Earth: Final Conflict

• Article 1 of 1
• Dreamwatch, September 2000

Earth: Final Conflict is the show with Gene Roddenberry's nametag associated with it, and it's actually pretty good. Although slightly unoriginal in concept (aliens come to Earth pretending to be friends but they're not), the programme still has enough hard SF in it to make it worth watching, particularly in the first season.

Episodes seven and eight are round about where the show started to hot up after a particularly lukewarm start. A lot of the show's enjoyment comes from trying to work out what the aliens are up to, because it's not all spelt out in the first episode, Why don't the aliens want humans to be able to travel through space themselves? Why are they experimenting on humans? These questions are at least partially answered and posed in these two episodes, although you II have to wait until the second season for the full answer.

Kevin Kilner provides a solid lead performance as Daniel Boone. the mole in the ranks of the aliens' helpers. David Hemblen's maverick resistance leader proving to be the only other actor with equal gravltas, while Anita La Selva's chief alien (the usual Roddenberry trick of getting a woman to play a male alien to confuse the viewer) is as subtle and as ambiguous as ever though - you're never quite sure where his/her loyalties lie, The rest of the cast gives mixed performances.

If you can overlook the Roddenberry label and the fact that the series was shown on Channel 5 at one point, then Earth: Final Conflict is certainly worth a look-in.