Sci Fi TV Genre Gems: Forgotten magic and hidden treasures from the worlds of sci fi TV
What Is It? In a future world, humans are born in vitro and designated for one of several castes from the Alpha Plusses which are the brightest and usually among the ruling class to the Epsilons who are sub-intelligent workers. People live a well-regulated life consisting of consuming the latest products, having frequent casual sexual encounters, taking the calming drug known as Soma when they get too emotional, and not asking questions about their society and/or their place in it. A man from an outside settlement who is dubbed John the Savage is brought into this world and has a notable impact on its orderly and conformist ways.
Aired: March 7 1980, NBC, Two-Part Mini-Series
Starring: Kristoffer Tabori, Bud Cort, Keir Dullea, Julie Cobb, Ron O’Neal
Why It Stands Out: This mini-series adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is faithful to the source material and offers a chilling look at the dystopia he created:
Is It Must-Watch Sci Fi TV? Yes. This is an excellent adaptation of a classic of science fiction (and dystopian) literature, and an important genre work for the television medium.
The Skinny: In the late 1970’s and into the early 80’s the broadcast networks were trying to ride the Star Wars wave that had made sci fi popular again and had brought big-budget shows like Battlestar: Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century to the airwaves. There were also some attempts to adapt classics of sci fi literature such as the PBS rendition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Lathe of Heaven which debuted in early 1980 as well as the NBC mini-series that brought Brave New World to the small screen. While the TV shows like BSG turned out to be short-lived affairs that quickly disappeared from the schedule (and soured the broadcast nets on sci fi), the literary adaptations were first-rate productions that count among the upper echelon of genre television output (you can read my entry on Lathe of Heaven at this link).
As with the PBS adaptation of Le Guin’s classic novel, NBC showed a great deal of respect for Aldous Huxley’s source material and produced a telefilm that stayed very close to the original story. It starts out a little different from the novel, fleshing out events that are only briefly recounted at a later time in the book, but that was apparently done to fill out the run-time of the mini-series and does not make the production feel overly padded. And even though it does feel slow at times and possibly could have been trimmed a bit, better to get too much than not enough in this case.
Not only does Brave New World provide a faithful adaptation of the story from the book, the look and the feel of the production perfectly brings this production to life. The anti-septic environment with people wearing colorful uniforms that designate their caste might almost seem like sci fi cliches to some, but it fits right in with the world Huxley created in his book. The dialogue is delivered with a simplistic, childlike feel to it, but that emphasizes the anti-intellectual nature of that society. The actors are also well-suited to their parts with Keir Dullea (2001 A Space Odyssey, Starlost) taking up a lead role in the first part and the focus shifting to John the Savage (played by Kristoffer Tabori) in the second part. Overall, the mini-series takes a classic of science fiction literature and turns it into a classic of genre television, and this is one that sci fi fans should seek out.
Should It Be Rebooted? There is really no reason to revisit this story because the mini-series did such an excellent job and it still holds up well today. But that of course does not stop the entertainment industry. A Brave New World television movie was produced in 1998 which starred Leonard Nimoy and delivered a less satisfying adaptation that did not adhere well to the book. And currently, a television series based on the novel is in the works at NBCUniversal and will stream on the upcoming Peacock service.
Interesting Fact: This was the second sci fi television production that Keir Dullea appeared in after his landmark performance in 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Prior to Brave New World, Dullea starred in the short-lived Canadian series The Starlost.
Where Can You Watch It? Sadly, this mini-series has never been released on DVD and it is also not available on any of the major streaming services (maybe Peacock will have it once that service gets up and running). You can find the entire telefilm on YouTube, but the video quality is not the greatest.
Read More About the Series: Wikipedia | IMDb.com
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