In Deepwater

In the late 20th Century, a DNA virus slowly emerges on Earth - so slowly, in fact, that the threat is ignored. Over subsequent decades, it develops - but the effects are so limited that the authorities do not declare an epidemic. By the year 2100, it has mutated, and resistance to the virus diminishes. By 2145, the human race is ravaged by he Pandora plague, which now kills within just five days.

Realizing that the disease will destroy the entire species, the scientific community on Mars Colony invents a bold plan, secretly launching the ship Deepwater into the depths of Space. On baord are a precious cargo of human gene stock and a crew of six clones, which are held in a state of hibernation, maturing within their life capsules. Watched over by the computer Gen (Julia Khaner), these clones receive educational pre-programming, such that when they emerge as adults they can complete the last stage of Deepwater's mission. They can pilot the ship back to Earth, and begin the repopulation of the long dead world.

Alas, things go pear-shaped when an attacking alien vessel, of unknown origin and uncertain intent, prematurely results in the crew being re-activated in the year 2695. Ship's engineer Reb (Gordon Michael Woolvett), pilot and navigator Yuna (Nicole deBoer), weapons specialist Bren (Jason Cadieux), genetic scientist Gret (Kelli Taylor), computer geek Zak (Craig Kirkwood) and the ship's doctor Lise (Sara Sahr) emerge as adolescents - temporarily suffering amnesia, and desperately trying to recall their mission. Horribly clever and sickeningly beautiful, this team of six represent the final hope for the future of mankind.

Created and produced by Jeff Copeland and Barry Pearson, Deepwater Black is based on the three novels written by New Zealand author Ken Catran, Deepwater Black, Deepwater Angels and Deepwater Landing. Originally produced under the (more relevant) title Mission Genesis, the series is shot in Toronto and is the first original dramatic series comissioned by the Sci-Fi Channel. The station has recently made a firm commitment to developing their own programming - with a new series of Sliders and the co-production with the BBC, Invasion Earth, due to follow later this year.

Barry Schulman, Vice President of programming for the Sci Fi Channel for the Sci Fi Channel describes Deepwater Black as "a sort of Gen-X version of Lost in Space". The premise is strong, but nothing vastly original, and the lightweight 22-minute episodes should appeal as much to the Hollyoaks audiense as the hardcore Science Fiction fans. "If Star Trek ever came out with a Starfleet Academy show, this would be closer to that," says Deepwater Black executive producer Alex Nassar. "It's very much a character driven show."

Nevertheless, in production terms at least, the series bears more similarity to Babylon 5 than Trek, in that it is produced for cable television on a very strict budget. The sets are limited but impressive, and the visual effects are cheap and computer generater - but still very good indeed.

"People who have seen it so far seem pretty excited about the effects," enthuses Gordon Michael Woolvett. "They bought all the equipment, they bought all the software,and they hired young guys right out of the university to do the effects. And it actually panned out really, really well."

With just two directors, George Mendeluk and Don McCuthcheon, helming the first 13 episodes, producers Copeland and Pearson have created a streamlined ship, with its own mission to achieve impressively fast turnaround.

"We had a really hectic schedule," sighs Woolvett. "We only had about three days, four days per episode, max.

"I've heard good things about the acting," he adds. "I heard great things about Nicole's acting. I heard more things about my hair, I think, than my performance!"

For many of the cast, Deepwater Black is not their first experience of Science Fiction. Gordon Michael Woolvett was a principal character in Mysterious Island, Nicole deBoer appeared in Psi Factor, Poltergeist the Legacy, The Outer Limits and joined Julie Khaner in the Tekwar episode Chill Factor, while Craig Kirkwood guested in The Burning Zone.

"My character was this 'troubled inner city kid' who was in danger of spontaneously combusting," Kirkwood recalls of his role in that short lived series. "I wore full arm prosthetics and four facial prosthetics. When we shot those scenes I pulled a 23-hour day, including four hours for make-up!"

Fortunately Kirkwood is a big fan of the Sci-Fi genre, citing Isaac Asimov and Star Wars as personal favourites. Gordon Michael Woolvett goes one step further - he claims to be able to name any episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation by watching the first 10 seconds!

"I'm a fan of the 'basis in reality' of Science Fiction," says Woolvett. "I think that Deepwater Black is similar to ST:TNG in the sense that we deal with real issues like cloning.

"I'm the Sci-Fi geek of the show, so if you can name it, I've watched it. As a kid I watched everything - Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers. I've watched tons of Lost in Space. I did Mysterious Island in New Zealand, I was there for a year, and I didn't have much to do on the days off. So I spent my days watching Lost in Space."

Woolvett claims that Mysterious Island helped prepare him for Deepwater Black in that the two shows held many things in common.

"It was good research. Strangely enough the show was about six people stranded on an island, and the characters were all very similar."

With a spacesip that resembles Star Trek's Voyager, a crew that would not look out of place in Beverly Hills 90210 and a premise that is somewhere between Battlestar Galactica and the forthcoming Babylon Project: Crusade, Deepwater Black is boldly exploring territories where many have gone before.

All the same, there's every indication that the series has the potential to develop in interesting directions. One fascinating notion, which is introduced in the fourth episode, Reflections, is that the ship is not the only one launched from the Mars Colony. A second Deepwater, containing an older Reb is encountered - and five of the crew were killed by the mysterious alien attackers. The suspicion remains that the aggressors could be behind the Pandora Virus - their agenda to eradicate all traces of the human race from the Universe.

With ideas like this, Deepwater Black could yet make the progression from a futuristic brat pack show to thought provoking and innovative Science Fiction. If that's the case, it should easily amass a substantial following of its own.