Bugs

the premise of this series is very good and the original cast of Jaye Griffiths,Jesse Birdsall and Craig Mclachlan are charismatic. The show has a very distinctive look and yet somehow the episodes are tepid and uninvolving.It is not just the reliance on technobabble or the poorly-staged action and stunts.The series is simply less than the sum of its parts.The problem was compounded in later years as changes to the format meant that the number of recurring characters was almost doubled and the already thin plotlines were spread pretty thinly between them. The final straw came when Craig Mclachlan left and was replaced by Steven Houghton as the same character.He was simply a dull wet piece of wood and enjoyed none of the rapport with his colleagues which had come naturally to his predecessor. The audience turned away in droves and the BBC stopped transmitting halfway through the series.

Bugs was way ahead of its time. When it hit the screens in 1995 on the BBC, nobody had seen anything quite like it. Quirky characters and multitudes of gizmos, gadgets, weaponry, bombs, explosions and not to mention baddies! The show pivoted around its three main characters, Ros, Ed and Beckett, the gadget making one, the daredevil and the team leader. Together they stormed their way through devious plots and baddies, all trying (unsuccessfully) to kill them. The highest point of Bugs for me has always been series two (the plots with the vengeful criminal mastermind Jean-Daniel, thrown in prison by the Bugs team at the end of series one), and, of course, most people's favourite, the end of series 3 'Renegades', when the will they-won't they storyline between Ros and Becket, which had been hinted at since series 2, was finally resolved. Unfortunately, when Craig McLachlan decided not to rejoin the cast for series four, the makers of Bugs sought a replacement and found one in Steven Houghton...well, I suppose there were some similarities...they both had blonde hair. Any others? Uh...no. Steven Houghton was so far off the mark with his portrayal of a once fantastic character that viewers who loved the show turned it off (and the BBC made the unforgivable decision of airing it at 6pm), and so, when series four came to a close with a whopper of a cliffhanger (intending to carry on with the show and not leave it hanging with such an ungraceful ending), suddenly, it was decided to leave the series as it was...and so, the story will never be finished. People might be interested to learn that Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films) appears (albeit briefly) in a series four episode.

I absolutely adored this series as a 14 year old child and still do as a 38 year old. Even back in the day I saw it for its many many flaws but at the same time it is just pure entertainment at its best. My main draw for this series was the wonderful Jaye Griffiths whom I had seen as the formidable D.I. Johnson in the Bill (when it was good) and I went on to become a life long fan of hers. I liked enjoyed Craig McLaughlin as the original Ed (loathed the 2nd incarnation) but was never a fan of Jesse Birdsall.The shows quality dropped even too low for me in the final 2 series with the introduction of Alex and Jan but it will always always hold a special place in my heart. The theme tune alone still gives me chills of joy to this very day.

I used to watch this show every Saturday night with my family, right through from the very first episode. It was brilliant, and I was really upset when the BBC said they would not be making any more, but even more upset that they left it hanging. What ever happened to Beckett, Ros, Ed and Alex? That's what I want to know.

However, I will say that i think that Craig made a much better Ed than Stephen ever did. The on screen chemistry between him and Paula (Alex), made it seem more real, but when Stephen came along, that chemistry fell flat. Why did they replace Craig in the first place? Th only good thing I have to say about Stephen's Ed, is that, unlike Craig, Stephen actually managed to make it look like Ed was a real tai-Kwon-Do expert, and made him kick butt. I think that this was one of the reasons why the BBC axed Bugs.

I've just been reacquainted with it, via the DVD series, after 6 (or is it 7?) long years, and, as a result, i think all us loyal BUGSs fans should start a campaign to bring a half decent TV show back to Saturady nights. BRING BACK BUGS! BRING BACK BUGS!

The first series, apart from the epsiode "Assasins Inc." I thought was very good. For the first time in many years the BBC had applied a proper budget to a drama programme and added an element of SF/fantasy. Brian Celmins (who helped devise The Avengers) was a story consultant and the whole thing worked well.

After that things tended to go downhill, with the scripts getting less believable even though today, some years on, the idea of a computer virus attempting to take over the world through the internet isn't quite as far-fetched as we thought!

There were some entertaining episodes in later years but the ratings dropped from an excellent 9-10 million in the first series to more like 6 million I believe, and the BBC pulled the plug after four series.