Paradox (British TV Series)
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''Paradox'' is a 2009 British
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
police drama The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...
, starring
Tamzin Outhwaite Tamzin Maria Outhwaite (; born 5 November 1970) is an English actress, presenter and narrator. Since playing the role of Mel Owen in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', she has starred in a number of theatre and television productions, includi ...
as Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint. Written by
Lizzie Mickery Elizabeth Mickery is a British writer and former actress. She was known for her role as Maggie Thorpe in the BBC television drama series '' Tenko'', roles in ''Emmerdale Farm'', ''Juliet Bravo'', '' Lovejoy'', '' Heartbeat'', ''Woof!'', ''The Mer ...
and produced by
Clerkenwell Films Clerkenwell Films is a British film and television production company. Formed in 1998 by producer Murray Ferguson and actor John Hannah, the company has created television shows for both UK and international broadcasters and streaming platforms ...
for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, it was filmed and set in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England. Flint heads a police team played by
Mark Bonnar Richard Mark Bonnar (born 19 November 1968) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in ''Guilt'', Duncan Hunter in ''Shetland'', Bruno Jenkins in ''Casualty'', Detective Finney in ''Psychoville'', DCC Mike Dryden in ''Line of Duty ...
and Chiké Okonkwo, working with a scientist played by
Emun Elliott Emun Elliott is a Scottish actor, known for portraying Dr. Christian King in ''Paradox'', Richie in ''Threesome'', John Moray in '' The Paradise'', and Kenny in '' Guilt''. Background Elliott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland as Emun John Moham ...
, as they attempt to prevent disasters foretold by images being sent from the future. The series aired on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
and
BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...
during November and December 2009. It received mostly negative reviews from critics, and it was not renewed for a second season.


Synopsis

Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint (
Tamzin Outhwaite Tamzin Maria Outhwaite (; born 5 November 1970) is an English actress, presenter and narrator. Since playing the role of Mel Owen in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', she has starred in a number of theatre and television productions, includi ...
), Detective Sergeant Ben Holt (
Mark Bonnar Richard Mark Bonnar (born 19 November 1968) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in ''Guilt'', Duncan Hunter in ''Shetland'', Bruno Jenkins in ''Casualty'', Detective Finney in ''Psychoville'', DCC Mike Dryden in ''Line of Duty ...
) and Detective Constable Callum Gada ( Chiké Okonkwo) investigate images being broadcast to an eminent astrophysicist Dr Christian King's (
Emun Elliott Emun Elliott is a Scottish actor, known for portraying Dr. Christian King in ''Paradox'', Richie in ''Threesome'', John Moray in '' The Paradise'', and Kenny in '' Guilt''. Background Elliott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland as Emun John Moham ...
) laboratory, which appear to show catastrophic events in the future.


Production

Murray Ferguson, chief executive of
Clerkenwell Films Clerkenwell Films is a British film and television production company. Formed in 1998 by producer Murray Ferguson and actor John Hannah, the company has created television shows for both UK and international broadcasters and streaming platforms ...
, said that they were looking for something "different from the traditional formula of investigating a crime that has already taken place" and premise for the series, the police having knowledge of future incidents, was developed.
Lizzie Mickery Elizabeth Mickery is a British writer and former actress. She was known for her role as Maggie Thorpe in the BBC television drama series '' Tenko'', roles in ''Emmerdale Farm'', ''Juliet Bravo'', '' Lovejoy'', '' Heartbeat'', ''Woof!'', ''The Mer ...
('' The 39 Steps'', ''
The State Within ''The State Within'' is a six-part British television political thriller series, written and created by Lizzie Mickery and Daniel Percival, that was broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from Thursday, 2 November 2006. The series, directed ...
'') was chosen to write the series. She said she has "always been interested in the decisions you're not aware you are making". The series was based on the "moral and emotional implications of having the ability to change the future". The series was then commissioned by
Ben Stephenson Benjamin Stephenson is a television executive, formerly controller of drama at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and currently Head of Television at Bad Robot Productions in the United States. Personal life Stephenson attended The H ...
and Jay Hunt for
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
with executive producers Patrick Spence, for
BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...
, and Ferguson. The series was produced by Marcus Wilson and directed by
Simon Cellan Jones Simon Cellan Jones (born January 1963) is a British television director and film director. Career Simon Cellan Jones began his career as a production assistant in the mid-1980s, working on series such as ''Edge of Darkness''. By the late 1980s he ...
and Omar Madha. Filming began in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
, England in June 2009, with the majority of filming in the Northern Quarter district of the
City of Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...
. The
Imperial War Museum North Imperial War Museum North (sometimes referred to as IWM North) is a museum in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. One of five branches of the Imperial War Museum, it explores the impact of modern conflicts on pe ...
is used as the backdrop for Dr King's place of employment, Prometheus Labs. Filming was completed over 13 weeks and Fergison said: "Each episode is set within a very short time period so the changeable weather caused havoc."


Cancellation

On 25 February 2010, David Bentley of the ''
Coventry Telegraph The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet ne ...
'' writing in their ''Geek Files'' blog, quoted an unnamed BBC spokesman: "In spite of a great cast and production team, Paradox did not find its audience in the way that we had hoped".


Episodes


Reception

The series peaked at 4.81 million viewers for the first episode. In ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'', James Walton said that despite the "exciting" climactic scenes, " dly, by then the show's complete absence of internal logic (or, if you prefer, its overwhelming silliness) meant that it was beyond help." Comparing with American series ''
FlashForward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...
'' and
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
's ''
Collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great fo ...
'', Alex Hardy from ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' said that the former "is currently doing a much better job at such space-time contemplation" and that the "'working back from an accident' format unfolded much more deliciously" in the latter. Following the second episode, ''The Times''' Andrew Billen said that although the last 10 minutes were exciting, " e difficulty lay in the 50 minutes of scratchy dialogue, robotic acting and general misery that it took to get there." Jeremy Clay from the ''
Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its pre ...
'' also liked the climax but said "the rest was utterly daft", the programme tried the patience of ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'''s Phil Hogan and Tom Sutcliffe from ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' said that "the Prometheus Innovation Satellite Downlink offers a perfect acronym for the state you'd have to be in to take this kind of thing seriously".


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paradox (British TV series) BBC television dramas British science fiction television shows British crime television series 2009 British television series debuts 2000s British science fiction television series 2009 British television series endings English-language television shows 2000s British crime television series Television series by Clerkenwell Films