ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

If you're not a member of All Sci-Fi, registration is easy. Just use the registration password, which is —

gort



Attention members! If you've forgotten your password, just email me at Brucecook1@yahoo.com.
____________________________________________________________________

Somehow I missed the thread below until a reply called my attention to it today!

Shame on me . . .

What a great discussion! Kudos to Pow, Gord Green, and Tim Lindsay.
____________________________________________________________________

The Secret Adventures Of Jules Verne (2000)

The Secret Adventures Of Jules Verne (2000)



In this series, we see the adventures of the young Father of Science Fiction and his friends, Phileas and Rebecca Fogg and their servant, Passepartout. In an alternative Victorian era, which has taken that era's technology to fantastic levels, this intrepid quartet battles villians wherever they find them.



Starving French playwright Jules Verne never had a play remain open for longer than three days. One day, one of the doodles he made of a vehicle that can tunnel through the ground ends up being built by a shadowy organization that seeks to keep Europe under the heels of absolute monarchy. He links up with British secret agent Phineas Fogg, his cousin Rebecca, and his valet Passepartout to combat this organization and keep Europe in peace and scientific enlightenment.



The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne is a 22-episode science fiction television series in the steampunk genre that first aired in June 2000 on CBC Television in Canada. The series first ran in the United States on cable on The Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy), and lasted for one season.

The premise begins with the revelation that Jules Verne did not merely write the stories behind his famous science fiction classic books Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth or Around the World in Eighty Days — but actually experienced these adventures personally.

This series is notably the first hour-long series filmed entirely in HDTV format.

Jules Verne is a struggling author who joins Phileas, Rebecca, and Passepartout after a chance encounter. Phileas leads the group. Dapper, daring, intelligent, brash, and arrogant, Praed described him as essentially a more flawed version of James Bond.

Rebecca Fogg is his second cousin; it is clear that Phileas and Rebecca are attracted to one another, but it remains platonic.

Passepartout is Phileas' valet, and an accomplished inventor/mechanician. Although Phileas treats Passepartout very poorly (at least by today's standards), the servant is a valued member of the crew.

The group's only recurring enemy is the League of Darkness, an international terrorist organization aiming to use steampunk technology to rule the world. Its leader: Count Gregory (Rick Overton), a steampunk cyborg who originally died 500 years ago.



Most episodes took advantage of both the Wold Newton family and metafictional possibilities of the premise. Mark Twain, the Holy Grail, and Cardinal Richelieu (played by Michael Praed) all made appearances.

Some parts of the show are truthfully historical, such as the mention of Nicolas Poussin or Verne's friendship with Alexandre Dumas. However, the show cannot be historically placed. For example, at least one episode ("Southern Comfort") takes place during the American Civil War (1861–1865).



During the Civil War, the historical Jules Verne was already married; the fictional character remains single throughout the first season. Also, the historical Verne would have been in his mid-thirties at the time of that conflict, whereas Chris Demetral, the actor who portrayed him on television, was in his mid-twenties.

The Aurora



The Aurora is at the heart of The Secret Adventure of Jules Verne. The world's first dirigible airship, property of Mr. Phileas Fogg of London, it combines unexampled luxury, total mobility and an extraordinary array of weapons and gadgets.



It is to this series what the Starship Enterprise is to Star Trek: both as a home base and also as the route to the world of adventure. The Aurora became Phileas' property after he won it in a poker game that was rigged by the British government.


_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)