Sapphire and Steel (1979 series)
Summary
A British science fiction programme centering on Sapphire and Steel, a pair of inter-dimensional operatives who appear to be engaged in guarding the continuing flow of the corridor of Time – implied to be a malignant force surrounding all of space just beyond a barrier riddled with weak spots (often associated with very old objects, songs, stories, etc.), through which Time can break into the present and take or alter things, and also through which creatures from the beginnings and ends of Time that roam the corridor looking for the same weak spots can break through for their own sinister purposes.
Details
- Release Date: 1979-1982
- Country/Language: UK, English
- Genres/Technical: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
- Runtime: (generally formatted for a 30-minute BBC television slot)
- Starring: David McCallum, Joanna Lumley, David Collings
- Creator: Peter Hammond
- Producer/Production Co: Associated Television (ATV), Colour Productions
- View Trailer: (link), (link)
- TVTropes: (link)
- IMDB Page: (link)
Ratings
MPAA Ratings
- Rated: (not rated) (perhaps equivalent to a TV-PG for Violence, and frightening scenes)
Tentacle Ratings
A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
- SS___ (Two Tentacles: Barely Lovecraftian; could be a very loose adaptation)
Nothing explicitly "Lovecraftian", but the show apparently used its own unique form of cosmic horror that would not be completely out of place next to Lovecraft's creations in a Call of Cthulhu campaign.
Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.
Reviews
Review Links:
- (review needed)
Synopsis
Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)
A British science fiction programme centering on Sapphire and Steel, a pair of inter-dimensional operatives who appear to be engaged in guarding the continuing flow of the corridor of Time – implied to be a malignant force surrounding all of space just beyond a barrier riddled with weak spots (often associated with very old objects, songs, stories, etc.), through which Time can break into the present and take or alter things, and also through which creatures from the beginnings and ends of Time that roam the corridor looking for the same weak spots can break through for their own sinister purposes. Among the stories told in the series:
- "Escape Through a Crack in Time" - a young boy's parents vanish into time after singing some very old nursery rhymes.
- "The Railway Station" - A railway station is haunted by ghostly figures from another time.
- "The Creature's Revenge" - an invisible time capsule from the distant future has brought a mysterious monster with it.
- "The Man Without a Face" - a terrifying faceless man and phantom children appear in old photographs, and soon begin appearing in life.
- "Doctor McDee Must Die" - a period costume party in a deceased doctor's house goes awry when anachronisms begin appearing and guests begin dying.
- "The Trap" - forces outside of time and space have set a trap for Sapphire and Steel; the bait: a mysterious diner where time has stopped for everyone except the patrons who believe it is the year 1948.
Notes
Comments, Trivia, Dedication
- Elements of the story "The Man Without a Face" bear a suspicious relationship to elements of the "Slenderman" mythos: a faceless man appearing in photographs with creepy children, etc.
Associated Mythos Elements
- TO DO
