Delta Wave: Series 1, Episode 8 – “The Light Fantastic: Part 2” (1996)

 

Made it the end of the story, and I’m still not entirely sure what I just watched, but it’s interesting.  In part 2, Munro infiltrates the offices of the bowler-hatted child snatchers to retrieve Ed, but Julia is in much bigger trouble.  Will she be rescued in time?  (She’s one of the leads on a children’s television program; of course she will.  That’s just common sense.)

 

Dimsdale Draco, it turns out, is a highly watchable mix of ominous and inviting.  Another possessor of psychic abilities, he’s a master manipulator who knows which of Julia’s buttons to push.  He also reminds me a little of the Emcee in Cabaret – something about the way there’s always just a tinge of menace beneath the glitz and the smile.

 

It’s nothing world-shattering, but PC plays it well.  Draco is an intriguing character, and it’s fun to watch him operate.  He’s like a spider draped in velvet, with a soft shoe and a Cheshire-cat grin – and if that’s not an off-the-wall random description, I don’t know what is.

 

Finale thoughts for Delta Wave:

 

Accent Watch

 

I was right:  RP, and a great one at that.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Still not sure.  I’d be interested in seeing more, but Delta Wave doesn’t seem to be widely available, and I’m not really invested enough to go scrounging for it.  (And really, if I’m going to chase down a youth-oriented British sci-fi show from the 90s, it’ll be Dark Season first.  Written by Russell T. Davis and starring a young Kate Winslet?  Come on.)

 

PC-wise – Maybe.  Don’t make it a priority, but if you’re a big fan, you’d probably enjoy part 2 at least.

 

Warnings

 

Nothing more.

Delta Wave: Series 1, Episode 7 – “The Light Fantastic: Part 1” (1996)

 

All right – one episode into this two-part story, and I can safely say I have very little idea what’s going on.  This much I know:  Delta Wave was a sci-fi-ish, sort-of children’s show made in Britain in the mid-90s.  It centers around one Dr. Munro and her two companions/subjects, Julia and Ed.  Both Julia and Ed are children who have some degree of psychic ability.

 

In the first part of “The Light Fantastic,” Julia starts having recurring dreams of a man riding a carousel.    She has no idea who he is, but the dreams seem to be causing erratic behavior in her.  While she searches for the meaning of the dreams, the trio is pursued by a pair of nattily-dressed oddballs who are after the children.  (Side note – I really enjoy them.  They remind me of a less outwardly-menacing Croup and Vandemar from Neverwhere.)

 

PC plays Dimsdale Draco, the man from Julia’s dreams.  In this episode, he mainly appears in shadowy dreamscapes and acts vaguely creepy, but we learn that he is a real person – a dancer from the 1930s.   

 

Hardly anything to say about him yet.  He wears a top hat, and I’m very curious as to whether PC did his own dancing (my instincts, sadly, say no, but it’d be fun if he had.)  I’m assuming he’ll play a much more prominent role in the second part of this story, to be reviewed tomorrow.

 

Additionally, Phyllida Law has a very fun little turn as an eccentric shop owner.  I’ve liked her since she was a guest on A Bit of Fry and Laurie.

 

Accent Watch

 

He’s barely had any lines yet, but it sounds like RP.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Not sure what to make of it.  It’s super 90s and more than a little kiddish, but it’s got a weird, cracked sensibility that I like.  I’ll give a more final report tomorrow.

 

PC-wise – Too soon to say.

 

Warnings

 

Just a little overall scariness, but nothing approaching your average Who episode.