In the annals of cult sci-fi television, the British show Sapphire and Steel takes up a small corner, largely unnoticed by the majority of fans, but the series, which ran a total of only six storylines over the course of 1979-1982, may end up gathering more interest now that it's making a full-fledged DVD release.

So what's this show about? In what seems to be a British sci-fi tradition of naming its shows after the principal characters, Sapphire (Joanna Lumley) and Steel (David McCallum) are two rather strange "agents" whose job is to patrol the timelines on Earth and make sure that history stays where it's supposed to be: in the past, not leaking out into the present to do malicious things. The contemporary setting mixed with the supernatural/science fictional plots makes Sapphire and Steel a direct ancestor of The X-Files; at the same time, the serial storytelling is right out of the pages of cheesy science fiction novels and adventure programs.

The biggest thing Sapphire and Steel has going for it is its originality: the stories told here are most certainly not your typical, generic science fiction plots. We have truly alien beings who take the form of spots of light, or pools of blackness, or who inhabit old photographs; we meet a couple from the future who are trapped in the past (our present), and a dinner party that moves en masse backward in time. Writer/creator P.J. Hammond clearly excelled at thinking outside the box, and the stories and settings here are quite distinctive.

Nonetheless, Sapphire and Steel remains very much an acquired taste, and not one that easily recommends itself to viewers. In terms of structure and pacing, the episodes are highly problematic: I don't mind a slow pace, with the story taking its time to develop, but in Sapphire and Steel that's taken to a rather ridiculous degree. Each of the stories spans multiple episodes, and each is drawn out longer than it needs to be, sometimes ridiculously so. The first story, "Escape Through a Crack in Time," is a prime offender. The initial situation is established fairly early on: a boy and his little sister discover that their parents have disappeared, and Sapphire and Steel arrive on the scene to find that a crack in time, and an alien entity, are at the root of things. In the second, third, fourth, and fifth episodes, however, essentially nothing happens to advance the plot. The same basic action (someone is endangered by the alien entity) is repeated with various different characters, but the overall plot simply stays in place until a quick wrap-up in the final episode. It would have made for a decent 45-minute story, but it loses its effectiveness when drawn out to nearly three hours.

It's not just one episode that shows the glacial pacing of Sapphire and Steel. In all of them, we get many long, drawn-out shots of fairly mundane events, like someone walking up a staircase or down a hall. In moderation, shots like these can serve to up the tension, as we wait for something to happen, but when it's the style of the whole show, it loses the ability to evoke nervousness in the viewer, and just becomes tedious.

Sapphire and Steel will also be frustrating to those who like to see all the story pieces fit together logically at the end. There's no attempt to establish the "rules" of this universe, things like what the alien entities are capable of, what Sapphire and Steel are capable of, and what the consequences would be of something going wrong. Since we never know when Sapphire or Steel (or another agent) are going to pull some new ability out of the bag, there's very little sense of dramatic tension based on "how are they going to get out of this situation?" And while it's fine (and often effective) to spring a few surprises here and there, I felt that things were being made up as the show went along; rather than being intrigued, I felt that the filmmakers weren't really interested in having the stories make sense.

To be fair, I don't think that the plots are really intended to be the strong point of Sapphire and Steel; it's a show that's more about atmosphere than story. And if you're inclined to "go along for the ride," the stories will very likely be more entertaining than if you're looking for an intriguing narrative. The show was filmed almost entirely in sets, with only one of the stories using any on-location footage, and the result is a very enclosed, cramped feel to all of the episodes. It's also clear that lighting was an integral part of creating the atmosphere; in addition to the special-effect lighting to create some of the aliens, I noticed some interesting choices of how even more ordinary scenes were lit.

The stories included in the set are as follows:

The DVD

Sapphire and Steel: The Complete Series is a six-DVD set; each DVD contains one complete story, and has its own plastic keepcase. The individual DVDs fit into a stylish and sturdy cardboard slipcase. Each episode runs approximately 27 minutes.

Video

Sapphire and Steel is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Overall, the image looks reasonably good for a late 1970s/early 1980s program. The picture tends to look rather dark, with an emphasis on grays and browns, but it looks like this is the intended color palette of the show, as the occasional touches of color like Sapphire's dress look natural and bright. Some episodes are fairly grainy, like "The Man Without a Face," while others, like "The Creature's Revenge," offer a cleaner, brighter look. Contrast is probably the weakest element in the image, as the picture can look very heavy and dark, with detail being lost in some very dark areas. However, the print appears to be in good condition, without noticeable print flaws or too much noise.

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack offers a satisfactory listening experience. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, and while the overall sound is somewhat flat, the music and sound effects are properly balanced with the actors' voices. The music, while admittedly rather cheesy, sounds natural and clean.

Extras

Fans of Sapphire and Steel will be pleased with the choice of special features for this DVD set. Each story has a commentary of some kind. Assignment I, Part I has an audio commentary track from writer/creator P.J. Hammond, while Assignment II, Part I has an audio commentary from producer/director Shaun O'Riordan. The rest of the stories also have a commentary of sorts, from both Hammon and Riordan, but instead of being connected to an episode, it is a separate audio-only "introduction" to the episode. Here, the two filmmakers discuss various interesting facts about the episode and the process of making it; it's very much like what we'd get in a commentary, except that it's shorter than a full episode length.

Lastly, on Disc 6 there are a few other special features. A short piece provides the original voiceover for the title sequence; we also get biographies of the two main actors, and a photo gallery of press clippings and promotional material.

The menus are adequate, but could have been better designed. Each DVD allows viewers to choose which episode from that story to watch; selecting an episode to play brings you to the "chapter select" screen for that episode, which has spoiler images for each chapter. As far as chapter designs go, it's not ideal; if you don't want to watch the summary of the previous episode's events and the title sequence, you have to fast-forward, as this part isn't set up as a separate chapter. While no "play all" feature is explicitly given, if you press "skip" at the end of one episode, it will conveniently jump you to the beginning of the next episode.

Final thoughts

While I found Sapphire and Steel to be too slow-paced, and too focused on atmosphere to the expense of a logical story, for my tastes, this British science fiction show has no trouble laying claim to the title of "highly original." It's a reasonably nice DVD package for fans, with a decent transfer and good special features; if you enjoyed Sapphire and Steel when it ran on television, I'd recommend this set as a purchase. If you've never seen the show, but you think you might enjoy it (perhaps because you've enjoyed other cult sci-fi shows like Doctor Who), I'd suggest it as a rental.