Terra Nova

[Peri-Peri]

Steven Spielberg's series about time travel, dinosaurs and human extinction has been picked up for a full series by Fox to air this autumn and I can't wait!!

The show begins in the year 2149, a time when all life on planet Earth is threatened with extinction. In an effort to save the human race, scientists develop a portal allowing travel 85 million years back in time to prehistoric Earth. The Shannon family (father Jim, his wife Elisabeth, and their three children Josh, Maddy and Zoe) join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova, the first human colony on the other side of the temporal doorway. However, they are unaware that the colony is in the middle of a group of carnivorous dinosaurs.

There were rumours that it wouldnt end up getting to air because of the costs and the location filming ($4m per episode and filmed on location accross Australia) but Fox have gone with a full series pickup even though they didnt have the pilot finished on time, so it will now get a 13 episode run. There are no particularly big names in it, to me at least, but I have been looking forward to it since I heard about it so I am very glad its coming soon. Anyone else planning to watch?

[poprockgeek]

Just taking a peek at the cast list. The only ones I recognise are:

Jason O'Mara was in the US version of Life on Mars (did anyone else watch that? Never should have been made!)
Christine Adams was in DW's The Long Game.

Sounds interesting & I'll certainly give it a peek if it makes it over here - provided it's on a channel I have of course!

[Peri-Peri]

I didn't watch either of those. I saw Dead Set, which one of them was in, but I don't remember what she looks like

[Twisted-Sister]

Oh wow, this sounds cool. I'll keep my eye out for it

[chrissymarieb]

I am looking forward to this one!

[poprockgeek]

I didn't watch either of those. I saw Dead Set, which one of them was in, but I don't remember what she looks like

PP When I said DW's The Long Game I meant the Doctor Who episode The Long Game. I'm guessing you saw that right?!

[thefifthdoctor]

Is there a trailer or anything yet?

I was thinking YAY until I saw Jason Mara - he was awful in LoM USA - then again, that entire show was ill conceived.

I'm also wary of Spielberg - when was the last time he was on form?

Still - dinosaurs (proper ones that is) = 2 thumbs up from me!

[The Doc]

Very awesome trailer. See who spots the Who connection

[poprockgeek]

I'll tag it to give others a chance  [spoiler]Christine Adams (Cathica from The Long Game)[/spoiler] - I think I mentioned that before 

[Peri-Peri]

It looks really good. Not how I expected to be, but still really good. There's a few Brit faces in there. The mother of the main family was in Marchlands too with Alex Kingston

[Kovarians-Eye-Patch]

Has anybody watched the premier? I downloaded it and watched it last night. Its not at all how I was expecting it to be and some of the CGI is a bit ropey but it's a really good start to the series.

[poprockgeek]

It starts in the UK on Sky1 this coming Monday (3rd Oct) at 8pm.

[TheDoctorDonna]

I downloaded it. The last 45 minutes really picked up and were awesome, but some of the earlier scenes were a bit confusing. I was sleepy though so that's probably just me. I was quite shocked at how dodgy some of the CGI was, but I suppose a TV budget only stretches so far and it still looked awesome.

This show is going to turn into Lost, I can see it now. I already have loads of theories about what is going on and it's raising loads of questions in the opening episode. Something isn't right.

[spoiler] They find a crack in time that you can only go through one way, end up 85 million years in the past, but yet they say there is no evidence of their existence in the future (I'm guessing they did some archeology stuff to try to find them or whatever), then there is a cave with writing all over it, pre-man, though thats probably done by the chief guys missing son (who seems intent to bring 'the truth'), plus nobody seems to be questioning how computers and TVs and stuff work 85 million years in the past.

It's a Steven Speilberg show and if there are two things he loves its dinosaurs and aliens. My main theory is that they have either ended up on a parallel earth (perhaps modern day but dinosaurs didn't die and man never eveolved, something like that, or they have gone through that time crack thing and ended up on another planet entirely. [/spoiler]

I think it's going to be an excellent show though and a lot of fun trying to work it all out along the way.

[TheDoctorDonna]

Oh and all the stuff with the Sixers is bringing up loads of questions too.

[Jamdog]

I've watched the first 3 episodes (the 2-part pilot and the next one), and I have loved every minute of it.

Stephen Lang (who plays Cmdr. Nathaniel Taylor, the leader of the town) plays almost the same part that he did in Avatar (Col. Miles Quaritch), a tough guy in charge.

I like the Josh/Skye relationship.  It's obvious they will become a couple, even though Josh left behind a girlfriend (although I wouldn't be surprised if she appeared on the "11th Pilgrimage").

I also think it's interesting that it was hinted that this is a parallel timeline.  Whatever they do will not impact their own future, as this is basically a parallel universe.  This gives the writers some leaway, as they could have creatures that weren't part of the Cretaceous Period in our universe.

[Peri-Peri]

I'm enjoying it a lot so far, I just hope it keeps up the momentum. I can definately see the similarities with Lost, I just hope it doesn't get as bogged down in the mysteries as that show did. One of the reasons Lost was so popular in the first two years was because it focused more on how this group of people adapted to their new life while slowly drip feeding a bit more mystery into every episode, but by the end of the show it was all over the place and they had gotten a bit too concerned with the headwork. This show is starting off similarly so I just hope they learn from Losts mistakes and don't overdo it.

[Jamdog]

I can definately see the similarities with Lost, I just hope it doesn't get as bogged down in the mysteries as that show did.

I completely agree with the hope that it doesn't get too mysterious, although I don't see many similarities with Lost, except:

• They are stuck in a Jungle
• There is no way home
• There are weird monsters roaming around, attacking them.
• There is a second group of people that aren't friendly

I think it's much more like Outcasts (another fabulous series, shame season 1 only had 8 episodes, but there should be another season next year), with a little Stargate thrown in to get them started.  In Outcasts, Earth is dying so a ship is sent to a distant planet to start again, rather than to a parallel universe 85 million years in the past. 

I also find it funny that the 'walls' surrounding the settlement on Terra Nova look JUST like the fences in Jurassic Park.

[Saber]

I don't see many similarities with Lost, except:

• They are stuck in a Jungle
• There is no way home
• There are weird monsters roaming around, attacking them.
• There is a second group of people that aren't friendly

Isn't that enough? My initial thoughts were that it was quite a bit like Lost, too. I'm enjoying it though. I'm still none the wiser about where it's headed though. There hasn't been much of a setup, which in a way I suppose is a good thing because it isn't constricted then. I just hope it doesn't get cancelled. Ratings in the US are lower than expected and far from spectacular and given the budget of the show it could be on dodgy ground.

I think it's much more like Outcasts (another fabulous series, shame season 1 only had 8 episodes, but there should be another season next year), with a little Stargate thrown in to get them started.  In Outcasts, Earth is dying so a ship is sent to a distant planet to start again, rather than to a parallel universe 85 million years in the past. 

I also find it funny that the 'walls' surrounding the settlement on Terra Nova look JUST like the fences in Jurassic Park.

Didn't Outcasts get cancelled already? I'm sure ratings were so low that they moved it to a midnight slot on a different day then announced it wasn't returning before the season was even over.

[Peri-Peri]

Yea Outcasts was cancelled months ago. Unless there has been new developments like what was done with Primeval.

The ratings for TN are slipping slightly but as long as they don't drop too much I'd hope that it won't get cancelled. It's one of the better new series this year.

[The Doc]

It's starting to feel a bit aimless now. Most of the questions raised in the pilot haven't even been mentioned since, let alone answered. Each episode is good as a stand alone piece but they don't feel like they are coming together to form any sort of longer plot. The only thing bringing all the episodes together is the sporadic appearances of the Sixers and yet we still don't know anything about them or their motives or intentions. Perhaps a flashback episode or a story from their point of view would work well to let us know a bit more about them. They should also make more of a story out of the rock writings because that has been pretty much left entirely since the pilot.