Eleventh Hour

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

Patrick Stewart plays Ian Hood, a government scientist and top man who really gets a good glimpse at what those with power and knowledge get up to behind our backs. Each week, an episode deals with a scenario (e.g. cloning, miracle cures, virus outbreaks) where he must battle against the odds to give the public the protection they deserve.

Although he never really broke through the ranks as a top Hollywood star, Stewart does indeed remain one of the most notable actors we've ever produced and it is good to see him back on our screens. And indeed, he's well cast in this series, in fact it's almost as if the role was especially written for him.

Basically, this is one of those shows which will enthrall some and really put some others off. It's one for those who like to sit down, pay attention to everything that's going on and really enjoy the rewards that pay off from using your brain. It's one of those roles Stewart likes to accept, and fans of his work will easily warm to him in it. Others might find it all a bit too serious and brainy. There are attempts at humour here and there, but they're rather fluttered and not really played out that greatly.

Another problem I had with the show was the lighting and use of camera. The lighting is a little too grainy and the camera is too much of a close up shot throughout and this did detract from my enjoyment of it.

So, if you see any episodes, you should know what to expect. If you do, you'll probably enjoy it, if you don't, you probably didn't have much business seeing it to begin with. ***

I've just seen a couple of Episodes of "Eleventh Hour", but I must say that they were enough to impress me. This series is just so impressive and interesting... I'm definitely going to follow it.

First of all, I must say that the acting is top-notch. Patrick Stewart plays his character - Ian the scientist - believably and coolly, and he makes the audience believe in the character. Other characters, such as Rachel, are also believable, and, although they sometimes are a little cold - due to the way the series is filmed - they're interesting.

The stories told by this series are also interesting. For example, one of the episodes I saw was about cloning, and a man who was trying to clone humans. The way the Episode was developed, and how Ian - Stewart - kept following clues and saving people was amazing. In addition, it made you think about ethics and how good or bad could this be.

Anyway, I think this is one good TV shows. I just hope it keeps going on like this - interesting, thought-provoking and with good acting. Even though it's filmed in a kind of cold way - little lightning, cold photography, lots of close-ups - it never stops being interesting. Highly recommendable.

I found the episodes to be fascinating and well written. As a TV show, it was entertaining which is what I expect from fictional entertainment. I like the "relationship" between the Professor and his female Security Guard ... although sometimes her Scottish accent makes it a bit difficult to understand what she is saying. I was hoping that there would be more than just four episodes. I recognize that one commenter/reviewer of this series had comments relating to his opinion as a physician. I understand this gentleman's comments; however, this is a fictional television series which is meant to entertain ... not present precise facts like a documentary. Patrick Stewart performs well and makes his character believable. If you want to watch a documentary, then this is not the series for you. But if you want to watch unique scientific-based theories in an entertainment-based medium, then you will enjoy the four episodes.

This series is a huge miss. Between the abysmal direction and the lousy writing, I'm surprised that Stewart was able to put anything into his role. I have to admit that "Eleventh Hour" doesn't resort to the ridiculous, semi-supernatural plot lines that characterize "Fringe," but it sins in the other direction: it is boring and superficial. In a typical scene, Stewart demonstrates the fact that he can't predict what his department's budget will be by tossing papers in the air to land randomly. He uses grapes to demonstrate (?) how cloning is accomplished. Later, he gives us a history lesson by explaining how Edward Jenner developed inoculation against smallpox. All of this is done on a third-grade level, like an after-school special or "Sesame Street."

When you add to this his incomprehensible status as the "science adviser" to some government group (with oddly undefined powers and authority) and the fact that apparently there's nobody else in the health services who is capable of conducting an investigation, you get a lot of eye-rolling and sighs.

If you're a big Stewart fan, you might give this a look. Otherwise, stay away.

This flashy po-faced hokum has clearly been built to milk the appeal of Sir Patrick Stewart to the bobble-hat brigade, and it's not as terrifyingly bad as some of writer Stephen Gallagher's other work. But why-oh-why-oh-why hasn't anybody flagged the significant debt to other and - in my nostalgia-loaded opinion - better series?

It obviously re-treads ground covered in the equally watchable but improbable perils-of-science 1970s BBC melodrama "Doomwatch" - created by Doctor Who writers and Cybermen creators Kit Peddler and Gerry Davis.

"Eleventh hour" writer Stephen Gallagher is also a former Doctor Who writer. What, then, do you think inspired the format of a slightly unworldly trouble-shooting "Government Scientific Adviser" with a younger and slightly feisty but unthreatening girl "companion"?

There's a certain amount to enjoy here, not least Jean Luc Picard trying to pretend he's not posh, as he flattens all his vowels and clearly has to be restrained from saying things like "Ay-up", "By 'eck", and "Ah grew oop round ear". That he's supposed to be a boffin is probably funnier, as in last week's episode which had him talking about quantum probability and Chaos theory to a Government accountant before charging off to put down a virus pandemic.

That girl from "Extras" as his sidekick also gets to wave a gun and run down endless stairs in Lycra tops without the benefit of a sports bra, which may offer younger male viewers some light relief.

Despite the slick presentation and casting coup, this isn't ever going to be great and memorable TV. The man who gave us budget-shy early nineties genetic engineering scare-fest "Chimera" (aka "Monkey Boy" - the clue's in the title) and international drugs corporation paranoia in "Oktober" is clearly going to carry on grinding out un-taxing soft-target science-gone-wrong potboilers. The only real social issue in the second story about a killer virus loose in England's Manchester, was the obvious question, "Well, would they really bother?"