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As part of ProBlogger’s Top 5 - Group Writing Project, here’s my Top 5 of Serial Science Fiction TV programmes.

5 - Star Trek - The Next Generation (1987-1994)

The best of the Star Trek canon, 7 years worth of classic Sci-Fi. Patrick Stewart’s portrayal of Jean-Luc Picard easily outstrips Kirk, Archer, Sisko and even Janeway.

4 - Battlestar Galactica (2003-still going)

The 21st century remake of BSG continues to surprise. Well rounded characters and a plot far enough from the original to remain interesting - and even some sexy Cylons!

3 - Stargate SG1 (1997-2007)

Even after the show’s original star Richard Dean Anderson was replaced by Farscape’s Ben Browder & Claudia Black, SG1 remains a favourite. The defeat of the Goa’uld could probably have been the end, but the introduction of the Ori as the new villains of the piece gave it a new lease of life.

2 - Farscape (1999-2004)

Once you get past the Muppet element of the show, this is a corker! With an opening episode not dissimilar to Buck Rogers, every episode just gets better and better. Ben Browder and Claudia Black show amazing chemistry from day 1, and even the Muppet, Dominar Rygel XVI, becomes endearing once you get used to him. In addition to Ben & Claudia, Wayne Pygram plays an excellent bad guy, Scorpius. Virginia Hey gives a spellbinding performance as Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan and Gigi Edgley plays the strangely sexy Chiana.

With living ships, crazed bad guys and some truly original plots, Farscape is one of those serie that can be rewatched with glee! The acting of some of the lesser characters can sometimes detract from the show, but if you concentrate on the story and the otherwise excellent acting of the main characters the rewards are great. There are some very emotional episodes here and I can’t recommend it enough. It was cancelled after the 4th season, ending on a MAJOR cliffhanger, however, a mini-series came to our salvation with the excellent conclusion, “The Peacekeeper Wars” in 2004.

1 - Babylon 5 (1994-1998)

The absolute pinnacle of TV Sci-Fi! J. Michael Straczynski created a masterpiece with B5. Engaging and varied characters, realistic dialogue, believable science, an excellently thought out plot spanning the entire 5 year story, It has yet to be beaten.

The show’s most endearing characters, Londo Molari and G’Kar, played by Peter Jurasic and Andreas Katsulas give an astounding performance for the full 5 years. Commander Jefferey Sinclair and later Captain John Sheridan, artfully portrayed by Michael O’Hare and Bruce Boxleitner, both command the Station but with very different styles. Second in command is Lieutenant Commander Susan Ivanova, again wonderfully played, by Claudia Christian. Security Chief Michael Garibaldi played by Jerry Doyle is also excellent, even if he does remind you of Bruce Willis.

The main thing that sets B5 above the rest of the crowd is the story spans the entire series, seemingly innocuous plot points rear their heads months, even years later, turning out to be very important! You can watch this show again and again, and still notice comments being made which you now know have an impact on future events. Yeah, other shows do this, but none with the same panache as B5!

More than just Good vs Evil, Babylon 5 doesn’t make anything so clear cut. As the Minbari say “I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light.”

Go and buy it! Watch it in sessions of no less than 10 hours, and be amazed! (In fact, I think it’s time I watched all again. Got the taste for it now.

A couple that just missed out were Star Trek - Voyager, just overtaken by TNG, and Heroes which is shaping up to be a fine series, just a bit too early to tell. So, have I missed your favourite? Do you disagree? Feel free to let everyone know by leaving a comment.

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