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It’s now deleted here in Thailand and i still have a few left and stumble on some here and there.
Watched the movie myself and think they did a great job introducing likable characters in a short space of time.
The picture quality is fine and makes for great viewing.
Most reviews refer to it as a minor gem and i would go with that, very enjoyable.

chris

Argh! Did I say “revolve” on its axis? I’ve read enough on this site that I should know to say “rotate” instead. But in fairness, I was distracted by the wording used in the plot summary, which did say “revolve”–possibly another instance of Bad Astronomy on their part.

No, by “day” I mean from sunrise to sunrise, not sunrise to sundown.

Thanks for those recollections, xrey! I just wish I could find some sort of hobby site on the web discussing it. There has to be somebody still interested in this show.

Sheesh, and I didn’t even realize Paul Winfield had died…

The wall dividing the night and day sides of the planet was really there to separate two rival kingdoms. Members of the dark kingdom would occasionally ride over and raid bordering farms. In the first scene, they attacked the farm of James Morrison (later of “Space: Above and Beyond” & “24″).

The light=good and dark=bad theme seemed a bit superficial, but the story was rounded out by more complicated characters.

Paul Winfield’s character was a doctor who served the light kingdom. He had mastered the ability to use these mystical/hi-technology gloves that allowed him to reach inside a person’s body without making any incisions. He was preparing to retire in a few weeks (and we all know what happens in that case….)

If memory serves, the main thrust of the plot was that the king of the light kingdom had been poisoned, and the new doctor, fresh from a more civilized planet, had to find a cure.

He questions a strange woman in a prison. The prison keeper was some large, lumbering creature sort of like those in “The Dark Crystal”. I can’t remember why she was in the prison, but I do remember that the prison keeper was in love with her.

The sea that was completely red was called “wailing sea” or some such because it made a sound like crying.

Overall, I liked it and wished the series had been picked up (it was obviously a pilot). The idea was that we would learn the mysteries of this planet along with this new doctor. The combination of high-tech rockets and low-tech frontier/medieval reminded me of Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”.

Phil, do you have a mailing address listed on the site? I could make a copy and send it to you.

In fact, I have a couple of episodes of “Red Dwarf” on the same tape.

I’ve only watched it once since then. Some of the minor characters went on to do bigger and better things.

The story is OK. Interesting to hear that it’s a re-make of Kurosawa’s “Red Beard”, since that’s about his only movie that I haven’t seen. I thought it was basically a Sci-Fi version of “Northern Exposure”.

As for the unrealistic scenario, there is an explanation: the planet has a series of weather control machines called “regulators” along the equator. These machines were leftovers from an ancient unseen alien civilization.

What I liked most about that show was its weird humor. It was the only show I remember watching that had joke grenades, where it took me a while to process the joke, which finally exploded in my head a few seconds after the the joke was told.

That depends on how close to the equator you are I’d think, and what the axial tilt of the planet would be. On Earth when you get near the equator when the sun goes down *the sun goes down* if you know what I mean;). Where I live it is light for many hours after the sun goes down, and before it comes up. But not so everywhere.

MrQhuest