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Continuum (TV series)

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Continuum
The intertitle of Continuum.
Continuum intertitle
GenreDrama
Action
Science fiction
Created bySimon Barry
StarringRachel Nichols
Victor Webster
Erik Knudsen
Stephen Lobo
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes11 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersSimon Barry
Sara B. Cooper
Production locationsVancouver, British Columbia, Canada / Riverview Hospital, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
CinematographyJoel Ransom
Running time45 mins.
Production companiesReunion Pictures
Boy Meets Girl Film Company
Shaw Media
GK-tv
Original release
NetworkShowcase
ReleaseMay 27, 2012 (2012-05-27)[1] –
present

Continuum is a Canadian science fiction series produced by Reunion Pictures Inc., Boy Meets Girl Film Company and GK-TV. The series centres on the conflict between a police officer and a group of rebels from the year 2077 who time-travel to Vancouver, BC in the year 2012. It premiered on Showcase on May 27, 2012.[1] The first season consists of 10 episodes.[1] On August 25, Showcase officially renewed Continuum for a second season of 13 episodes[2] which premiered on April 21, 2013 (Showcase, Canada) and June 7, 2013 (Syfy, US).[3] The series is currently airing in the U.S. on Syfy.

Plot

City Protective Services (CPS) law enforcement officer Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols) lives a quiet and normal life with her husband and son in 2077-era Vancouver. Under the corporatocratic and oligarchic dystopia of the North American "Corporate Congress", life goes on in apparent freedom under a high-surveillance and technologically-advanced police state.

When a group of self-proclaimed freedom fighters known as "Liber8" escape execution by fleeing to the year 2012, Kiera is involuntarily transported with them into the past. Joining with Detective Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster) and the Vancouver Police Department, and enlisting the help of a teenaged computer genius named Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen), Kiera works to track down and thwart Edouard Kagame (Tony Amendola) and his followers in the present day while concealing her identity as a time-traveller from the future.

Kagame and the members of Liber8 plot to alter the past to avert the rise of what they see as a dictatorial and Orwellian corporate regime to be stopped at all costs. Meanwhile, Kiera learns that Alec is none other than the inventor and master businessman who will rise to become the head of Sadtech, one of the mega-corporations that dominate the world in 2077.

Fighting to return home to her family, Kiera finds that her presence in 2012, and that of the members of Liber8, may be no accident at all.

Time travel

Throughout the series, multiple theories are suggested as to the nature of time travel and its effect on the timeline of events leading from 2012 to 2077.

In discussion with Kiera, Alec posits that his future self recalled his interactions with Kiera in the past, potentially inspiring the creation of his own cybernetic technology from her futuristic implants and equipment and leading to a "time loop" whereby conditions in 2077 cannot be altered. Otherwise, Alec and Kiera consider that Kiera and Liber8's presence in the past may have already altered the timeline and created a separate chain of events, and thus the state of the world in 2077 is no longer certain.

Evidence for each possibility is presented over the course of the series. Ultimately, the first season finale, "Endtimes", reveals that the elderly Alec Sadler orchestrated the time jump that sent Kiera and the members of Liber8 back in time and that he knew precisely what was to occur in 2012. At the start of the second season, the contents of a message sent from the 2077-era Alec to his younger self reveal that his apparent goal is to avert the corporate-dominated future that his actions and inventions created. It is, however, unclear whether this is possible and what implications it may have for the unfolding timeline.

Series creator and executive producer Simon Barry has confirmed that the creative staff have established a set of "rules" for the version of time travel depicted, which will be further explored as the series progresses.[4]

Cast

Main cast

The main cast of the show at Fan Expo Canada. From left: Erik Knudsen, Victor Webster and Rachel Nichols
  • Rachel Nichols as City Protective Services (CPS) Protector Kiera Cameron, a law enforcement agent from 2077-era Vancouver who was sent back into the past with the members of Liber8 during their escape attempt at their execution. Cut off from from her time period, she joins the Vancouver Police Department to pursue Liber8 and thwart their plans to alter the timeline using her new position in the police department and technology she brought with her.
  • Victor Webster as Vancouver Police Department (VPD) Detective Carlos Fonnegra, Kiera's partner with the present-day police.
  • Erik Knudsen as a young Alec Sadler. As a teenager, before his rise to the head of a powerful corporation in the later twenty-first century, Alec is reclusive and prefers to spend time in his computer lab; there, he is able to communicate with Kiera through her cybernetic implants, which he discovers to be based on his own inventions.
  • Stephen Lobo as Matthew Kellog, a deserter from Liber8 who seeks to build a new and wealthy life for himself in the past.
  • Tony Amendola as Edouard Kagame, the leader and spokesman of Liber8.
  • Roger Cross as Travis Verta, Kagame's right-hand man in Liber8.
  • Lexa Doig as Sonya Valentine, a member of Liber8.
  • Omari Newton as Lucas Ingram, a former engineer at Sadtech who defected to Liber8. He is not a soldier, but his technical skills remain crucial to his colleagues in Liber8.
  • Luvia Petersen as Jasmine Garza, a soldier in Liber8.
  • Jennifer Spence as Vancouver Police Department Detective Betty Robertson, a colleague of Det. Fonnegra.
  • Brian Markinson as Vancouver Police Department Inspector Dillon, Carlos and Betty's superior officer.

Recurring cast

  • William B. Davis as the elderly Alec Sadler in 2077. In the future, he is the owner and CEO of one of the large corporations that dominate the North American Union. It is unconfirmed, but strongly implied, that he is responsible for the presence of both Kiera and Liber8 in 2012.
  • Janet Kidder as Ann Sadler, Alec's mother.
  • Michael Rogers as Roland Randol, Alec Sadler's step-father in 2012.
  • Richard Harmon as Julian Randol, Alec's step-brother in 2012. Later in his life, he is known as Theseus, and is the founder of Liber8 and the mentor to Edouard Kagame.
  • Nicholas Lea as Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Agent Gardiner.
  • John Reardon as Greg Cameron, Kiera's husband. He is primarily seen in Kiera's flashbacks to her life in 2077.
  • Sean Michael Kyer as Sam Cameron, Kiera's young son. He is also seen in Kiera's flashbacks to 2077.
  • Terry Chen as Curtis Chen, a soldier of Liber8 killed in the first season.
  • Mike Dopud as Stefan Jaworski, a soldier of Liber8 killed in the first season.
  • Jonathan Walker as Martin Bradley.

Series overview

Main article: List of Continuum episodes
Season Episodes Originally aired DVD release dates
Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 10 May 27, 2012 (2012-05-27)[1] August 5, 2012 (2012-08-05)[1] March 26th, 2013 January 28, 2013 —
2 13 April 21, 2013 (2013-04-21)[5] — — — —

Production

Development

Series creator, Simon Barry, explains how the show was picked up by Showcase:

I had developed the idea for US networks (where I had been selling for several years, but not getting picked up) and before I got a chance to take Continuum out and pitch it, I was hired by CBS to write a different pilot. In the middle of that job, my Director friend Pat Williams took a meeting at Showcase Network in Canada and called me in a panic because he didn't have anything to pitch. I gave him the idea for Continuum to pass on to the executives there. They immediately saw the potential and hired me to write a pilot script. Because it was first set up with Showcase, there was much more of an appetite for Sci-Fi and genre bending concepts. Showcase really understood what the show could be from day one.[6]

Broadcast

Continuum premiered in the UK on September 27, 2012 on Syfy.[7][8] The show aired in the U.S. on January 14, 2013 on Syfy.[9] The show premiered in Australia on SF on February 21, 2013.[10]

Reception

Reviewer Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times described the series as "slick" and highlighted its attention to detail.[11] Reviewer David Hinckley of the Daily News compared Continuum positively to Life on Mars, another series with a time travelling police office, and gave the show three stars out of four.[12] According to Hinckley, the series has potential to do well, and if it "doesn’t aim to soar, it executes the basics well."

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "'Continuum Sponsorship Opportunities'" (PDF). Shaw Media Advertising Release. March 22, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  2. ^ "Continuum Gets Renewed for Season Two!". Showcase. August 25, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  3. ^ http://tvline.com/2013/03/26/syfy-continuum-season-2-premiere-date/
  4. ^ Vogt, Tiffany (January 21, 2013). "Rachel Nichols, Victor Webster and EP Simon Barry Delve into the Complex World of the new Syfy Series CONTINUUM". The TV Addict. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  5. ^ Nichols, Rachel (February 27, 2013). "Continuum S2 - A message from Rachel Nichols". YouTube. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
  6. ^ Anders, Charlie Jane. "The Origins of Continuum, Our New Favorite Time Travel Show". io9. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  7. ^ Munn, Patrick (August 23, 2012). "Syfy UK Acquires Rights To Canadian Series 'Continuum'". TVWise. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  8. ^ Munn, Patrick (August 23, 2012). "Syfy UK Sets Premiere Date For 'Continuum'". TVWise. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  9. ^ "Syfy Is Importing Canada's Sci-Fi Drama Continuum". August 27, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  10. ^ Knox, David (February 05, 2013). "Airdate: Continuum TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved February 22, 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (February 8, 2013). "They're From the Future, and Canada: 'Continuum' on Syfy Is Latest Canadian TV Import". New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2013. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 38 (help)
  12. ^ Hinckley, David (January 14, 2013). "TV review: 'Continuum'". Retrieved April 11, 2013.
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