So this guy walks into a bar. 'I have the most brilliant idea!' he says (with a stereotypical Irish accent) 'I'm going to write a television series that crosses Star Trek with a spaghetti Western. Great Huh?' Naturally, he gets severely beaten up for being a complete pleb and having an idea which, on the surface, seems certain to fail. But the fact is, the Firefly concept is one which works perfectly, here you have a show which displays people flying around in space-ships with laser beams, warp drive and all the other trappings of the future, while also shooting each other with derringers and occasionally charging away on a horse. What Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame) has created is a series which manages to deal with the future in a way that maintains the characters' integrity as real human beings with feelings, flaws, tempers and personalities. In short, despite its wacky appearance, Firefly is probably the most believable work of televised science fiction to date.

Background:
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The idea for Firefly occurred to Whedon after a brief study of the battle of Gettysburg, one of the more eventful conflicts of the American Civil War. History is always told from the aspect of the victorious and it was his desire to create a programme which showed what the aftermath of such a battle is like from the point of view of the losers. He wanted to tell a tale of integration and struggle, with people trying to fit in to a new society which they disagree with and fought against. Quite when he decided that an interplanetary take on the theme was a better way to accomplish this is anybody's guess, but its basis on real events of the past certainly lends the storyline a certain reality. Fox television did not exactly take to the idea immediately and Whedon was obligated to make several changes to the screenplay before they would agree to air the pilot. The result of this was that the original pilot was created in just two days, during which time Whedon and his team worked tirelessly to create an episode which would please the producers without ruining the whole idea.

Sufficed to say, the pilot went down a storm with the American television-viewing public and an entire series was commissioned. Alas, that is where the good news ends; for reasons known best to themselves, Fox axed Firefly after just one successful season. This instantly turned the series into a cult classic and created one of the greatest broadcasting injustices since 'Shuddupayaface' beat Vienna to the top spot in the British singles chart!

Plot and Character Overview:
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A Ciao review is not the place to intricately describe every episode on the DVD… I want to encourage you to buy this thing, not sent you into a stupour.

The storyline takes place in the year 2517; long before this time, however, planet Earth had become too small for the rapidly-multiplying human race and thus emigrants had moved away from the planet and settled on a series of planets and moons in another solar system. An alliance was formed with the intention of ruling this new dominion, dividing it into the few 'core planets' and leaving the other, outer worlds to fend for themselves with few laws and little technology. This concept is what creates the wonderful dichotomy of Western versus Sci-fi in the series, the Alliance being represented as a highly-developed, sterile and advanced unit while the outer worlds are left shooting revolvers and drinking bourbon.

It is into this divinely-political society that Whedon throws the main protagonists, a disinherited band of worthies on a small, ramshackle Firefly ship called Serenity. The captain of said space-dinghy is Malcolm Reynolds who, along with his first-mate Zoe are veterans of the war that aimed to unify the new planets. As the losers of the war, they have no planet or moon to call home and thus, Serenity is all they have left.

In addition to Mal and Zoe, the ship is home (at least for a while) to River Tam and her Brother Simon. Before the first episode, Simon helps River to escape from the government, who have been experimenting on her unusually powerful mind. River thus shows various symptoms of mental unrest, not least in the form of deep-rooted fear. Her escape and the part that her brother played in it makes them both wanted criminals and fugitives; their presence on Malcolm's ship is only tolerated because of Simon's useful status as a skilled surgeon.

The ship is piloted by Zoe's husband, Wash. He is a fairly nondescript character whose main function is to maintain the story's light-hearted atmosphere even during moments of intense action. He is portrayed as shy but dependable and highly-skilled at the helm.

The token 'muscle' of the crew is Jayne, a moronic, trigger-happy mercenary with a love of heavy artillery and a total lack of ethics. Some of the series' greatest one-liners are either spoken by, or involve Jayne in one way or another.

Every space-ship needs a mother figure and in this series it is Kaylee, the ship's mechanic. She is a young, caring woman who, despite having never received any training, is capable of keeping the ship in good order while also acting as an agony aunt for the central characters. Early in the series, she develops a crush on Simon, the ship's doctor, a sub-plot which is never explored to any great depth.

There is also a priest called Derrial Book and a glamorous female escort called Inara who inhabit the ship although, it must be said, their characters play a dubiously small part in the plot, suggesting that Whedon may have had bigger things in mind for them in the future series which were never commissioned.

This improbable band of nine individuals form the mainstay of the series, getting involved in various missions which normally involve breaking into places, stealing things, fleeing from the Alliance, getting into fights and generally trying to survive.

The Alliance are not the only enemies that Serenity and her crew have to fear. Other humans often give them a less than warm welcome on outer planets and they are under the constant threat of 'Reavers', cannibalistic tribes who will attack and kill anyone who comes into their path.

With such an exciting mix of characters, brilliant plots and an endless potential for development, it is an amazement to me that Firefly was shot down so early.

Central Cast List:
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Nathan Fillion Capt. Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds
Gina Torres Zoë Washburne
Alan Tudyk Hoban 'Wash' Washburne
Morena Baccarin Inara Serra
Adam Baldwin Jayne Cobb
Jewel Staite Kaylee Frye
Sean Maher Dr. Simon Tam
Summer Glau River Tam
Ron Glass Shepherd Book

Episode List:
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The DVD boxed-set includes every episode of the first and only series, starting with the pilot and concluding with an annoying cliff-hanger. The episode titles are as follows.

"The Train Job"
"Bushwhacked"
"Our Mrs. Reynolds"
"Jaynestown"
"Out of Gas"
"Shindig"
"Safe"
"Ariel"
"War Stories"
"Objects in Space"
"Serenity"
"Trash"
"The Message"
"Heart of Gold"

Filming Style and Camera Tricks:
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Having watched Firefly several times, I have noticed a few cunning tricks employed by the makers. They are not obvious at first but they play an intrinsic part in making the series the masterpiece that it is. First and foremost is the cinematography; which is used to highlight the difference between the Alliance and the outer planets. On the outer planets, as well as on Serenity herself, the camera tends to flit about a lot, giving the impression that it is being handled by an amateur who just happens to be following the characters around. This lends these sections of the show a sort of fly-on-the-wall-documentary atmosphere while also putting the audience right in the middle of the action. Indeed, so committed were the makers to keep this gritty, thick of it filming style, that they even occasionally have thinks seeming to hit the camera, momentarily causing it to spin or tilt and moving you closer to the edge of your seat. When filming the Alliance, on the other hand, the camera moves more smoothly from person to person, keeping a distance that prevents the audience from feeling at all comfortable in the Alliance sets and highlighting the efficiency and sterility of the characters therein.

Colour is also used to great effect, with different filters giving atmosphere to different places and making it easy for the audience to define where in the universe they are. Warm reds and oranges are used when filming within Serenity, giving it a warmth and welcoming homeliness. Inara's shuttle is lit in voluptuous blues and greens, signifying her exotic status as an escort and highlighting her foreignness. Light, dusty colours are applied to the outer planets, increasing the feeling of being in a scorched, arid environment while whites and greys give a cleanliness and harshness to the Alliance and their sets.

My Thoughts:
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In case you had not already guessed, I love this series and sincerely wish that another series had been commissioned. That said, it is perhaps Firefly's rarity and sad demise that makes it what it is. I have never subscribed to the geeky obsession with science that so many Sci-fi programmes inspire; I don't care how the enterprise travels at warp speed, I couldn't give a toss about wormholes, event horizons and photon torpedoes. The only thing that matters to me is a good storyline, a bit of humour and a stunning cast; and by avoiding excessive pseudo-scientific tosh, Firefly manages to appeal to the child-astronaut in me while keeping its status as a show about people rather than machines. I could not recommend it enough.

DVD Trivia and Presentation:
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Firefly comes as a 4 DVD boxed set offering total viewing time of 625 minutes. The discs are presented in the usual tri-fold, glossy card with a slip-cover to hold the whole lot together. The cover sports an image of the entire crew with Serenity in the background. It is worth noting that the slip-cover has a tendency to split open along the seams because the glue used to seal it is not strong enough; I know several people whose copies have done the same thing so I know it's not just me being heavy-handed. It is nothing that a bit of contact adhesive won't fix in a jiffy!

The DVDs are filmed in widescreen with Dolby 2:1 sound. The default language is English although several others are available as subtitles. The set is rated for over 12-year-olds only because of the flagrant use of guns, explosions, dastardly enemies, prostitutes, more guns, psychological killing sprees, blood, gore, more guns…etc…etc.

Special Features:
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Bottom line is, I hate special features! As far as I'm concerned, they could reduce the price by a few quid a leave them off all together. If there's something I want to know, I'll look it up on google… having to sit through a tedious audio commentary just to find out some meaningless trivia is beyond even my patience. However, for those of you who like to get a little more for your money, this boxed set has oodles and oodles of extra tripe for you to sift through.

One episode is available with audio commentary by Joss Whedon while another can be viewed with helpful babbling from Alan Tudyk. There is a mini-film about how Firefly came into being from writing and filing to eventual axing which is presented by Joss Whedon himself and is, I must admit, at least mildly interesting. Another featurette discusses the design, animation and personality of Serenity herself, taking the attitude that the ship is like another character in the storyline.

You can take a tour of the various sets and locations used with yes, you've guessed it, Joss Whedon as your guide. Additionally, of course, there are the usual plethora of bloopers, cast interviews and deleted scenes for those of you who like to watch actors cocking-up their lines repeatedly.

Cost and Availability:
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I bought my copy of this DVD boxed set from EBAY for a meagre £4.00 plus postage - BARGAIN! However, for all you anti-ebayers out there, I have done a bit of trawling on the net and have found the following prices.

www.hmv.co.uk - £13.99 Incl' Delivery
www.play.com - £11.99 Incl' Delivery
www.Virgin.co.uk - £14.99 Incl' Delivery

And for you people who love a bargain, the last copy sold on EBAY went for just £6.50.

Join the Nerds - Bring Back Firefly!
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As I have already mentioned, Firefly was axed after the first series by Fox Studios. Because of its high quality and cult status, there is an ever-increasing lobby to return Firefly to our screens. This motley crew of dedicated geeks has many websites and blogs and even organises rallies to call for the return of Captain Mall and his crew. If you would like to join the crowd, more information may be found at www.fireflyfans.net and www.browncoatsukfaction.co.uk.

Conclusion:
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You should buy this DVD boxed set because:

1 - There is an increasing amount of tat being imported from America at the moment so it seems ridiculous that they would axe such a brilliant series.

2 - The plot is well-defined.

3 - The special effects are very good without being over-the-top.

4 - The scripts are well written and fabulously cast.

5 - Nathan Fillion is a sexy beast.

What more reason do you need? Go. Now. Buy the box.