Farscape

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A better class of muppet for Farscape

Farscape was originally reviewed by the Crowsnest Crew when if first premiered, and we unfairly described it as muppets in space.

Why were we unfair?

Well, we caught probably the worst episode ever in the series while on a trip to the USA - the one where the crew find that blue-skinned religious cult hiding on a planet and their priestess gets her powers mind-ripped from her.

It was 3.00 in the morning, we were jet-lagged, and sorry, it looked like complete shite. Seriously, we were not in the mood for lots of cheap FX and new-age drivel.

It's produced by the U.S SCI-FI Channel, which we normally take to be the rubber stamp of corporate America when it comes to the quality of imagination that normally filters through into their schedules.

Having caught a lot more of Farscape series one in the UK, we are happy to report our first impressions were misleading. For action-oriented science fiction, the plots are actually fairly intelligent - the FX are normally really good too.

Nice CGI ships and landscapes, and great creatures - even if they are churned out by the muppet factory (sorry, we mean, Creature Workshop).

Apparently though the FX are about to get even better. The shortly to be released new series of Farscape is getting a rebuilt set of puppets, which includes everyone's favourite deposed monarch, Rygel, and the enigmatic Pilot.

For those of you who haven't caught the series, Pilot is the genetically grown interface of the living starship which a group of ex-cons (or resistance fighters, if you want to be kind) are using to flee the evil empire of the Peacekeepers.

For the latter, imagine a UN peace-forcing mission commanded by the SS and Gestapo.

Dave Elsey, the main puppeteer said "If we've done our job properly, people won't even notice. Our aim is to get the audience to forget they're looking at foam latex, and instead experience the puppets as real characters."

Apparently, Dave and his FX crew have tripled the amount of cabling and software-driven remote controls used in the creatures and have already bashed out more the sixty new species, including some nine foot giant aliens.

The software has been re-coded to give a level of precision to things like facial movements that has never been seen before. One of the Creature Workshopers told us that the FX hats over at George Lucas's Skywalker ranch are big fans of the Farscape series, and have been sniffing around for ideas they can use in the sequel to the Phantom Menace movie.

They've been particularly intrigued by the quick-change make-up techniques pioneered by the show. Hey, it's no fun being stuck in a wookie costume for two days - especially when you're a RADA trained actor, luvey.

So if you see D'argo striding through the impressive Jedi temple that is said to be being built for the next Star Wars flick, you'll know why.

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