Outlet 🌟 Space Precinct – Vol. 1 – Double Duty / Protect And Survive DVD – Megan Olive, David Quilter 🎁

Space Precinct is one of the oddest science-fiction shows ever. Launched at the same time as Babylon 5, and looking like a cross between that series and Blade Runner (1982), it is like B5 about a group of interplanetary peacekeepers on a space station around an alien planet. Except that, rather than any extrapolated SF future, an entire New York police unit has been transferred into space, lock, stock and two smoking raygun barrels. Produced by Gerry Anderson, the result seems too adult for children, too juvenile for adults. “Double Duty”, the first episode, for example, involves our cop heroes hunting the alien monster that is slaughtering Demiter City’s drug dealers, and the copious blood and one particular sexual reference suggest an adult show at odds with the nice children, cute aliens, comic relief robot and simplistic scenario. On the plus side, the special effects are especially lavish by TV standards, and the “Making of” documentary offers an interesting if brief introduction to modern SFX. Human actors wearing complex animatronic alien heads suggest aspects of Anderson’s puppet shows (Stingray, Thunderbirds) meeting his live action series (UFO, Space 1999). Technically accomplished, Space Precinct is a genuine curiosity in search of a cult-audience. –Gary S. Dalkin