Who returned, with Hollywood-sized budgets. True Blood  has surfaced, earning star Anna Paquin a Golden Globe  in the process. Heroes arrived, along with Merlin and Demons. Suddenly the Saturday early evening slot is full of monsters and aliens. Yes, all hail the geeks: sci-fi telly had gone prime-time.
But just how and why did this happen?

It’s easy to single out Harry Potter for this shift (after all, he’s been responsible for getting a whole generation of children back into reading, so why not also for altering the viewing preferences of Britain in the noughties?). The maelstrom of success created by Rowling’s magic has no doubt been a driving force in bringing the ker-ching potential of sci-fi/fantasy to the attention of TV bosses.

But Potter has also highlighted the ability of sci-fi/fantasy to attract a broad range of punters.
This appeal was clearly noted by the Beeb in their decision to revive Doctor Who in 2005. The show is the perfect example of how sci-fi can bridge generations. A single episode has a multi-pronged effect.
It will send children scuttling behind the sofa; have David Tennant melting the hearts of teenage girls with his trademark grin. And, chances are, a bunch of intergalactic baddies like the Daleks will crop up, stirring up waves of nostalgia in anyone who watched the tin-can villains the first time around.

Few other genres can straddle the age-range the way some sci-fi/fantasy can so in Who’s wake, shows including Merlin and Demons have plugged that tricky ‘family entertainment’ hole in the TV schedule.

But sci-fi faced a larger challenge: it needed to be cooler. Again, the Potter franchise has helped out here too. The  series, as it spiralled from a few books to a commercial empire, made its central character a celebrity. And as we all know, the British public are fascinated with fame.
Doctor Who has elevated, with its cunning choice of stars, the tabloid-friendly Barrowman, Tate, Piper. And before Potter, the kick-arse scream-queen Sarah Michelle Gellar lit up the fantasy/horror genre with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, playing opposite heart-throb David Boreanaz.
Recently, sci-fi comedy Being Human has featured Lenora Crichlow, an actress also known for her role in racy teen drama Sugar Rush.

Such casting has made sci-fi hip, sexy even. The masterstroke, though, in making sci-fi accepted as prime-time material was the TV industry’s realisation that sci-fi is not just sci-fi. It can also be drama and comedy.  And that’s how we’ve ended up with sci-fi that, like some disguised secret agent, has infiltrated the rest of our TV – and not in just family-oriented shows.

Life On Mars, for example,  is a cop show underpinned by a hefty sci-fi theme (time travel). Or Lost, which features mysterious monsters and a time-shifting island. And  Survivors, a drama set in a post-apocalyptic environment (also one for the nostalgia vote, to boot).
These shows have been successes, especially the first two, but tend to appear, at least in the Radio Times, as TV ‘drama’. It’s clever and a little subversive; we’ve had  sci-fi slipped into our collective cups of tea, and we’ve drunk it down. So when the geeks came to take over prime-time telly, we have been assimilated. And like Borg from Star Trek say: resistance is futile.

Lost, Series Five—Sky One, Sundays at 21:00.
Being Human—BBC Three, Fridays at 21:00.
Heroes, Series Three—BBC Two, Mondays at 21:00.
Doctor Who— Currently between seasons, but series special expected at Easter which will star Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina de Souza
True Blood—Channel Four and FX have the rights to show the series, set to begin in April.

Doctor Who
Our Hero: The Doctor, of course, last of the Time Lords, currently in his Tenth incarnation by David Tennant. He is ably assisted by a few choice companions, recently Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate).
Star Trek: The show has roped in a plethora of British character actors, notably including Derek Jacobi in the episode Utopia and John Sim as the Master in the Series Three finale.
It’s All Geek: Although in just one televised story (the Doctor Who film in 1996), Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor has actually appeared in more Doctor Who ‘stories’ (including novels, radio plays, etc) than most of the other incarnations.
Exterminate!: Stock baddies including the Daleks and robotic Cybermen have been menacing our hero since the early days of the show.

True Blood
Our Hero: Psychic Sookie, a telepathic waitress, played by Anna Paquin.
Star Trek: Written by the critically acclaimed hand  Alan Ball, who also penned the film American Beauty and HBO favourite Six Feet Under. Anna Paquin, played the Marvel mutant Rogue in all three X-Men films.
It’s All Geek: The show is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, a supernatural series set in swampy Louisiana. The ninth book in the series is due out in May of this year.
Exterminate!: The first series features vampires and shape-shifters, but the villain behind the scenes is a serial killer.

Lost
Our Hero: Many characters were left stranded on the notorious island when their flight crash-landed. These include Iraq veteran Sayid (Naveen Andrews), doctor Jack (Matthew Fox) escaped convict Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and conman Sawyer ( Josh Holloway.)
Star Trek: Matthew Fox and Emilie de Ravin ( who plays Claire ) have appeared in Hollywood movies, often using the show, which first aired in 2004, as a spring-board for further success.
It’s All Geek: Lost is now a franchise, spawning both a board and  computer game. It has also pushed the boundaries of viral marketing, with internet sites connected to elements of the show’s plot, such as the DHARMA Initiative.
Exterminate!: Where to start? We’ve had a polar bear roaming the island, a monster that could smack down trees like dominos, not to mention the mysterious Others.

Being Human
Our Hero: Three: Mitchell (a vampire), George (a werewolf) and Annie (a ghost). The trio share a flat together in Bristol.
Star Trek:  Lenora Crichlow, who plays Annie, was in the Series Three Doctor Who episode Gridlock, while Russell Tovey (George) was reportedly tipped to be Tennant’s successor as the Doctor by none other than Who bigwig Russell T. Davies.
It’s All Geek: The roles of the ghost and vampire characters were originally played in the pilot episode, shown in early 2008, by different actors (Andrea Riseborough and Guy Flanagan, respectively).
Exterminate!: The threats in Being Human come mainly from the protagonists themselves. For example, George, being a werewolf, struggles with that old devil, the full moon.

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Simon Fuller

1 Comment for The Rise of Sci-Fi on TV

Phil Cobley

This is a very good point, and one very well made. Sci-fi really has crept into prime time through the back door, and everybody loves it. Whereas, before, the Sci-Fi genre tried to almost ram itself down peoples throats in order to get noticed, which was either met by heavy resistance or just simply utter rejection. However, it has now almost leached itself onto ‘cool’ drama and family viewing shows, and no one is voicing any opposition because we all secretly have a big soft spot for this incredibly diverse and wonderfully imaginative genre.

I’ll certainly be tuning in at prime time to get my weekly dose of Sci-Fi and Fantasy genius.

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