Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's |
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Challenger - Peter McCauley Roxton - Will Snow Veronica - Jennifer O'Dell Marguerite - Rachel Blakely Summerlee - Michael Sinelnikoff Malone - David Orth 
OTHER SEASONS Season 2 Season 3 OTHER LOST WORLDS The Lost World (UK miniseries) OTHER DINOSAUR SHOWS Primeval Terra Nova
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THE JOURNEY BEGINSAfter taking papers from a dead man, Professor Challenger announces to the British Scientific Society that there is a plateau in South America where dinosaurs still roam. Met with scepticism, he mounts an expedition paid for by a mysterious lady, accompanied by a sceptic, a newspaperman and the renowned hunter Lord Roxton. This retelling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's story about dinosaurs in the Amazon starts off well enough with the scenes in the London science society being familiar from all the other adaptations and there is an interlude in the Amazon where a particularly false crocodile model is matched with underwater filming to very poor effect and the impression is that we're in for a very bad time of it. Unexplained attacks by local tribesemen (kill the porters, but leave the others alive and only attack them when they're wide awake and heavily armed) don't exactly perk things up either. The we reach the plateau top where there are some passable dinosaur effects, but the plot goes further downhill. The group meet a feral lady who happens to speak perfect English and be a survivor from an earlier expedition. The plateau is home to both unconvincing inca types and even more unconvincing cavemen. It's fitting that the script namechecks Edgar Rice Burroughs since his The Land That Time Forgot is heavily borrowed from. On the whole, this opening episode suggests that the show is going for a younger, less demanding audience and doesn't mind any plot contrivance that gets it through the running time. The acting is just about acceptable for that level, but any discerning viewer will soon be looking elsewhere unless this gets a lot better. TopSTRANDEDRoxton escapes a pterodactyl attack and the local clan chief grants passage to the outside world, but his daughter is then kidnapped by the ape men and Marguerite offers him Veronica as a wife instead. Oh dear. After the opening episode proved to be only so-so, this second episode goes downhill rapidly. The plot is rushed and stupid and makes no sense at all. The acting that goes with it does nothing to raise the standard at all. There's a semi-decent T-Rex chase, but so many bullets are let fly that the expeditioners must have been carrying enough ammunition for an entire army. TopMORE THAN HUMANThe group get swept through a whirlpool whilst escaping a T-Rex and find themselves in the land of the lizard people. There's more than a hint of PLANET OF THE APES about the set up here in which lizard men rule over humans who are considered a lower species and forced to work as slave labour and sex toys, not to mention taking part in gladiatorial bouts. The lizard civilisation is based on Rome and the main character is deliciously evil, but the plot is trite and old and tired and dull. The lizard makeup is pretty good though and makes up for the pretty poor CGI dino at the start. TopNECTARSummerlee is stung by a giant bee and the only cure is the nectar that lies within the hive. There are a couple of good bees in this episode, but only a couple because the hive is suspiciously empty all the time that the humans are wandering around inside it. Clearly the cost of providing more than a couple of them was too much for the show. The sideline of a girl kidnapped by the bees who has gone native and is living with them is quite interesting, even if it does give the show a chance to take an attractive woman and oil her up for no good reason. TopCAVE OF FEARChallenger is taken by the queen of a bloodthirsty tribe and the price of his life lies within a cave that can make your worst fears come to life. Roxton fears that his brother thought that he killed him when he was trying to save him and Marguerite is haunted by the belief that her mother saw her ambition as cold-hearted sin. These character insights are all that is to be gained from this predictable and trite story. There seem to be more lost explorers than natives on the plateau and the raptors that pop up are disappointingly poor. TopSALVATIONSummerlee revives a girl who has drowned and finds himself branded a witch. Challenger must act as his lawyer and if he fails then they both will share the same fate. This episode spends a lot more time on its background religion (a mixing of Aztec and Christian beliefs) in the vain belief that it is something new and remarkable. It isn't and the rest of the plot follows a well-worn path that holds no surprises for anyone. TopBLOOD LUSTThe gang find a European chateau in the jungle and Roxton encounters a vampire who has decided that he should spend eternity with her. On a list of all the silly things that you might have expected to happen to the members of the lost expedition, stumbling into a gothic vampire romance probably wouldn't rank very highly and yet here we are. Vampires in the jungle isn't so silly in its own right, but setting it inside a big gothic mansion house plonked into the middle of the rainforest is. Also, the fact that the plot features vampires doesn't excuse the silent movie style overacting going on. TopOUT OF TIMEMargeurite, Roxton and Malone are kidnapped by Druids out of time, who announce that it is Marguerite's destiny to aid them in a great quest to save their people. Or die trying. Someone was smoking something when they came up with this plot. Stranded on a lost dinosaur plateau in South America isn't exactly the place where you'd expect to be running into the lost race of Druids. Having got through the backstory, however, it's a straightforward quest story. The 'meanwhile back at the ranch' story of Summerlee and Veronica discovering a baby being chased after by ape people is more tedious right up until the point where it pulls the rug out from everyone with a surprising revelation. TopPARADISE FOUNDAn old man who was the young guide who helped Veronica's parents dies, leaving clues to a location where her parents may still be. Instead, they find a community of beautiful young people kept young by the fruit of an evil tree. Shades of The Portrait of Dorian Gray and HG Wells' The Time Machine in this story of perfection hiding an ugly secret. Of course, all of the wit and subtlety of those two stories is half-baked out to leave a not-very thrilling tale and the question 'what price eternal youth?'. TopTHE BEAST WITHINMalone is struck by a poisoned dart and is about to die, but is saved by a tribal medicine man who is driven mad by the evil of the poison. The group must bring the madman back to his village to face death or one of them will pay the price instead. A straightforward action plot that sees the men chasing a trained jungle fighter and not having a good time of it whilst the women face drowing in a hole because they don't like each other. Nonsensical tosh, it has some fun moments, but not enough to justify itself. TopCREATURES OF THE DARKChallenger, Malone and Marguerite are trapped in a cave and encounter a subterranean tribe whilst Summerlee questions his value to the team as he slows Veronica and Roxton's dash to help. This is a very static and talky episode, bounded in by its being set mainly in the caves. The early part as the trio of trapped explorers prepare to face death is actually grown up and interesting, but it soon descends into the usual 'interlopers help tribe after being accused of being trouble' storyline. Summerlee's angst over being old and useless may be an interesting character examination, but it takes the form of self-pitying whining and very quickly becomes repetitive and dull. TopTRIBUTERoxton, Veronica and Challenger encounter a peaceful tribe being milked by bandits. They set up the village's defences and prepare to fight for freedom. Yes, it's THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, reduced by four. The story follows the classic western's template faithfully and is therefore too familiar. At least it has the courage to show that even victories come at too high a price. The story of the downed German pilot who is still fighting World War I and seems to know Marguerite is also far too familiar for its own good. Also, how big is this plateau that it can hold an ocean-sized lake on it? TopABSOLUTE POWERA magical sphere gives Challenger the powers of a god, but the god he becomes turns out to be a vengeful one. Ultimate power corrupts absolutely or so the maxim goes. This is a reworking of the MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES and is far too similar to other versions of the same tale on other shows to be anything other than trite. TopCAMELOTA young king, leading survivors of Arthur's court at Camelot, choses Marguerite to be his queen. Roxton and Malone must kill a T-Rex with only a sword to save her. Exactly how it is that a bunch of knights from Camelot came to cross the Atlantic and make their way through the jungle to end up on the plateau. If it is explained then we were too bored by the childish court intrigues that even a toddler could see through to pay attention. The dinosaur effects are about as bad as the show has yet produced. TopUNNATURAL SELECTIONOne half of the group comes upon a scientist who is attempting to make animals more human whilst the others find a tricky woman with a radio headset. Welcome to the Plateau of Dr Moreau. HG Wells' story of genetic engineering is shamelessly plundered for the latest tale of unlikely derring-do and there is much running around, as usual. The old woman with a radio headset subplot is played strictly for laughs and turns out to have an explanation that is laughable. TopTIME AFTER TIMEThe group find themselves caught between two people from the future, one who wants them to use a secret tunnel to escape, taking a deadly plague with them and the other wishing to stop millions from dying. Considering some of the silliness that has gone on in this series there should be no reason to be surprised when time travellers from the future show up. Actually, the idea of how knowledge of the future would affect someone's actions is an interesting enough concept, but here it is so obviously black and white was has to be done that there is really no ethical question to be faced. The temporal consequences of the inevitable paradox ought to have been more moving that it is. TopPRODIGAL FATHERVeronica's father shows up, but soon enough some of the groups are starting to have doubts as to his identity. Luckily for him, he has a recipe for a handy mind control drug. What starts off as a potentially interesting situation with Veronica coming face to face with her father soon descends into the expected melodrama when it becomes clear that he is not who he claims to be. It then goes into farce when he takes over most of the group with his mind control drug and the team that has managed to kill everything that they have faced since arriving prove incapable of hitting each other. It's nonsense, of course, but not even in a good way. TopBIRTHRIGHTMarguerite, Malone and Roxton save an Egyptian descendent only to learn that his sister has stolen his throne. Meanwhile, Summerlee is targeted by a vengeful T-Rex. The Tyrannosaurus Rex that appears quite a lot in this episode is just about the worst dinosaur that the show has come up with yet, and that is saying something. Every time that it appears on screen it ruins everything. Not that there is that much to ruin. The plot is obvious, every twist telegraphed miles in advance. The characterisation is pure and the romantic interests only just about manage to raise any interest. After all the other groups that have shown up on the plateau (vampires, druids, time travellers, King Arthur's knights) it seems pointless to complain about Egyptians showing up, but is there really any group of people who didn't end up on this plateau? TopRESURRECTIONJust as Roxton and Marguerite are finally getting it on, he is run through by a norse warrior. His life is saved by a magical child who says that another man must die in Roxton's place. Who is the good guy and who is the bad guy? It's a plot device that has been used so often in this show that it is getting downright tedious. And what is going on with the norse warriors who are really prisoners from another plane of existence? What is all that about? Throw in the Sword in the Stone myth and the mish-mash of stolen ideas is complete. Still, it's better than the subplot about Malone and Veronica being attacked by a nameless bunch of brothers who seem to have guns of their own, but no purpose at all. TopTHE CHOSEN ONEMarguerite and Roxton must help a young boy fulfil his destiny after his mentor is killed. Malone is seduced by a woman who walks naked out of a lake. Another quest with another kid who will be the saviour of his race? How many times has the show done this story already? We add into this a brother's betrayal that feeds into Roxton's guilt about his own brother's death. Subtle, it's not. For once, the subplot back at the treehouse is more interesting as various people get semi-naked a lot. Unfortunately, it's also totally predictable. TopPROPHECYWhilst Summerlee and Challenger are shown how intelligent the raptors are becoming by being hunted, the rest of the gang meet a fortune teller whose prohecies are coming true and whose latest concerns Malone's death. After all the other nonsensical people that have been found on this lost plateau, a gypsy fortune teller seems positively likely. The fact that she has her own gypsy caravan and the powers of foresight aren't strange at all. The plot, though, is fairly predictable and everyone is busy preparing to sacrifice themselves for everyone else far too much of the time. The bandit leader makes far too prosaic a villain to be interesting. The duel between the scientists and the raptors should have been the focus for the story and would have been much more interesting had the raptors been shown up to be more of a threat. TopBarbarians At The GateA vicious conqueror with access to the secret of gunpowder leads to an encounter with an old enemy and a cliffhanger that turns into more of a cliffplunger. The untrustworthy Tribune from the lizard people episode More Than Human makes a return in this episode and is more fun than he has any right to be. Apart from that, there are the usual captures, escapes and general derring-do, all leading to a surprisingly downbeat climax that positively demands a second season. But then again, that was surely the point. Top |
