Smart, stylish, scary

Sapphire and Steel is smart, stylish and scary. It had incredible imagination and the ideas stood out from the limited effects.

I must have been 5 or 6 when Sapphire and Steel was first broadcast. I was too young to remember much and didn't appreciate it until I bought the DVDs years later. I have since always noted when PJ Hammond appeared in the credits to some drama or other - the stories and concepts always being brilliant if not always told well. I'm sure I saw his name recently on an episode of Torchwood but its wierd to think that he wrote for Emmerdale as its says on Wiki.

I have a vivid childhood memory of Steel stuck on barbed wire and of being scared silly about photographs for weeks. Assignment 2 is my favourite - using the obvious limited budget to the max to tell a ghost story and with a difficult ending where Steel sacrifices Tully for the darkness to feed on forever.

Blakes 7

Blakes 7 is another series I appreciated more as an adult. Its a story that couldn't be told today without controversy - they were, of course, terrorists from the Federation point of view.

The Tripods

I was 10ish for The Tripods and haven't seen it since but I can't forget those big machines - can't say I remember the plot!

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