of events, having to scramble to put out fires caused by others elsewhere, but in certain moments (usually involving Holden making an Important Announcement on the radio) they fight back.

It's a rich show that packs a lot into its episodes and its second season has almost no major problems at all, except maybe that the finale, which takes place about two-thirds of the way through Caliban's War, doesn't really have a big season-ending event (it's actually the fourth episode of the season which is the most epic). But then overcoming that cliche is quite enjoyable in itself.

The second season of The Expanse (*****) is the most satisfying space-set SF drama since arguably the second season of Battlestar Galactica over a decade ago, mixing politics, ethics, fine characterisation and nodding at the real science of space travel in a very satisfying manner. It is available on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United States, and is on Netflix in the UK and Ireland (and many other territories). Season 3 has been commissioned and will air on SyFy in the United States in 2018.

Season 2 of THE EXPANSE hits Netflix UK on 8 September

Apparently, Season 2 of The Expanse will land on Netflix UK on Friday, 8 September.

The second season of the show, which airs on SyFy in the US, originally aired from February to May this year, and was anticipated on Netflix in June. Bizarrely, the streaming service has held off on broadcasting the show, resulting in both significant levels of piracy and also people perfectly legally buying the already-released DVD and Blu-Ray box sets. The reason for the delay is unknown.

It's also unclear if the entire season is landing in one go (which you'd assume would be the case) or will be stripped over thirteen weeks like in the olden days.

Fortunately, Netflix's laxity has not damaged the success of the series: production of Season 3 began a few weeks ago and is now well underway, for broadcast in 2018. The Season 1 finale also picked up Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) at the recent Hugo Awards in Helsinki.

THE EXPANSE renewed for a third season

The Expanse has been renewed for a third season by SyFy.

The news came after an exceptional critical response for the second season of the show, currently airing in the United States, and after the show was picked up for international distribution by Netflix, widely increasing its worldwide profile.

The first two seasons adapted the first two books in the series, Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War. The third season will presumably cover any elements left over from Caliban's War and move into the events of the third book in the series, Abaddon's Gate.

The Magicians: Season 1

Once upon a time there was a writer named Lev Grossman, who worked for TIME Magazine and had literary ambitions. In 2005 he gained some attention when he called George R.R. Martin "The American Tolkien" in his review of A Feast for Crows. A few years later, having covered more SFF books, he decided to write his own. Faced with the daunting task of creating an original setting, cast of characters, themes to develop and trying to do something new, he gave up and instead mashed together The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. For added literary street cred he threw in some rich, good-looking New York kids whose lives were painful and agonising because of their wealth and having to attend college lectures a couple of times a day and having to tiresomely have sex with other rich, good-looking people. The result was a success! The novel, The Magicians, sold a lot of copies and he was able to stretch his thin narrative out across two sequels.

Now, and slightly inexplicably (given the number of actually-good SF and fantasy novels still stuck in development hell), it's been turned into a TV show. I imagine Grossman had in mind that the show would be adapted by a massive cable company like HBO and filled with top-tier actors, with high-level production values and the best scriptwriters in the business on the job. Instead, SyFy have turned it into a quick-turnaround popcorn show whilst their main talent is working on the infinitely superior The Expanse instead.

The Magicians, as in the TV show, is quite spectacularly awful and incompetent on a scale you just don't see on TV very much these days. Some modern shows can be boring, or not appeal to a wide demographic, or have structural or tone issues, but in the Golden Age of Television it's rare to see incompetence on this scale. The Magicians has almost no redeeming features whatsoever and borders on the unwatchable.

For starters, the script is awful. No attempt is made to make these characters even remotely sympathetic or interesting. The worldbuilding is thin to the point of non-existence. How the wider magical world works, what happens to evil wizards, why more people don't know about the existence of the other worlds despite magic being around for thousands of years etc is stuff that simply hasn't been thought through (unlike, say Harry Potter). The pacing is dreadful and the structure, which follows two separate storylines that are meant to hook up later, is constantly undercut by the characters from each story constantly bumping into the others, making the world feel claustrophobic and small.

Characterisation is something that happens in other series, not this one. I have no idea what motivates these people. Quentin, our main character, is whiny, weak-willed, selfish to the point of lunacy and tone-deaf to anything going on around him. I get he's suppose to be a difficult college kid, but usually these kind of characters have a redeeming feature, such as being smart or charismatic or funny, or they have unexpected skills. That never happens with Quentin. He's just a self-centred incompetent who spends most of the show whining about things.

Most of the other characters are likewise despicable, or treated with contempt, such as Alice. In the books she's a terribly-written, shy-but-ridiculously-hot cliche (even down to wearing glasses to show she's intellectual, but when she takes them off she suddenly turns into a sex bomb), which remains the case in the TV show. Crassly, the character in the novels is often referred to by her bra size and, jaw-droppingly, this continues in the TV show as well, along with many of the female castmembers appearing in states of partial undress throughout the show (Arjun Gupta, the show's sole good-looking male character, gets the same treatment as well in a vague nod towards equality). For a show made in 2017 it's oddly regressive in this area.

The acting veers from terrible to baffled: many of the cast seem really stymied on character motivation and what exactly they're suppose to be doing. This extends to the more experienced and otherwise dependable hands, like Battlestar Galactica's Rick Worthy as the show's Dumbledore analogue, who also seems to not have a clue what he's supposed to be playing. The sole exception to all of this is Esme Bianco as Eliza. Previously known for playing Ros in Game of Thrones, a very small role that usually required her to appear naked and not much more, Bianco is a bit of a revelation as Eliza, putting in a very charming and charismatic performance. If one actor emerges from this wreck of a show with improved career prospects, it should definitely be her.

The show's production values are also terrible, with some very poor CGI for the magical effects. Things are not improved when the show moves to Fillory. A magical and otherworldly realm, instead it across like the deliberately terrible fantasy world that Angel spent four episodes in, only worse.

It is instructive that shows like this and The Shannara Chronicles (although that may be harsh; for all its problems, The Shannara Chronicles is more entertaining) exist. We live in the so-called "Golden Age of Television" with so many rich and compelling TV shows around that it's not physically possible to watch them all. It's easy to forget the sheer amount of work that goes into making these shows so good, and they don't just roll out of a production line of awesome somewhere. The Magicians shows that if you don't stay on top of this work, it is easy to produce something that is so sub-par it wouldn't have passed muster thirty years ago, let alone now.

The first season of The Magicians (*) is an absolute train-wreck. The casting is weak, characterisation feeble, the script and dialogue are execrable and the production values shockingly poor. Avoid.