Recently in Sci-fi Category

'Ulysses 31 Redux' Director Dermot Canterbury had a seed planted in his noggin, like many of us did after having seen 'Ulysses 31' week days on BBC1 after school in the mid 1980s.

"Of all the cartoons of my childhood, there was one which held a strange fascination and still does. For a kid who loved sci-fi, ancient myth and electro-synth, Ulysses 31 was all you could wish for at 4.30 of an afternoon."

The memory of one of the greatest animated series ever was so strong, Dermot grew up & made this amazing live action intro!

Read more on Dermot's fascination with Ulysses 31 here.

I posted this last year but damn it, I'm going to post it again.

It harks back to a more innocent age before our hopes and dreams were crushed by Jar Jar, jumping Yodas and midichlorians...

Construction of a multi-million pound Doctor Who attraction has begun in Cardiff, where the series is filmed.

Cardiff council is spending £2 million to construct a permanent home for the Doctor Who Experience, which is due to relocate from London's Olympia.

The attraction, which will be run by BBC Worldwide, will rise up alongside the new BBC drama village in Cardiff Bay.The head of a Cyberman - one of the Doctor's deadliest enemies - was excavated at a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday at Porth Teigr.

The Experience will invite visitors on a journey through time and space, combining a walk- through adventure with the largest exhibition ever assembled of sets, props and memorabilia from the series.

This includes special effects, new footage of Matt Smith, a recreation of today's Tardis and a 3D finale, as well as original costumes, a full-scale recreation of two Tardis sets from previous eras, and numerous monsters, including several generations of the Daleks.

Council leader Rodney Berman said: "I'm delighted that the council has managed to bring the Doctor Who Experience to Cardiff and in digging the first piece of earth we will be marking the start of the work on this fantastic new attraction.

"It is set to bring millions of pounds into the city's economy, and the benefits to Cardiff will be immense in tourism terms."

High-concept story? Check. Nice lady telling you what's going on? Check. Jaunty tune? Check.

Quantum Leap manages to tell you more in its first two minutes than Manimal did in its half-hour preamble.

It's a great series but while this blog is all about the intros, I have to mention the ending.

The finale of Quantum Leap was one of the most daring, and downbeat, final chapters on mainstream telly. Good show!

We're staying with short-lived 80s sci-fi this week with the ludicrous Automan.

The intro credits couldn't be more of their time if they were dressed up in a Frankie t-shirt playing the Rubik's cube.

Allarmingly, and I must have missed this as a young lad watching it, Automan himself appears to be a bit of a perv.

Perhaps he was the forerunner of the internet!

The theme tune from this BBC series from the late 70s is certainly one of the best to come from this side of the Atlantic.

Blake's Seven is still highly regarded by many for its view of a dystopian future, strong focus on characters and an ending that was as downbeat as a limbo drummer.

But for me, it was always about the ship. The Liberator makes the Millennium Falcon look like my nan's Morris Minor.

Yes, we know the 2007 take on the adventures of Johnny Blaze was slow, slow, slow.

But Nic Cage is revving up the motorbike again for the 2012 sequel.

This time, Blaze is hiding out in Eastern Europe when he's called upon by shaven-headed monk Christopher Lambert (yes, the Highlander himself!) to stop the devil, who is trying to take human form.

According to the studio "Johnny, still struggling with his curse as the devil's bounty hunter, is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when he is recruited by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy (Fergus Riordan) from the devil (Ciaran Hinds).

"At first, Johnny is reluctant to embrace the power of the Ghost Rider, but it is the only way to protect the boy -- and possibly rid himself of his curse forever."

Here's the trailer ...

The Outer Limits Intro (1995) by OuterLimits13

Sure, the Twilight Zone had all the cred. But for proper scares I would always plump for The Outer Limits.

The original series ran for a couple of years in the 60s and then came back for a seven-year stint from 1995.

It's reincarnation featured, especially early on, some great stories and features the likes of Josh Brolin, Heather Graham, Kirsten Dunst, Leonard Nimoy, Ryan Reynolds and, err, Molly Ringwald.

Here's the intro from the 60s' show...

The Outer Limits - TV Intro 1963 by Tushratta