Outcasts

I really enjoyed this series and was rather surprised, and a little disappointed, to find out that the BBC has decided not to make a second series. It is particularly annoying when a series develops an unresolved theme and then is canceled, without the story coming to a full conclusion. You feel rather cheated! I noted (elsewhere) the comments of the writer - to the effect that the series took a while to develop its storyline. I tend to agree and feel that the decisions to firstly move it to a late night time slot (in the UK - not in Australia) and then to can it completely, were both premature and self-serving. I hope there is some consideration made to making another series, or at the very least a one-off episode to bring series one to a full conclusion.

After a friend of mine suggested I watch this, I decided to play catch-up on BBC iplayer a few weeks ago. The first 15 minutes of it and I thought "OMG - this is like an updated Blake's 7 I can't watch this!!" Recently the same friend complained I hadn't given it a chance and told me it was "getting good". So I gave it another go ... I thought "I'm gonna sit through this and REALLY try to like it".

Okay - the first episode was PAINFUL. The characters seemed boring, the kid that kept repeating his "tiger tiger" poem almost put me off watching ... but I struggled through. First episode felt very long. However I persevered and watched a second episode ... then a third ... then a fourth ...

It's actually turning out to be quite interesting in certain respects but doesn't have me completely hooked as yet.

I think the characters could be improved - they are currently REALLY difficult to warm to - they have no spark. They feel a bit like cardboard cut-outs at the moment, stilted and awkward - and certainly need a bit more depth.

Looking past the stilted characters are the predictable character relationships ... just a bit boring and uninspiring - again no SPARK.

The story is somewhat intriguing in parts but with the lack of charismatic characters or interesting dialogue it just makes it difficult to wade through.

The jury is still hung for me on this.

This show COULD be better, but needs a whole lot of fine-tuning if it ever wants to become a really good show.

I started watching this series and as it progressed it got better and better. The plot was very enthralling and kept me wanting to see more and more.The way the the story progresses with the 2 types of foes and how it all started was excellent. I was looking to see more of the turmoil between the two groups. After 3 episodes I was hooked well and truly. I was extremely disappointed that the series was terminated only after 8 episodes just at the point where a third element was added to the story line. I cannot understand why the TV stations start something and after a short time they decide to scrap it without any consultation to the many avid followers of the series. I do hope they reconsider and bring it back.

I read the previous review, and I totally disagree. Em Squared apparently hasn't got a clue about the sci-fi genre. He condemns the lack of "phasers" and the abundance of lens flare. My friend, you need to stop watching Star Trek, I believe that 20 times is enough... Now, in my opinion this series was a good one, the only down side to it might be the fact that it got canceled ahead of time. The story is decent, and so are the performances. It has that bit of drama which reminds you that you are not watching a continuous gun/"phaser"/light saber fight. All in all, I would definitely recommend it for all SG and BSG fans.

Well Outcasts has finished its first season and the odds of there being a second season are small. It started of slow, with to much story and with some cringe worthy dialogue. It has grown though and I think that by the end it had the making of a decent second season. People forget that the first season of ST:TNG was pretty awful and it grew into an extremely good series. These things take time and with the way the BBC is funded it is able to do so. Unfortunately I doubt the BBC will though. Fingers crossed I am wrong though.

The production values are quite good considering as is the special effects. The actors have grown into their character and I think the direction is good. My biggest problem is with some of the writing, I can understand what the writer was doing but some of the characters are just two dimensional and the dialogue and character conflicts don't help a lot of the time (a problem I also with New BST as well). I think the series would have been better received if there had been epic space battles and dog fights but the writer has been brave to try and go down a different route and in the end it just works. This is proper SF and should be applauded for it.

I do think 10 minutes could have been losted from most of the episodes and that would have helped with the pacing. Overall the series wasn't as bad as many have said and there could be much more. I also hate the fact that they have finished the series on a cliff hanger and hope that even if they don't do a second series they do a two hour special to finish it off.