Sapphire & Steel Have Been Assigned

Sapphire & Steel, 1979-1982

All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic, heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.

-Introduction followed by the main theme.

On my frequent visits to the Doctor Who Online Forums I've heard a lot about a certain Science Fiction Fantasy with the name of Sapphire & Steel and naturaly my curiosity was doubled when I found out that one of the Torchwood writers – who actually wrote an episode I did like – was a creator and head writer of this misterious series.

P(eter) J. Hammond wrote Small Worlds, a promising story that featured his frequently used plot tools: a paranormal, misterious theme, mythological creatures: fairies, nursery rhymes, children as the catalyst of events and sacrafice of the few for the good of the many– check all.
All of these were the main ingridients of good Sapphire & Steel stories such as Assignment 1, 2 and 4.

Why were they called Assignments? Well because Hammond probably wanted that to add to the mystery of the series, so along with nothing much being explained and the real identity of the main characters left unknown - we also didn't have the names of the stories.

The BBC's rival company ITV started showing the series in 1979 as an answer to the popular Doctor Who and after 4 years, 6 assignments or stories and exactly 34 episodes - it was cancelled do to budget problems.

Apparently Hammond did intend to bring back the series later with Assignment 7 as he left it on an unresolved cliffhanger but when the broadcasting company changed it's name they decided against it.

Many years later when Hammond sold the rights to the Big Finish company they started producing a revival audio series in 2005 featuring new actors David Warner as Steel and Susannah Harker as Sapphire as the series regulars were unavailable to repeat their roles.

The only original series regular was David Collings who did come back as Silver in the audio plays All Fall Down and Dead Man Walking.

After several failed attempts to find the DVDs (was surprised that it was a deleted item and for that reason hard to find) and two outbids on eBay I finally had the region 1 release which was – as I later found out thanks to the Anorak's Guide – a much better and worthy one than the UK release. That meant this one had some things that the region 2 edition didn't, like the episode commentaries from the creator Hammond and executive producer O'Riordan but like most American editions it also didn't have eng. subtitles or the ones for the hard at hearing which is a big minus and pulls down the overal mark to 4 out of 5 for the quality.

Anyway, I''l be taking a closer look at the Assignments and the related episodes for which I'll be posting regular reviews. For easier understainding I'll use the fan-made names of the Assignments that are also featured on the American DVD box set release: Escape Through a Crack in Time (6), The Railway Station (8), The Creature's Revenge (6), The Man Without a Face (4), Mr. McDee Must Die (6) and The Trap (4).

Also the audio revival will have seperate posts and I'll make it by seasons. Season one schedule is: The Passanger, Daisy Chain, All Fall Down, The Lighthouse and Dead Man Walking. The season two starts with The School, Surest Poison, Water Like A Stone, Cruel Immortality and Perfect Day. Season three's The Mystery of the Missing Hour has yet to be announced and awaiting release.