Mere months after the theatrical premiere of Star Wars, the BBC launched a new science fiction series with the same budget as the cop show it replaced on the schedule. On today's Sci-Fi 5, how Blake's 7 overcame its very humble beginnings.
It was all part of the plan: an exciting TV movie to turn the corner from Babylon 5 to its spin-off, Crusade. On today's Sci-Fi 5, how the cast and creators of Babylon 5 answered "A Call To Arms".
It was a new era of Doctor Who, with the first new face for the Doctor in seven years. On today's Sci-Fi 5, how "Castrovalva" ushered in a new Doctor in the form of Peter Davison.
Wait, the Enterprise has shuttlecraft? Today's Sci-Fi 5 takes you back to the day that Star Trek fans first saw the episode The Galileo Seven - and forward to that Galileo shuttlecraft's final flight in Star Trek: Prodigy.
From a supporting role in Captain America to her own short film to her own series, today's Sci-Fi 5 celebrates Marvel's Agent Carter as she took over the small screen.
There's a lot of British TV sci-fi that can be described as short on budget, but still creates an eerie atmosphere. On today's Sci-Fi 5, how Chocky had all that to live up to while focusing on extremely young cast members.
At a time when Quinn Martin Productions had prime-time thrillers and police stories to spare, the legendary producer ventured into science fiction as well. Today's Sci-Fi 5 urges you to be on the lookout for...The Invaders.
An adaptation of an unpublished horror novel scared up ratings as a made-for-TV movie. Today's Sci-Fi 5 looks through the files to revisit Carl Kolchak's first case on the small screen, tracking down The Night Stalker.
Before she bought out Cheers, she was a welcome addition to the Enterprise crew for just one movie appearance. Today's Sci-Fi 5 celebrates the life and career of the late Kirstie Alley.
Amazon took a gamble on a show that posed a huge "what if" to its audience: what if the Axis powers had won WWII? A look into this alternate reality and the production that brought "The Man in the High Castle" to life on today's Sci-Fi 5.
Superman was one of the earliest heroes to conquer every form of media. In 1939, after a stunning comic book debut, Superman got his own daily strip that would leave lasting impact on his storied history. Learn more on today's Sci-Fi 5.
It was an attempt to make a dystopian, machine-ruled future on a TV budget...and to make it funny and kind of sexy too. Hear the story behind Cleopatra 2525 on today's Sci-Fi 5.
As was often the case, the first American sci-fi anthology on TV tried to bring the classics to our screens, with tiny budgets and big name talent. Today's Sci-Fi 5 brings a legendary production of Frankenstein back to life.
It was a movie based on an original script by one of the most celebrated scribes of The Twilight Zone. Today's Sci-Fi 5 tells the story of how Roger Corman and his family revived that story under a new name with rising '90s talent.
One of many syndicated genre series to hit American TV in the 1990s, Time Trax added a time travel twist to some time-honored tropes. Today's Sci-Fi 5 takes you back to the premiere in 1993.
From unlikely beginnings came an animated show (and, since it was the '80s, accompanying toy line) loved by many. Find out how Thundercats gained a major foothold in the '80s pop culture landscape, on today's Sci-Fi 5.
His career may have suddenly exploded on stage as part of the cast of Hamilton, but today's Sci-Fi 5 reminds you that Daveed Diggs has genre cred too, from Snowpiercer to Star Trek and beyond.
It may not be on the tip of the tongues of fans of time travel adventures everywhere, but today's Sci-Fi 5 has some reasons why Minutemen is still worth a minute of your time - maybe quite a few minutes.
A sci-fi thriller with a bit of everything - paranoia about invading aliens, romance, and a message. Find out why the latter may not land the same way as it did at release as today's Sci-Fi 5 revisits Attraction.
His dissatisfaction with the comic book industry led him to revitalize that industry by cross-pollinating genres. Today's Sci-Fi 5 pays tribute to Frank Miller.
It had heartwarming family drama, comedy, some big names, and even a space monkey. But today's Sci-Fi 5 asks: was that enough to make 1981's Earthbound noteworthy?
Known best for his comedy and podcasting success stories, Paul Scheer is also the voice of characters in the Marvel and Star Trek universes. Today's Sci-Fi 5 celebrates his life, laughs, and his career.
It was an atypically funny X-Files case with some familiar faces - and a story that was intended for another series years earlier. Today's Sci-Fi 5 recalls when Mulder and Scully met the Weremonster.
With his dedication to bringing his characters to life, Brent Spiner could have become a household name in almost any role. Today's Sci-Fi 5 explores how his star was rising even before a certain android was brought online.
It's easy to find a sci-fi story that involves two spacecraft docking. But how easy is docking? Sci-Fi 5 looks back at the historic first rendezvous of a U.S. space shuttle and a former Soviet space station to find out.
With a studio asking them to create a new movie with franchise potential, the Wachowskis created the universe of Jupiter Ascending. Today's Sci-Fi 5 explores why this film didn't catch on quite like their previous creation.
Star Trek isn't always just about the heroes. On this day in 1994, The Next Generation introduced us to "Lower Decks" which, decades later, would inspire "Star Trek: Lower Decks." Get the story on today's Sci-Fi 5.
He's provided the symphonic sounds that made Star Wars soar, made Harry Potter's magic real, and gave Jaws its bite. Today's Sci-Fi 5 celebrates the life and career of John Williams - who says he's not done yet.
Fans turned out in droves when The Wheel Of Time streaming series premiered in 2021. But perhaps only insomniacs noticed the quickly-produced 22-minute prelude, which premiered in 2015. Today's show unravels the connection between the two.
You may know him as the composer behind the sound of the first Star Trek movie, but as today's Sci-Fi 5 demonstrates, there's so much more to Jerry Goldsmith's storied career than any one film score.
In today's Sci-Fi 5, with the premiere of a new Joss Whedon creation on Fox in 2009, one might assume that everyone had learned from Firefly...or perhaps those experiences had been completely forgotten, as often happened in Dollhouse.
How far away can you get from home and still see it? On this day in 1990, Voyager 1 looked back toward the planet it launched from and saw half a pixel. Today's Sci-Fi 5 recalls how even that was enough to inspire a whole new perspective.
It's a familiar story: A-list talent in front of and behind the cameras, with the best intentions, somehow turns out a universally derided genre film. Today's Sci-Fi 5 explores what happened on the journey from page to stage for Saturn 3.
He's the spirit of vengeance who looks like he rode in straight out of hell. But despite Ghost Rider's success in comics, today's Sci-Fi 5 chronicles a bumpier ride for the character onto the big screen.
With family and co-star connections to the Star Trek franchise, it seemed only a matter of time before Jerry O'Connell found himself on the final frontier. Sci-Fi 5 wishes a happy birthday to the voice of Lower Decks' Commander Ransom.
It could have hailed a new Marvel TV universe in the mid 1990s - but, as today's Sci-Fi 5 reveals, Fox's Generation X pilot-turned-movie was not the Marvel property that would take over the multimedia universe.
It tried to bring super-spy exploits up to date with recent space age technology (and alumni from Star Trek and other popular shows). Today's Sci-Fi 5 probes the question: why didn't Probe survive as a series called Search?
A Danish sci-fi film from 1918 pioneered the "space opera" format that persists to this day. Hear the story of "A Trip to Mars" and its themes that left a legacy on today's Sci-Fi 5.
The DC Comics-inspired "Arrowverse" shows spawned many a spin-off, but today's Sci-Fi 5 reveals how one such series left the rest of the Arrowverse behind to put a bold spin on arguably DC's best known hero.
If you're looking for a man of deeds, not words, look no further than today's Sci-Fi 5 and its tribute to the star of Megaforce and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Barry Bostwick.
Audiences may have passed up their chance to walk through the Dark City, but today's Sci-Fi 5 demonstrates that this didn't stop this 1998 movie from influencing later genre films.
When longtime collaborator Russell T. Davies became the showrunner of Doctor Who, Murray Gold found himself along for the ride. Sci-Fi 5 finds out what else Gold has scored - and wonders if he'll be resuming his time travels.
A police forensic scientist with a time machine. A detective trying to bring criminals to justice. In today's Sci-Fi 5, they fight crime and they fight time in the '90s British time travel drama, Crime Traveller.
Not to make a meal of the issues, but Sci-Fi 5 has some truly tasty details about one of the most popular - and frequently quoted - Twilight Zone episodes in the history of the show - if you're hungry for that kind of trivia.
From its European comic origins to the next act in the career of Babylon 5's showrunner, Sci-Fi 5 reveals that nothing in Jeremiah's post-apocalyptic world was ever going to be easy.
The Mass Effect video game franchise has indeed had a massive effect on modern gaming. Today's Sci-Fi 5 recounts how the release of Mass Effect 3 was greeted by controversies of both the real and manufactured varieties.
It was a new sci-fi show that boasted, as one of its co-creators, one of literary sci-fi's all-time heavy hitters. Sci-Fi 5 asks, with those kind of credentials, what happened to the 1988 series Probe?
Genesis of the Daleks is one of the most beloved chapters of Doctor Who history. Sci-Fi 5 examines the origins of the Daleks' origin story and its extremely pivotal place in the lore of Doctor Who - old or new.
Sci-Fi 5 halts the flow of time - for just a few minutes, at any rate - to fill you in on just a few of the strange stories behind the making of the legendary sci-fi film Star Crash.
With a renowned special effects artist as its director, a potential human breakout star and three almost-certain robot breakout stars, Sci-Fi 5 rejoices in the distant sunlight of the cult classic movie, Silent Running.