All that talk of Blade and vampires puts me in mind of the best vampire show ever – Ultraviolet, which is not to be confused with the film out this summer of the same name. Currently airing in the UK on the SciFi channel, Ultraviolet updated vampires for the 90s, asking what it would really be like if they existed: would they be content to be allergic to sunlight or would they try to do something about it using modern technology; how about wooden stakes through the heart in an era of kevlar vests; and can you write off an entire group as 'evil' or do they have as much right to live as we do? It was adult, intelligent and populated by heavyweight acting talents like Jack Davenport, Idris Elba, Susannah Harker and Corin Redgrave.
Here's one of my favourite scenes from my favourite episode, Terra Incognita: vampire Corin Redgrave emerging from his high-tech coffin. Enjoy!
Related entries
- July 4, 2006: More Ultraviolet
I've had a request. The sheer excellence of Idris Elba, one of the stars of the UK version and the unaired US version of Ultraviolet, has brought people flocking in and now they'd like to see a scene of... - January 19, 2009: Preview: Being Human
A preview of Being Human
June 30, 2006 | Reply
Oddly enough, my editor and I were raving about Ultraviolet in the pub last night, and I've ended up with a queue of people borrowing my DVD set.
It was the ambiguity of it that I loved.
July 1, 2006 | Reply
You ought to watch that - you might not get them back again! You can always point out it's on at 9pm on Thursday on the SciFi Channel.
I was particularly a fan of the intelligence and the inventiveness of it all. In the final episode, when all the events of the previous episodes are joined together and the vampires' plans spelt out, you think 'Genius! Of course that's what they'd do!'
July 1, 2006 | Reply
But the vampires' explanation is equally plausible. And everyone on Pearce's side has so much emotional investment in the 'Vampires are evil' theory that you don't know whether you can trust it. As far as Angie and Vaughn are concerned, vampires can't be the same people they were before infection --?Ǭ†because if they are, they murdered their friends, husbands and children...
It was very, very cleverly constructed, and it's such a shame Ahearne didn't get the chance to do series 2.
I wrote a long screed on Cracker in my blog yesterday, after catching half an episode in ITV3. Cracker and UV are near-contemporaries, and there's been hardly anything since that's so tightly written and intelligent, and still entertaining. Why the hell not?
July 3, 2006 | Reply
Is it that plausible really? LOOK AWAY ANYONE WHO DOESN'T WANT TO BE SPOILED. "Okay, we admit we've been doing experiments on humans. And on children. And yes the experiments killed them. And we've been looking at that nuclear winter thing. And we've murdered dozens of people like Vaughn Rice's platoon for no good reason. And as soon as we become vampires, suddenly we're all into vampire rights, mind games and screwing over/sacrificing the people we loved. But we're not evil. Honest." While the alternative explanation is reasonably possible for the first few episodes, by the fourth or fifth - and certainly by the sixth - it's pretty much out the window. There may be some latitude about how much they're going to go in for battery farming, but there's generally going to be a genocide of humans if they get their way.
But I like the fact it's close enough to plausible that Jack Davenport's a bit like the appeasement guys in the 1930s - "You know, maybe that Hitler isn't all bad. If we just let him have a little bit, maybe he won't need to conduct all out war against us." Ultimately and in an unpalatable way, Angie and co are the Churchills who might be a little bit more zealous than they should be, but are the ones who have had to face up to the unthinkable, namely that these vampires really are 'evil'. But, of course, I've lost the argument since I mentioned Hitler.
Channel 4 was pants at re-commissioning in the late 90s: they just didn't get their act together before everyone buggered off to do other things.
Didn't like Cracker that much. Had some nice moments, but I thought that Robbie Coltrane wasn't v good as Fitz. I actually thought the US version (aka Fitz) was better, although only when it was adapting the British scripts - the monk episode in particular just made more sense in a US context.
The reason we don't do good drama any more is because drama is expensive. In the US, that's okay because they have a hugely rich ad market and can sell most things to most countries. Plus they have HBO. In the UK, expensive means co-productions and concessions to overseas sales. That means something that's worked out by committee. That means rubbish from the word go.
July 3, 2006 | Reply
It's on Sundays as well now, I noticed, flicking through the channels last night.
July 3, 2006 | Reply
Yes, but the other side was THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, and therefore they must be evil!
July 3, 2006 | Reply
Ah, but was it? You only have the word of the dodgy vampire detective for that. The team claimed to be funded by the government as a health concern group. Of course, they had a vicar in charge and had a base in a church which kind of undermines that claim, but the tech and weaponry was all a bit advanced for the Vatican if you ask me.
July 3, 2006 | Reply
Is this being shown over in the States on the sci-fi channel? or is this over in UK?..Thanks in advance....
July 3, 2006 | Reply
In the UK. The US SciFi Channel showed it a while back and there was an unaired pilot for a US version back in 2000, but I don't think either have been shown recently in the US.
July 3, 2006 | Reply
Rob, Thanks for the info..I really want to see this and All in the Game..because of Idris Elba..I have a group club for him in yahoo groups called
www.ItsAllAboutIdrisElba@yahoogroups.com
Thanks for replying..I really appreciate it..Have a good evening!!!!
July 3, 2006 | Reply
Rob..sorry one last thing.Do you happen to know where I can get a youtube of Idris doing a scene in Ultraviolet or any of his movies he made in the UK?..any help would be appreciated....Thanks in advance...Tonya....
July 4, 2006 | Reply
You can see a new clip of him in Ultraviolet in this blog entry. But that's all there is, I'm afraid. You can get Ultraviolet from Amazon.com in the US, though.
July 4, 2006 | Reply
Rob, Thank you so very much...I loved it...oh my goodness...Time to go buy the series...wow..thatwas explosive..Iwas sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time...wow!!..Thanks again....Have a wonderful afternoon...Peace!!!
July 4, 2006 | Reply
Told you it was good...
July 4, 2006 | Reply
Rob...good is not the word..
it was freaking awesome...!!!!Thanks again and I added it to my links in my group club!!!!..This needs to be shared..lol..Thanks again Rob...I appreciate it!!!..Its Independence Day over here in the States..4th of July Holiday..I am stuffed to the gill...needs to do a lil' walking...lol...Peace!!
July 10, 2006 | Reply
What a series! Almost perfect! Joe Ahearne is a genius! My favourite TV series other than Doctor Who.