"Lots of old things. Lots of old, old echoes..."
It's been years since I last saw this (and I've only ever seen the first two Assignments, but on this viewing this first episode blew me away. This is quite extraordinary and original television- atmospheroc and compelling.
Sapphire and Steel are fascinating, if alien, characters, and both Joanna Lumley and david McCallum are impressive as the aloof yet cheery Sapphire and the glum, morose Steel. yet this is not so much a drama based on character but ideas, as we're introduced to the terrifying concept of time as a corridor, with weak points in its structure through which terrible creatures can ppunce and "take" people, namely the unfortunate parents of Rob and Helen.
This is scripted, shot and played like horror- and, with a threat which is conceptual rather than gory, extremely effective as such. At times it feels Lovecraftian, especially with the mention of creatures from the beginnings and end of time. Yet, fascinaingly, this is use of the concept of time as a relative phenomenon for purposes of horror, something very post-Einsteinian.
The episode is slow-paced and leisurely, building up the atmosphere and bombarding us with brilliant concepts. It's a thing of wonder, as least for this first episode, and I shall never see nursery rhymes the same way again.
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