Well, I finally saw this this morning.

Interesting!

As a pilot I thought it was one of the better ones, introducing the characters without being too boring. The story moved along at a reasonable pace and for the most part the characters seemed interesting.

I personally found the Doctor to be annoying and the commander to be a little bit uptight but maybe he 'mellows' a bit in later episodes.

I think it is a better pilot then The Eminasary was for Star Trek Deep Space 9, a pilot which almost put me off watching any more of that show from the off.

There are simularities between the shows and it is plain to see why fans of one would think that the other is a rip off.

If I had seen this when it was first broadcast, would I have watched some more?

Yes!

Will I now, when I can afford it buy series 1?

Yes!

Is it better than Star Trek?

No! But then I dont think anything will ever be for me.

My Grade 8 out of 10!!

Great Ken.

If you enjoyed that, you'll like the series.

About the series, if you find yourself being put off during the first few episodes, stick with it, after maybe a bit of a shaky start it gets much better midway through S1.

Paul's absolutely spot on Ken. If you even remotely liked The Gathering then there at certain points the series itself will simply blow you away. Paul's advice is sound, stick with it. I myself checked out of the series for a while after the first three or four episodes. Luckily I found my way back in time. By the episode SIGNS & PORTENTS the series is hitting it's stride, and there are a few crackers even before that.

I doubt anyone would have expected you to change your mind on the B5/Trek issue based solely on the pilot, but it's a good beginning.

Re The Doctor, fear not, he's one of the characters replaced in the series, by the far far superior late Richard Biggs. The first officer is replaced by Claudia Christian and the telepath Lyta Alexander is replaced by Andrea Thompson. All the changes, in my mind were for the better, at the time.

We should be starting a B5 rewatch towards the end of September, early October Ken, if you can get the Season 1 set before that you're welcome to participate.

I would think I will have it before then.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Remember Ken, HMV is the place to get it, unless you find it cheaper than £29.99.

In my mind B5 gets stronger and better with each passing season. Season 1 is a great introduction and sets up some of the series arcs that run throughout the show's lifetime. Season 2 improves on this yet further and gets genuinely intruiging, it's like a novel you can't put down at that point. Season 3 improves again and for my money Season 4 is possibly the greatest season of any television anywhere.

If you're giving The Gathering 8 out of 10, Ken, by the time we get to season 3 we'll have to come up with a new scoring system! ;) :D

(In Nigel Tuffnel voice) "This one goes up to 11" :lol:

Indeed. Compare and contrast The Gathering with something like, say, Severed Dreams :lol:

Btw Ken, best to mention at this point, don't go looking for spoilers, you'll be sorry ;)

I watched Severed Dreams a couple of nights back. Great stuff.

I doubt it!

Anyway put a B5 wallpaper in the wallpaper section, dont recognize some of the characters on it though

You may well be surprised, Ken ;)

Oh ye of little faith ;)

Faith manages ;)

Went to HMV Doncaster today with the intention of buying SEASON 1 but all they had was season 4 and that was £60.

Going to meadowhall tomorrow so will look in theirs!!!

Good man Kendo :)

Ken, if you have no luck with finding Season 1 at HMV, Play have it going for £33.99 here...

Thanks, I will check that out if I have trouble later today

They didnt have it in Meadowhall either but they are going to get me a copy for me to go collect sometime towards the end of the week.

B5 Bank holiday for me then!!

Actually, if you can hold on that for a month, we are doing a B5 rewatch thingy at the end of September; it would be nice to have someone fresh to the series commenting on it as well! :)

Ok will do!

Great - that'll be 2 B5 virgins :)

Lisa was also up for it when it was mentioned a few weeks ago. ;) I dunno if she still is though. :lol:

I'm sure she could be persuaded ;)

I seriously doubt Lisa could be persuaded to do anything she didnt want to do in the first place. HAHA :D

I'm sure we can convince her to make time for one of the genre's true heavyweights ;)

James, it's high time you caught us up on the Farscape rewatch, too ;)

:lol: I was waiting for that ;)

When's the mini due ?? October ?? I'm planning to play catchup throughout September Steve. Perhaps we could accelerate the rewatch to coincide the Season 4 finale a few days before the mini series airs ??

He sees the banner and says.....doh !! :rolleyes: :lol:

No - no acceleration - I'm far enough behind as it is to have to watch even more episodes in even less time! :)

I think Karen would go for an acceleration but I'm not sure about Paul and Lisa, and it wouldn't be fair on Phillip. Even if we did accelerate I don't think we'd make it in time. ;)

At least the mini will be there and waiting when we do reach the end of s4! :D

How do you guys fit all these rewatches in?

Oh sorry forgot you dont live with someone who hates Sci-fi!!!!! :D :D :D

Well, God bless my soul! Who would have thought it? Ken not only getting B5 but enjoying it! Never thougt I'd live to see the day! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Welcome to the B5 fan club, Ken :thumbsup:

I'm about midway through S5 at the moment but, if nobody minds, I might join in this rewatch thingy. Could be interesting :toomuchtv:

No Farscape acceleration please :fear: I still need to watch last weeks 2 eps (will try to today).

The more the merrier I'm sure.

Not gonna happen, Paul, don't worry! ;)

Besides, got to leave enough time in the week for B5 and The X Files. And Stargate. And Smallville. And Buffy. I'm sure there are others. :lol:

Guys if I can get B5 season 1 sometime soon, I'll join you. I'm really apprehensive though. I don't like Star Trek. Lots of assurances please, that it's nothing like it ;) :lol: :lol:

Steve, I've been wondering about Farscape too. This is an obvious question, and probably really silly, but will the mini series spoil seasons 3 and 4 for me :unsure:

If you think it will, I'll just have to try and watch the lot before October. It won't affect the rewatch. I'll carry on with that as normal, 2 eps a week. What do you think? I've got season 3 burnt now, and I've got about 50% of season 4 :unsure:

Rest assured Lisa - B5 is not at all like Star Trek!

I think, apart from anything else, that if you try to watch the mini without having seen seasons 3 and 4 a lot of it probably won't make any sense.

Are you in a rush to watch it, though? I mean if we carry on with the rewatch at a sensible pace wouldn't it still be there waiting when you needed it?

It's up to you, guys. If you want to accelerate we will, but I would hate to rush you through two such sublime seasons as 3 and 4, it might spoil the enjoyment, cos they really need to be savoured. :D

And, even then, I still can't see us finishing by October.

As for B5, Lisa, you really should give it a go. It's a terrific series. ;)

I don't see why we can't just aim to watch the mini series at the end of the series, as Steve says, why rush, the new eps will still be there.

Okay guys.

I'll download it in October, and put it safely away then :)