The Andromeda Strain(ing)

Well, the sun is shining outside, so it's time to have a look at some web-sites for the true sons - and daughters - of Trek.

Yes, the ghost of Gene is back again.

If you are a fan of the TV series Hercules (or even Xena), you will be glad to hear that Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, a new TV series starring Kevin Sorbo (aka Herc), is currently shooting in Vancouver.

Is it fantasy? Heck no. Swashbuckling SF, if the propaganda is to be believed.

Scripts have been written for twenty of the first forty four episodes (that's two seasons in US parlance), and models of the Andromeda starship are now being worked into the initial SFX.

Said ship follows Farscape by being an organic creature - with the added ability to transform into different configurations: combat, transwarp, landing etc.

Of course, Gene has long since passed away, so all of this is just 'based' on an idea by the famous Trek creator, Roddenberry - much the same as the current Talon nonsense showing on UK television.

Andromeda's crew is said to include bridge officer Beka Valentine, Lexa Doig, who is a Farscape-like Pilot character representing their sentient starship; and there's also a genetically enhanced Khan-like superhero called Tyr Anasazi.

The main plot has had a lot of conflicting rumours surrounding it, but the primary thrust seems to be captain Kevin Sorbo setting about trying to re-form a collapsed Galactic Empire mid-way through an interstellar dark age. The outfit the good guys work for are called the High Guard, by the way.

Despite the fact that the production crew, writers etc are a lot of the same mob who have been working on Voyager and DS9, they are keen to point out the series is intended to be a great deal different from Trek.

As well as the more adventure-heavy format (can any one say Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in Space), they plan to liven up the shooting with the same kind of frenetic camera work that the cop show NYPD Blue pioneered.

How this will work, who can say? But I do know how many times I've been sitting through an episode in my living room when a non-NYPD fan walks in and says something like "what's the matter with the camera, it keeps on jumping about?"

There's two official sites for the not even-launched TV series.

One is andromedatv.com, run we think, by Tribune Entertainment, the bods making the show under licence. It's got a few interesting areas which will no doubt fill out as shooting progresses.

The other official site is not yet launched, but worth bookmarking for when it does - AndromedaAscendant.com - where you will be able to get to know the High Guard starship Andromeda Ascendant and her crew from the inside out.