This scared the willies out of me when I couldn’t see it properly. Now it’s in crystal-clear DVD format, it’s not quite as scary, but it was still enjoyable.
The hero, Tom (James Hazeldine), is a journalist (already the show is good, see?) who writes about the occult. Researching a new article, he meets a man called Drexel, reputed to be only one of two surviving “men of power” in Britain – well, Scotland: all the events of The Omega Factor took place in Scotland, because it was a BBC Scotland production. Drexel refuses to demonstrate his powers. Tom challenges him, accuses him of fraud, and then pretty much the rest of the series is about Tom regretting doing that, because Bad Things begin to happen to him as a result. Silly Tom.
Tom ends up discovering he has his own powers and gets recruited by a government department for their experiments into the psychic realms. Each week, he and one of the scientists (Louise Jameson) investigate a different psychic phenomenon and slowly begin to uncover evidence of a secret organisation, Omega, that has its own plan for those with psychic powers.
The first seven episodes or so are very scary, the last three less so, with the final episode a cliffhanger, where we start to learn a little about Omega. Then everyone has Things happen to them and we’re left wondering what happened next.
If you can suspend your disbelief at some of the more theatrical flourishes and slightly iffy effects, The Omega Factor is worth watching, although it’s a bit pricey if you’re only curious. Wait for it to hit the bargain bins before trying it out.
