TV: TOO MUCH SCIENCE FICTION?

When I was young SF on tv was rare. I remember watching the original series of Quatermass & the Pit which scared the wits out of me and then a few short years later, the very first episode of Dr Who. Now, there's so much it's impossible to watch it all, not that anyone in their right minds would want to do so.

I doubt if any SF writer ever even imagined that there would be an entire tv channel dedicated to Science Fiction or that it would be called, deep shudder, SciFi (damn you Forrest J Ackerman) or that there would be an even worse name -Psyfy. But there's even too many relatively decent new series to watch.

Fringe is now just about to start its second series and I'm still in the process of watching the last few episodes of the first. I wasn't too sure of it at first with its echoes of The X-Files but as the series went on and it began to develop the sub plot of a sinister conspiracy which believed in a war against a parallel world and that the heroine might unknowingly be linked to it I found myself warming to it. I was also warming to its lead Anna Torv as the often solemn FBI agent and two other key characters of the mad scientist (literally, he's just out of an institution) as his sarcastic estranged son. I'm still not a huge fan but I keep watching it.

Flashforward, after just two episodes, looks like being the new hot SF series. It manages to blend personal stories with a deep mystery and a conspiracy. The cast is good, the characters already stick in the mind, the script and direction seem sound and its the one new series I really look forward to.

Starting tonight with two episodes back to back is Stargate Universe on Sky. I'm not a big Stargate fan having watched on the occasional show and none at all of Stargate: Atlantis, but the buzz is that this is Stargate for people who don't like Stargate, so I've set my Virgin Media box for record. The reason I'm not watching it live so to speak is because it clashes with Holby City which wins over everything except going to the pub.

If you broaden your definition of what constitutes SF on tv then there's also True Blood starting on Channel 4 after a run on FX. I already have the American (Region 1) DVD of the complete series and it's brilliant and does qualify as SF for its clearly set in a parallel world.

On BBC on Saturday evenings there is the second series of Merlin but I wasn't keen on the first and won't be bothering. Ironically I preferred the much panned Demons on ITV. Good news that Primeval will be back for a fourth and fifth series, albeit truncated ones and not for well over a year. I always found this an engaging piece of light entertainment with likeable characters. And only a few short months to the new series and new Doctor Who.

Good times, good times.