Ultraviolet

This mini-series was a breath of fresh air. I was quite surprised to find it at my local Blockbuster video, which is renound for carrying a lot of copies of main-stream garbage. This series introduced unusual elements and had all of the signatures of a well-created 'universe.'

This is a must-see, esp. for Vampire (did I use the 'v'-word?) fans.

I think Hollywood has forgotten how to do vampires. I grew up watching gothic, quasi-religious Hammer Horror films from good olde England. But, sadly, period pieces are no longer popular...neither are positive depictions of religion, for that matter. The days of Dracula stalking through Victorian London and being repelled by crosses are over. Nowadays, we get scantily clad teenage girls or George Clooney kicking vampire butt with kung fu and shotguns. It's been a long, long downward spiral for the lords of the Undead.

And yet, every once in a while, I ferret out a little vampire gem. The "Ultraviolet" DVD set was gathering dust on my brother's shelf when I decided to give it a whirl late one night. I didn't get hooked right away; the direction in episode one is a bit disjointed, and the first modern day vampire looks cheesy. But, ten minutes in, I found myself starting to care about the characters. They got me.

This, my friends, is how to do vampires today. Religion is acknowledged, but is not an overwhelming force. Modern technology is used to combat the vampires more effectively, but they're still formidable foes - so you won't see them overcome with holy water-filled Super Soakers. In fact, "Ultraviolet" consistently plays to the vampires' strengths. They're subtle, stealthy, and seductive...like vampires should be. In too many recent films, they've been depicted as zombie-like "shock" troops; here, they're back in best scheming form. After all, if you live forever, you have lots of time to make elaborate plans...

Not much by way of special effects here, but they're not really needed. There are some truly great suspense segments (particularly in episode five), and the acting is solid all around. I don't really think Jack Davenport ("Coupling") is miscast, as one other commentator suggested; he makes a good everyman.

The closest American counterpart to "Ultraviolet" is "The X-Files," but the investigations in that show just didn't seem realistic to me. The police and medical procedures in "Ultraviolet" are, on the surface, more authentic. They're probably still bogus, but at least they're not *as* bogus.

Sadly, the Brits only made one six-episode season, and creator Joe Ahearne says he pretty much got his message across in that short time. So, if you have six free hours to watch the best vampire entertainment in years, go to it!

Ultra Violet is a gritty British crime drama set in modern day London. Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield's best friend disappears on the eve of his wedding to, Kirsty, the girl Colefield secretly loves. Colefield's search to find the missing bridegroom leads him to disturbing discoveries about his friend and unearths a secret enforcement agency operating within Colefield's own police force and their mission – to obliterate the hidden society of once human creatures, human blood sucking creatures.

Leeches as they are called, look like us, act like us, and want many of the same things we do, which makes sense - they used to be us. Although the word Vampire is never applied to the heavies in this series, refreshingly, the classic tenets of vampire lore are maintained, (They can't eat food, they cast no reflection and have a perilous allergy to sunlight.) Updated to the 21st century, our secret agency uses ultra-modern day science to track, destroy and not quite dispose of these creatures.

Ultra Violet is an excellently well made combination Brit TV, Police drama and Vampire chase. If you appreciate any one of these genres, I suggest that you check out this series, but be warned, It does not seem to be available for rental in the US as yet. I took a chance and purchased the 2 disc set sight-unseen from AMAZON.com for $26.99. I loved it, and while the story arc of the series does reach a reasonable conclusion, it's clear there were years of story left to this show. I must reiterate, my only regret in Ultra Violet is that it didn't have a longer run. If this has got you at all interested – check the more detailed reviews on AMAZON.COM.

I recant, I repent, I withdraw my previous reserved review. At the time when I first reviewed Ultraviolet (which was some time after I'd actually watched it), Buffy and Angel were at their peak, and slick, quippy vampires were all the rage. But that's been taken as far as it can be. Tiring of the superficiality of the Buffyverse, I decided to give Ultraviolet another try.

Oh my. Oh MY. It's far better than I remember. Yes, the characters are miserable, but it's clearly laid out why this is so, and it all adds to the sense that this is *serious*, and that there are no quick fixes. There are nuances to the character development that I'd missed last time (I recall being distracted and only seeing half of the episodes when I first watched it), and I really, truly felt for them as people (it doesn't hurt that Susannah Harker looks like a melancholy angel, of course). It's underplayed perfectly, with only the occasionally shoddy piece of score to cheapen the tone.

And most of all, I felt for the vampires. These aren't the disposable charicatures of the Buffyverse, and they surpass even the fleshed out characters of Near Dark. They are real, rational people, with real emotions and familiar and touching desires and goals. They just happen to be immortal and drink blood. After you've seen vampires done this way, it makes you question why it should ever be otherwise. Ultraviolet tackles the question "If I was me, but a vampire, what would I do, what would I *actually* be like?" without flinching, trivialising, or slipping up.

There are no tomes of ancient wisdom, no easy answers, and most of all, no black and white morality. Ultraviolet poses the question: if you're always offered the choice to become a vampire, and if you don't have to kill to feed, then where is the crime? Why is it *wrong* to be a vampire? Just because the Church says so?

Ultraviolet leaves the viewer to make up his or her own mind about who the bad guys actually are, and whether there are any good guys in this scenario. It's an interesting and respectful take on the genre.

If not for the 2003 reboot of Battlestar Galactica, I would say "Ultraviolet" was by far the best scifi TV show of the last 20 years. Indeed it has much in common with Battlestar, making me wonder if Battlestar creators were influenced by this great show. Foremost we are challenged with themes of moral ambiguity like never before. By that, I mean we are forced to question who are the "good guys", who are the "bad guys", and are there any limits to what injustices we commit in the name of war? For example, in one very jarring episode, we are faced with the conundrum: are the "good guys" justified in forcefully performing an abortion on an unwilling woman simply because her fetus could be a vampire hybrid?

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start with the basic premise. It's the age old concept of vampires preying on humans and humans fighting back, except "Ultraviolet" delivers a very clear metaphor which other vampire tales only hint at. I'm speaking of the ecological metaphor of 1 species being at the top of the food chain and feeling the need to regulate & control all species below it. Sound like any species you know?

I applaud the writer for not mincing words. Direct comparisons are made toward human use (and abuse) of cattle & other livestock. At one point one of the human characters summarizes the situation very clearly by describing how the vampires could have humans all in farms within the next 50 years, punctuating it with, "our free-range days are over."

I think this is what has intrigued us for centuries about the classic vampire myth: the idea that there may be a super predator that feeds on us. Will it treat us the same way we treat the lifeforms we consume? Or will it strive for fairness, mutual benefit and true symbiosis with other lifeforms? After all, as one vampire points out, "we all share this planet." This is very progressive stuff, certainly far beyond the standard screamer flicks about bloodsucking monsters.

Another point that makes this groundbreaking for a vampire story is that it's one of the earliest versions that puts a hi-tech scientific spin on the battle. No wooden stakes and garlic cloves here; instead the humans use carbon bullets and allicin grenades, allicin being a garlic derivative. Also, the word "vampire" is never uttered (it must be a British thing, like in the 1983 vampire film "The Hunger"). But traditional elements remain, such as vampires not casting reflections, and more interestingly, a complex antagonistic relationship with the Catholic Church. The church's role is never fully explained, but that's part of the show's charm. At one point the vampire killers' justice is referred to as the new Spanish Inquisition, again making us question who the good guys & bad guys are.

I probably should've said up front that there isn't a ton of action in these episodes. So if straight up action is what you're after, you might want to look elsewhere. But suspense, tension, mystery, great character development, and above all poignant questions of morality are laid on thick. Again, I can't help bringing up Battlestar Galactica which is the only other TV show I've seen that forces us to decide for ourselves who are the good guys & bad guys.

It's a crying shame that this show never got a 2nd season. But apparently writer/director Joe Ahearne was reluctant to do even the six episodes we got. For that reason, the show does end on a decent finale that answers most questions. If you want to believe it. Me personally, I'd like to think that the season 1 finale presents just one possible side of the story, and a 2nd season could show us the other. Yeah I still have hopes that, after 15 years, we'll get a 2nd season. Then again, I'm still waiting for I Dream of Jeannie season 6.

I have to say a word about the cinematography, editing & soundtrack: magnificent. Particularly in episode 5 when one of the main characters gets locked in a warehouse with a vampire time bomb slowly counting down, the drama is presented in a classy, cinematic way we rarely get on the small screen.

If you're a fan of dark, gritty, suspenseful shows that challenge both your mind and your moral fiber, definitely check this show out. By the way, it has absolutely nothing to do with the 2006 vampire flick "Ultraviolet" with Milla Jovovich. Although there was a 2000 pilot of this series for American audiences produced by Fox (who admitted they "screwed it up"), this killer vampire story hasn't seen the light of day. Start writing in letters, people! Watch it and I'm sure you'll agree; someone needs to resurrect Ultraviolet!