According to the relativity theory of Albert Einstein, the spaceship
Antares with its crew of six - basically two families (Brian Blessed,
Joanna Dunham, Nick Tate, Katharine Levy, Martin Lev) - makes it to the
star next to our sun, Alpha Centauri, and then loses its way, finally
ending up next to a star about to develop into a supernova - which is
exactly when the ship's engine breaks down, and the captain (Nick Tate)
has to do some repairs and almost doesn't make it - only almost of course,
otherwise this show would have ended prematurely. Later the ship is sucked
into a black hole, but luckily it was a rotating black hole so they get
out of it ... somewhere completely else - for further adventures that
never happened. One of the many TV space operas of the 1970's -
that just didn't really get off the ground ... and it's easy to see why,
too. Sure, the effects and miniature work in this one are first rate (one
wouldn't expect anything less from producer Gerry Anderson of course), but
the repeated Albert Einstein references coupled with a very vague
understanding of the theory of relativity do get on one's nerve, as does
the pseudo-technical gobbledegook, both of which actually stand in the way
of proper narrative buildup or proper creation of suspense. As for the
characters - they seem to be nothing more than cardboard cutouts
(including two annoying kid characters, the tech-savvy boy and the overly
emotional girl), and even the relatively compact cast is unable to breathe
much life into them. The whole thing is still fun to watch from a purely
nostalgic point of view, but it's not something to get utterly excited
about - and Gerry Anderson definitely has done better, too!
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