November 04, 2004
Space Odyssey

This looks interesting -- I wonder if it will be on BBC America:

It's the same teaming of production talent and VFX artistry responsible for the ‘Walking With…' series and specials, seen by millions of viewers around the world since the series began in 1999. As Joanna Nodwell, Framestore CFC Producer on Space Odyssey, notes, "In previous collaborations with Impossible Pictures, we had placed CG creatures in real environments. Here we faced the challenge of creating CG spacecraft and environments, as well as the physical phenomena that the astronauts encounter. It is also a drama-documentary - very different from the natural history style we were used to."...

Over two hours, Space Odyssey takes us on an extraordinary voyage of discovery. It follows an international team of five astronauts on an imaginary near-future tour of our galactic neighbourhood. Their 6-year journey aboard Pegasus – the 1 kilometre long mothership - takes them from as close to the centre of the solar system as it's possible to get, to its remotest regions. Their trek encompasses landings on the surface of three planets and a moon, as well as close encounters with asteroids, comets and the rings of Saturn.

While the voyage does appear to take some license with physical reality, this drama-documentary will probably turn out to be vastly more technically accurate than your average Sci-Fi Channel flick.

Posted by T.L. James on November 4, 2004 10:23 PM

Comments

I (almost) live-blogged this here: http://serenade.splinder.com/1100035155#3351679.

Short version: You didn't miss much.

Long version: Condescending junk-science (something that looks as flimsy as the ISS *air-braking* in Jupiter's atmosphere, live chat with Earth from Venus - though the comms delay appears later in the episode) and none-too subtle editorial bias (Earth's atmosphere could get as bad as Venus' if Kyoto isn't implemented, no "flag of divisive nationalism" is planted on Mars, etc. etc.).

It's no more and no less than we have sadly come to expect from the BBC, and while some of it was entertaining, it's no The Right Stuff.



Posted by: Dominic at November 10, 2004 09:07 AM