Oasis (2017 film)
| Oasis | |
|---|---|
| Based on | The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber |
| Screenplay by | Matt Charman |
| Directed by | Kevin Macdonald |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 59 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Video |
| Release | 17 March 2017 |
Oasis is a 2017 British television drama series, based on Michel Faber's 2014 novel The Book of Strange New Things.[1] It follows the adventures of a Scottish Chaplain on an exoplanet colony.[2]
The series's central character is Peter Leigh, played by Richard Madden, who is unexpectedly asked to travel to a remote planet, where a mysterious company is building the first permanent off-world human colony, as environmental collapse shows Earth's habitability for humans is coming to an end.[3] On arrival at the colony, Leigh discovers there have been a series of accidents, which are being blamed on hallucinations some colonists are experiencing.[4] The method of space travel to the presumed exoplanet is not shown, but it requires a launch from a traditional rocket that bears a resemblance to a V-2 rocket with strap-on boosters
It is unclear how closely it will follow Faber's plot about a preacher teaching aliens about Christianity.[1] The pilot premiered on Amazon Video on 17 March 2017;[3] future episodes may be ordered depending on the popularity of the pilot.[3] The pilot was written by Matt Charman (Oscar-nominated for Bridge of Spies)[5] and directed by Kevin Macdonald,[1] who previously directed The Last King of Scotland and 11.22.63,[1] adapted from Stephen King's novel 11/22/63. The first episode has some similarities to Where No One Has Gone Before, where in both cases the crew pushing the limits of exploration begin to see visions based on their life. For example, Captain Picard has a conversation with a vision of his mother who then disappears, whereas one character sees his Dad in the first Oasis episode. Conversations with apparitions is a classic literary event going back centuries, featuring in such famous works like Shakespeare's Macbeth and Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The concept is widespread and is even in the bible, when King Saul has the Witch of Endor bring up the ghost of Samuel
Like the contemporary space fiction TV show The Expanse (TV series) water is described as surpassing the value of gold (at least in the first episode). Sci fi has seen dry worlds before with the classic Dune, perhaps showing signs of "dry-fi" genre
Plot
The priest is shown helping homeless people when he is interrupted by visitor from the company. On something like Google Glass he watches a video message from this guy on the colony. The lady then offers to fund his outreach and then he goes with some other crew to the colony. He then arrives at the colony and is introduced to to the staff there, but all is not well in the oasis base. They are running low on water on the desert planet and there is some unease among the people. The priest then turns into a more detective type role trying to solve the whodunit of mystery deaths, as some of the people have died. The colonists are upset about this and the leadership is trying to resolve it, but the main leader has gone missing.
Cast
- Richard Madden as Peter Leigh, a priest[6]
- Aislín McGuckin as Vivian Hades[6]
- Jonjo O'Neill as David Morgan, the colony's founder[6]
- Anil Kapoor as Vikram Danesh, the colony's chief executive[6]
- Antje Traue as Sara Keller, the colony's security officer[6]
- Michael James Shaw as BG[6]
- Haley Joel Osment as Sy, a botanist[6]
- Mark Addy as Paul Halloran, an engineer[6]
- Zawe Ashton as Severin, a doctor[6]
- Maureen Sebastian as Alicia Reyes[6]
Reception
The pilot received a positive review from Beth Elderkin in io9 who complimented MacDonald's direction and Madden's acting, but criticised that the other characters were poorly developed.[1] Andrew Liptak wrote for The Verge that the show might become "a compelling, thought-provoking story"[4] with themes reminiscent of Stanisław Lem's novel Solaris (thrice adapted to film, by Boris Nirenburg, Andrei Tarkovsky and Steven Soderbergh) and the short-lived 2011 BBC drama Outcasts.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e Beth Elderkin (18 March 2017). "Robb Stark is a space priest in Amazon's promising pilot Oasis". io9. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6268052/
- ^ a b c "Oasis, season 1". Amazon Video. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ^ a b c Andrew Liptak (19 March 2017). "Amazon's pilot for Oasis raises more questions than it answers". The Verge. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ^ Kitty Knowles (17 March 2017). "What to watch? These 5 great new Amazon Prime TV shows, obviously". The Memo. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oasis at IMDb
See also
- Oasis (Star Trek: Enterprise)
- The Expanse (TV series)
- Dune (film) (classic sci-fi film set on a desert planet)
- Father Brown (2013 TV series) (not sci-fi but involves a Catholic priest and town life)
External links
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