Retrospective Review #3 of 5

BBC4 have followed up their recent re-makes of the classic sci-fi shows, Quatermass Experiment and A For Andromeda, with a version of Random Quest (based on the John Wyndham story) with isn’t-he-like-his-dad, Samuel West in the lead role. I missed the chance to see both Samuel and Timothy perform together at the local theatre recently in “A Number”, which is a play about human cloning and, judging by his assured performance here, I say that with some regret. Random Quest seems to be getting fairly regular repeats on BBC4 as part of their Science Fiction Brittainca season, so even though I may be a little late in the game, this posting is (hopefully) relevant. Having not read the book I cannot work on a compare and contrast type basis but can only just go on what I see on screen.

Like the earlier productions, it was refreshing, again, to have this sci-fi tale told at such a genteel pace and I think that it is a lesson that could well be learnt by others in the industry when they look to tell a different kind of story such as this. This was all about placing the viewer inside the head of the main protagonist and, while it was an extraordinary set of circumstances that were being lived out by Colin, the traditional science fiction-y elements were played down to the extent of near unimportance and instead we focussed on a man dealing with dramatic changes in his life while the world carried on around him, almost oblivious.

It is one of sci-fi’s greatest strengths to be able to teach, or inspire, or encourage the viewer (or reader) to question the human condition and you can be easily distracted by prosthetic make-up, CGI and big space battles… but there was none of that here. The changes in cinematography between our world and the alternate one were great with clever use of camera angles and lighting in the latter “universe” that gave it a slick and affluent that reflected the luxury of Colin’s alter-ego’s life, while our universe remained a little bit grubby until the wedding at the end, of course. Great stuff.

By the way, I’ve realised that there are two further “Retrospective Reviews” to add to the blog as I have Perfect Parents and Dead Clever, two ITV plays (do we still call them “plays”?) that were shown over Christmas and still sit unwatched on the Sky Planner. Hence, I shall re-number these posts to “…. of 5″ instead.

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Tags: A-For-Andromeda, BBC4, Quatermass, Random-Quest, Sci Fi, Simon-West