I liked this modern adaptation of the nineteen-sixties classic very much. It retains the cerebral essence of the original, the cold, alien intelligence contrasting strikingly against a varied set of human emotional responses. Forty-five years on it saves a lot of time by knowing that there's no longer a need to explain all the concepts to the viewer, allowing the drama to carry the story without the lengthy expository pauses that characterise twentieth century television sf. This approach also allows the story to be told much more economically, with less than half the number of characters in the original seven part serial and in less than half the running time. Comparing the plot with the synopsis of the original given in The Encyclopedia Of TV Science Fiction by Roger Fulton (Boxtree, 1990, 1997, 2000), the only omission is the unsuccesful completely alien life form that the computer creates first. Everything else is intact, including the set up for the sequel, The Andromeda Breakthrough, which I hope BBC4 will choose to remake. next - Tim Farr
I have always been a great fan of the books based on Fred Hoyle and John Elliot's A for Andromeda and The Andromeda Breakthrough. So I was overjoyed by the news that there was to be a remake of this classic that is been missing from the BBC Archives. Joy turned to dismay when the casting was announced, it seemed to me that Tom Hardy was too young to play John Fleming and Kelly Reilley too old to play Christine/Andromeda, however this could be explained by the merging of the characters of Christine and MI5 mole Judy. Never the less, I enjoyed Monday's broadcast. however, I cannot help but think that this was a terrible missed opportunity. What we got was Andromeda-Lite. Having seen some of the surviving remnants of the series, I knew that there would have to be some pruning of the script, after all, drama was much slower back then, but not as much as was excised in this version. Things happened too quickly, especially at the end, where Fleming helps Andromeda break away from the malignant influence of the computer. Another problem is that the sequel The Andromeda Breakthrough with its spy thriller and ecological armageddon elements is a much better story. If I were embarking on a remake I would have made a five part remake merging both series, with each episode being an hour long. I would have put an expanded version of Monday's production in episodes one and two, allowing more character development, and then moved up a gear for the last three episodes, telling the story of Breakthrough. - John Campbell Rees
© Tim Farr and John Campbell Rees, 2006
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