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Star Maidens - A Classic Cult Sci-Fi Series [2005]


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Editorial
Synopsis

Sci-fi adventure on a planet ruled entirely by women...


medusan amazons
Review date: 2008-07-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

A truly excellent show. Unlike some people I did see it in America. In California as a matter of fact. I only wish the show had continued on as a series. I would have been curious to see who this enemy was who fed on the Medusans. It left me and other people hanging so to speak. It was a cliffhanger paradox. A new series or even a new movie would help to wrap things up.

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Reviews


"Invasion of the Sex Kittens"
Review date: 2007-12-13 Rating: 6 out of 10

Star Maidens is a curiosity shown in the late '70's on LWT on Sunday Afternnons. It is a bit like the 2 Ronnies serial "The Worm that Turned". On a planet ruled by women which travels through space and ends up in our solar system, 2 men nick a ship and come to Earth.

Their mistresses take off to search for them and demand Earth authorities hand them over. It is claimed on the sleeve notes that this was intended as some sort of comedy of sexual manners and politics but it never plays that way.

Lines like "It's not the women who slave over a hot microwave!" are delivered far too straight to have any real comic potential.most of the comedy is unintentional coming in the ineptness of areas like costumes, would you dress your best security gaurds in hot pants and go go boots? Also Lisa harrow's character when taken to the planet Medusa and given power realises "how happpy" she was being an assistant.

The theme music dates it quite a bit and some of the ideas, such as fugitives Shem & Adam using a computer to drive a car. In those days cars had no computer technology.

The performances are fun and come from a mixed British and European cast. Hardy Kruger;s daughter Christiane, Christian Quadflieg & Pierre Brice make up the main European contingent. the Brits are led by Blake's 7's Roj Blake & Ensor in the form of Gareth Thomas & Derek farr. Jobbing actors Lisa harrow and Dawn Addams are also regulars.

The effects are quite good and on the whole production values are high (if only B7 had looked like this).

It's fun in a knockabout way although by the end of 13 episodes the novelty is wearing a little.

The episodes have had littel or no remastering and the picture shows its age a little. The 1 extra is a good one, an interview with Gareth Thomas. He remembers enough to make up for the lack of a making of documentary and has some interesting things to say about the differe4nces between Brit & European thesps.



Genius gem or fool's gold?
Review date: 2007-11-24 Rating: 6 out of 10

Unlike some reviewers here, I somehow managed to miss this show's UK screenings (perhaps it was never fully networked across ITV?), so my opinions are based entirely on my perception of it in 2007 rather than the potential of being imbued with 30-year-old rose-tinted spectacles...

During the first half of the 1970s Gerry Anderson blazed a trail for British-made high-quality live-action sci-fi drama with two major series: "UFO" and "Space: 1999". It was only natural others should try to latch onto this wave of this success. What we have with "Star Maidens" is a production aspiring to the high art of Anderson's creations but saddled with a rather confused germ of an idea and a patently low budget.

The title theme is gloriously "of its time" - and by no means is that a negative. Definitely a high point for the show, albeit perhaps partly because modern producers have forgotten the importance of catchy, memorable opening music.

Despite being filmed over half a decade after "UFO", a year after the first season of "Space: 1999" and borrowing many of those shows' staff, props and electronic sounds, "Star Maidens" succeeds in looking startlingly dated in comparison. Low-budget SFX aside, I put this down to the more strident use of "day-glo" colours on the Medusa sets.

The skimpily-dressed women somehow manage to be devoid of any attractiveness. I can't believe I'm writing this about Judy Geeson(!), let alone Dawn Addams, whose memorably fabulous black hair is completely covered in a spangly headscarf throughout her episodes.

The series takes a while to get into its stride - partly because it can't seem to decide what it is supposed to be: straightforward sci-fi actioner or a sly dig at the idea of female superiority (all writers on the show were male). One episode halfway through the season has two of the aliens settling in to middle-class suburban life with the female as the breadwinner. The problem is that with the inclusion of the alien weaponry and the rather slapstick denouement, it can't be viewed as a serious attempt at drama. On the other hand if it is supposed to be a skit, that doesn't work either because it has a complete lack of humour...

Overall the Medusa-based episodes work the best because, despite the paper-thin cod sci-fi plots, the viewer can at least enjoy the set design and music. The Earth stories tend to rely on standard runaround fare.

In later episodes the continual put-downs of the male characters by Medusa's women simply become irritatingly predictable and demonstrate a lack of imagination in the dialogue department.

The top-notch cast try hard to make the show work but it's difficult to decide whether to admire their determination or laugh at the futility of their efforts.

On the presentation side, there has been no remastering or restoration. As such picture and sound quality vary from surprisingly good to acceptable.

Apparently "Star Maidens" was last screened in the UK in 1978 and its obscurity is hardly surprising. It's difficult to find any clear reasons to recommend it. And yet if, like me, you have a slightly perverse curiosity in the "also rans" from the golden age of television, then "Star Maidens" is certainly worth picking up before it disappears into the vaults forever.

I have awarded this DVD set three stars - two for the show itself and the presentation quality therein plus another for Delta's generous inclusion of the interview with Gareth Thomas.


an intergalctic romp of a series to get pulses racing !
Review date: 2007-09-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

phew ! i had forgottten about this fantastic series i watched at 515pm
before crossroads in the 70s. the sets remind me of logans run meets space 1999. the planet medusa is ruled by women and the men are just servants to their every whim.
two medusan men,adam & shem escape to earth and are persued by two women,
fulvia and octavia . great sets,space ships,gareth thomas(from blakes 7)
and judy geeson(doomwatch,danger uxb) star in this great 13 part galactic
adaventure.
two weired things though which puzzle me:why is every car on earth a "ford" escort,granada ,consul,capri,cortina? was the series sponsored by
ford? and secondly,on medusa ,as men serving those sexy women in all that
tight glammy gear,why did adam and shem run away?or did they have something between them we didnt know about ? you decide,fab series buy it!

A great show...but please stop crediting Sylvia Anderson!
Review date: 2007-04-17 Rating: 8 out of 10

To many, STAR MAIDENS means absolutely nothing at all. To me, it was a super little television series with a very catchy theme tune that entertained me in my early teens, being impressionable and very interested in watching anything that was remotely sci-fi.

Although I agree with other Amazon reviewers comments about it being cheesey and dated, STAR MAIDENS reminds us that Britain could produce quirky, imaginitive, and colourful sci-fi when it had the cash.

It is at this point though that I would like to dispel the myth that STAR MAIDENS is the work of Sylvia Anderson in an uncredited role. This mis-information appears to have started with a rumour among fans of 'Anderson' shows after it was originally aired and now, amazingly, seems to have gained a new lease of life on the Internet - even after carefully researched material (including the notes in the enclosed DVD booklet) has been published proving otherwise. To those of you who keep saying that STAR MAIDENS displays "the hand of Sylvia", then please offer some conclusive proof to support your statement, rather than simply assuming the IMDB is correct or perpetuating hearsay generated by obscure and dubious articles or websites. If viewers think the look of STAR MAIDENS is a bit Anderson-esque, it is almost certainly due to the fact that its production designer was SPACE:1999's Keith Wilson. The idea of the series itself came from Jost Graf von Hardenberg in Germany and was produced at Bray Studios in England by James Gatward and Eric Paice for the company Portman Productions. It may trigger memories if I mention ELEPHANT BOY, CASTAWAY, THE OUTSIDERS, THE FLYING KIWI and GOLDEN SOAK, as these are other shows made around the same time by Mr Gatward and Portman, and also worthy of future DVD release.

Delighted I am then that all 13 episodes of STAR MAIDENS have been released in this two-disc DVD set that is nicely priced by Amazon. I can once again disappear into my very own telly-heaven, and my 'Blue Remembered Hills'.

The only extra is a lengthy piece with Gareth Thomas sharing his memories of the show, which of course is very interesting if you are a fan like me.

Anyway the series itself is what I bought the DVDs for and I am very pleased with the quality of the transfers seeing that the source was 16mm film, the picture being as sharp and as colourful as it's ever likely to get. My only complaint is that the integrated 'end of part one' and 'part two' bumpers, that created a dramatic junction at a specific point in each episode, are missing - if you've watched any of Network's DVD releases of SPECIAL BRANCH, THE SWEENEY or ONE SUMMER, you will know what I mean. 8/10


Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Judy Geeson
Gareth Thomas
Lisa Harrow
Pierre Brice
Dawn Addams

Creators:
Judy Geeson (Primary Contributor)
Dawn Addams (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: delta home entertainment
Manufacturer: delta home entertainment
EAN: 4006408861096
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2005-10-17
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Running time: 320 minutes
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Original Language)

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