During the fourth season the future of Babylon 5 was thrown into doubt by the axing of the network that hosted it. Messing with temporal matters is usually fatal in science fiction but here the show itself simply ran out of time. Babylon 5, however, became a cult favourite that paved the way for shows such as Lost and Game of Thrones ones that promised a clearly planned story told over years, but that unfortunately also ended up delivering a shambles of a final season. Trusting an audience to keep up in this way was as out-there as flying saucers or Centauri tentacular penises. Here was a show pitched as something different: a five-year story arc that would be told week after week. Before J Michael Straczynski’s creation, sci-fi shows had mostly focused on “monster of the week” formats where some wacky alien (mostly human-shaped but with an oddly mangled forehead) turned up and wreaked havoc.

It was also, at the time, the last, best hope for TV. In fact, the character in the chrysalis, Delenn, went on to become half of one of the best love stories ever told in science fiction.īabylon 5 was, as the introduction of the show told us, the “last, best hope for peace”. Of course there were silly moments, such as when a character crawled inside a chrysalis and left you wondering if you were about to see the first alien-butterfly hybrid on TV, but the emotional payoff of bizarre events like this made Babylon 5 unmissable. You forgave the PlayStation 1 special effects (it ran from 1993 to 1999) and sometimes laughable makeup for a single heart-rending soliloquy. Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station, was just the backdrop for a galaxy of unexpectedly emotional storylines where flawed characters – including a gruff orange alien called G’Kar – found redemption. Set against a clandestine war between the villainous Shadows and the supposedly angelic Vorlons to determine the fate of the universe, aliens and humans came together to fight for their own destinies. Five seasons of the United Nations set in space, anyone? Well, set your phasers to stunned because while Star Trek gets all the glory – what with its big-name actors, great special effects and lasting cultural cachet – it was Babylon 5 that became every true sci-fi fan’s secret favourite.

B abylon 5 was a show that should never have been commissioned.

Babylon 5 thunderbolt