BBC1's Outcasts

katarin · 10-02-2011 2:29pm #1

Anyone else watching this? I'm enjoying it, though I have to admit that there seems to be an attempt to make it appealing to a non-sci-fi-inclined audience. The internet's full of negative reviews (most people seem to be complaining that there isn't enough ultra-hi-tech toys), but I have to admit that I am very curious as to where they're going with the storyline.
Any opinions on wtf is going on in the broader story arc yet?

Rubecula · 10-02-2011 10:12pm

I tried to watch it but for some odd reason I just didn't find it appealing at all. I am not saying there is anything wrong with it, just not quite hit the mark with me. I have not got a clue where it is heading for though.

katarin · 11-02-2011 1:47pm

Yeah pretty much everyone I know said exactly the same thing. It is a bit slow, I think. I like the way it's shot, though. And I like the location. I think I have a bit of a case of LOST syndrome in that I just really want to know what's going on..

TheIrishGrover · 11-02-2011 4:57pm

I don't know. I just watched the first episode. Wasn't gone on it. I actually like long arc Sci-Fi and liked the BSG-style tech level. I found the accents a bit grating and the kid very annoying. Actually, I found ALL the characters annoying now I think about it. Pity!

Trojan · 12-02-2011 3:02pm

I watched 2nd episode last night. Not really impressed.

I was hoping for something more interesting with the "indigenous" bipeds, disappointed to learn that they're human clones.

I might watch a couple more episodes but don't have high expectations.

AngryLips · 16-02-2011 9:12pm

I love it. All the elements of Lost restricted to 8 episodes. Couldn't ask for more

katarin · 23-02-2011 7:39pm

It's getting interesting now. It is a bit BSG-esque but it's definately the best sci-fi bbc have done.

SPOILER:

The invasion... who is it?! Are they human? ... Are they American?

I found the accents a bit grating and the kid very annoying.

what's wrong with the accents? The south african AC's?

AngryLips · 25-02-2011 4:09pm

What is the story with the human remains?! What is going on with that?!

katarin · 26-02-2011 11:43am

AngryLips wrote: »

What is the story with the human remains?! What is going on with that?!

I don't know but it may actually be the one thing making this show different from the rest. There were skeletons in BSG, etc, but this is different. This is like Kromagnon Man. I'm waiting for them to launch a full on archaeological excavation. Then again.. they say they don't understand the planet yet.. what if people only see what they want to see, and what humans really need is roots, so far from home..?

AngryLips · 01-03-2011 10:07am

Did anyone see Sunday night's episode? Was there a cliffhanger at the end? My set top recorded cut off the last few minutes of the show because of the bloody election coverage :mad:

katarin · 04-03-2011 1:21pm

If you've got SKY+, go to Other Channels and record from BBC London if you can. Avoids the BBCNI idiosyncracies. There wasn't really a cliffhanger. Whoever

Julius Berger is contacting in that spaceship (C10), is nearby now.

Was talking in the pub the other night and one of my friends speculated that the

person that Julius is contacting in the ship might be Stella Issen's husband; because of his suggestion that Stella could be either 'their' greatest enemy or greatest ally.

. Thoughts?

AngryLips · 07-03-2011 11:21pm

WTF was Sunday night's episode about??

katarin · 14-03-2011 1:30pm

Well that was a massivley dissappointing ending to what could have been a great series. I think they should have dragged it to twelve episodes and just finished it there. I don't reckon there's too much appeal for a second series.. at least not what the reviews are saying about it this morning. Anyone any ideas wtf is going on? Because that all smacked of the end of Series 2 of BSG and I can't help but feel that is just how this is all going to work out.

BostonB · 14-03-2011 1:55pm

Watched a couple of shows and found it a bit dull tbh.

Trojan · 16-03-2011 1:46pm

I've watched 3 episodes and not all that inclined to go back, looking for confirmation either way.

Any links to reviews? Pretty damning stuff out there. Example (has spoilers).

Yeah I think I'll give the rest of it a miss.

Nodin · 21-03-2011 8:11pm

The BBC has confirmed that it has axed sci-fi drama Outcasts.

The programme, which starred Hermione Norris, Liam Cunningham and Eric Mabius, concluded it's eight-part first series last night. However, faced with falling ratings, the broadcaster shifted the show to a late slot on Sunday nights midway through its run.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a308844/bbc-confirms-outcasts-axe.html

HivemindXX · 24-03-2011 4:12pm

I quite liked it.

Show's get cancelled, that's a fact you just have to get used to. There were quite a few things going on with this show and not a single one of them got resolved in the season finale. It seems like the goal was to build up to the biggest possible cliffhanger ending.

katarin · 26-03-2011 1:51pm

HivemindXX wrote: »

It seems like the goal was to build up to the biggest possible cliffhanger ending.

Definately agree.
But still, I'm getting very tired of watching series on BBC and ITV only to find out that they've been cancelled before they're finished (Zen, Lark Rise, Trinity).

Outcasts might have worked out better if it had been an action-packed 3-episode (6 hour) miniseries, that could have been developed into a longer series, though.

Nodin · 26-03-2011 9:52pm

katarin wrote: »

Definately agree.
But still, I'm getting very tired of watching series on BBC and ITV only to find out that they've been cancelled before they're finished (Zen, Lark Rise, Trinity).

Outcasts might have worked out better if it had been an action-packed 3-episode (6 hour) miniseries, that could have been developed into a longer series, though.

I think it was mostly the pacing, partly the casting(

though if it had turned into a 'it has happened before and will happen again' effort

I would have done a chimpanze and chucked crap at the screen).

HivemindXX · 28-03-2011 12:45pm

katarin wrote: »

Definately agree.
But still, I'm getting very tired of watching series on BBC and ITV only to find out that they've been cancelled before they're finished (Zen, Lark Rise, Trinity).

Actually I would prefer to see more shows like Zen. In that case each episode stands on it's own. There are threads that develop as the thing goes on (like Zen's relationship with Tania and the ministry) but these are far more to do with the depth of the characters and are, in my opinion, very different to the sort of plot critical loose ends we are left with in Outcasts.

Things get cancelled and there will be loose ends. When Survivors was cancelled I felt that I had gotten a decent story out of it. The plot elements of the second season were resolved to my satisfaction and the loose ends were really of the nature of teasers for the new season (that never showed up). Outcasts was more like an eight hour long trailer for a show that was never released.

If I could go back I'd still watch Zen or Survivors, I wouldn't watch Outcasts and that's based purely on the lack of resolution after watching the 8 hours.

katarin · 02-04-2011 3:48pm

I wouldn't watch Outcasts and that's based purely on the lack of resolution after watching the 8 hours.

Several weeks on and I agree with you. I'd watch a new season to see what happened but I couldn't put myself through the rest of it again.
TBH, I watched the whole of Zen before I realised that it wasn't supposed to be a 3-ep-only thing. It was clever and funny and well written. I was very surprised when the BBC said that it wasn't worth making more.

BBC1's Outcasts

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