1 of 7

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 3

... higher even than the original population of the moonbase.

Horrible twists on dreams made real are a staple element of 'Fantasy Island' (1978-84). For a few paltry dollars (and maybe just a little more), the most exotic dreams could be made to come true by the white-suited Mr. Roarke, a role which very nearly typecast Ricardo Montalban for life. While the premise started solely as a place where the fabulously rich could buy what they thought they truly wanted (not infrequently to be destroyed by their own desires), the island later morphed into a more benevolent place where the truly deserving could pay only within what they could afford, with the outcome of their fantasies commiserate with their inner character.

'Battlestar Galactica' (1978-9) also follows the by-now familiar structure of a dream-quest in a post-apocalyptic world: where the only hope for the few survivors of the human race is to find the last of their kind, the lost tribe which has landed on a mythical Earth. The imminent and continuing threat to survival are the Cylons, a cybernetic race which may have been brought into being by the humans themselves: the series draws here upon a core idea in 1940s Golden Age SF/F to leap far ahead of its time, introducing themes which will later be picked up by 'Terminator' and 'Matrix'. Notably, this series explicitly draws on creation mythologies in both its names and the quest itself, playing off some of the themes suggested in the 1968 book 'Chariots of the Gods'. Ironically for a series that had once fended off a copyright infringement lawsuit by Universal (over the pilot's alleged similarities to 'Star Wars'), the Battlestar Galactica premise has proven to have far more staying power, to continuing critical acclaim.

The longest running television series in history, the British series 'Dr. Who' is another SF/F television show which delved particularly deeply into the less comfortable myths and mythic elements during the 1970s: so deeply, in fact, that a 1972 audience survey found that it was considered the most violent program being produced by the BBC at the time. So familiar was the common cultural experience of watching the scary bits from behind the sofa, so very pervasive across otherwise unbreachable class lines extending all the way up to Prince Andrew, that when the London Museum of the Moving Image created an exhibition celebrating 'Dr. Who', they named it 'Behind the Sofa'.

For a program of such reach, the premise of 'Dr. Who' is deceptively

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Unforgettable 70s sci-fi TV shows?
We want to hear your view. Write now!