Channel 5’s add-on channel 5* is to air hit US sci-fi drama Alphas.

Digital Spy reports that Channel 5’s Head of Acquisitions, Paul Fagan, issued a statement about the channel securing the rights to air the show, which read, “With its high octane, exhilarating action, Alphas is the perfect addition to the autumn schedule on 5*.

“We’re thrilled to have secured this new acquisition from NBCUniversal and hope the viewers enjoy the ride.” Read more & comment »

Digital channel Syfy recently sponsored a poll of its website visitors to discover just who are the sexiest male and female in sci-fi today…

And the tenth incarnation of the Time Lord, in the shape of actor David Tennant, came in second place in the poll with 16.9% of the votes, while the current Doctor, Matt Smith, scored just 8.7%.

X Men star Hugh Jackman won the coveted first place with 20.3% of the vote, while Torchwood’s John Barrowman won third place with 14.2% of the vote.

Sci-fi’s ladies weren’t left out, and Summer Glau – of Terminator and Dollhouse fame – won first place in that vote with a whopping 81.9%. Read more & comment »

Syfy have finally released a video promo for their new TV movie, “Red Factions: Origins”.

The pilot is being produced by Universal Media Studios and UFO Films and will debut on SyFy later this year. It is based on the Red Faction series of video games.

The movie stars Brian J. Smith as Jake Mason and Robert Patrick as Alec Mason, the main protagonist of Red Faction: Guerilla.

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via press release:

Syfy will heat up Summer 2011 by launching four scripted series in July — the most ever in a single month — with newcomer Alphas joining powerhouses Warehouse 13, Eureka and Haven.

Along with expanding its popular scripted franchise, Syfy is building on successful reality programming such as Ghost Hunters, Face Offand Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files by introducing two new series. Haunted Collector will be paired with the second season return ofHollywood Treasure on June 1, while Legend Quest debuts in July following the third season premiere of Ghost Hunters International.

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via press release:

SYFY AND THQ ORIGINAL MOVIE RED FACTION: ORIGINS TO PREMIERE ON SYFY SATURDAY, JUNE 4, AT 9PM (ET/PT)

ALL-STAR CAST LED BY BRIAN J. SMITH (Stargate Universe), ROBERT PATRICK (TERMINATOR 2) AND KATE VERNON (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA)

RED FACTION ARMAGEDDON VIDEO GAME SET TO BE RELEASED MAY 31

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Academy Award®-nominated actress Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean, Atonement) joins the cast of Syfy’s four-hour live action television movie event Neverland as the voice of Tinker Bell.

The project, a prequel to J.M. Barrie’s classic Peter Pan, written and directed by Nick Willing, will see Knightley bring to life the iconic role of Tinker Bell, a magical tree spirit whose strength and powers are put to the test when her colony within Neverland’s treetops is endangered.

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Former Lost star, and current star of ‘V’, Elizabeth Mitchell, has revealed that she received special training for her fight scenes in the sci-fi drama.

40 year old Elizabeth, who plays FBI Agent Erica Evans in V, apparently loved the fight training, and has continued with it.

She told the PA, “I have actually gotten a little more into it – only because I found with the first season of V that the fighting really came in handy.

“And I needed to learn actually more how to get knocked around rather than to knock around… Read more & comment »

This new drama – to be aired on SyFy at 10pm tonight – features the kicka** Jane Vasco as an enigmatic and mysteriously self-healing Drug Enforcement Agent.

Jane – played by Kristanna Loken – heals after falling from a 50 storey building, following which, she’s recruited by a covert government agency to track down genetically enhanced people.

But why can she recover from her injuries? Read more & comment »

Scott Rosenbaum, executive producer of ‘V’ – has been discussing the final three episodes of the US show with TV Guide.

He told the magazine, “Anna and Erica will meet face to face in the second to last episode.

“Everything is leading to a major brawl between them. Anna keeps winning and eventually Erica basically says, ‘Enough of this, we’re taking the fight directly to her and we’re going to win’.

“That episode is Erica’s revenge. She’s just had enough and the gloves are off.

“There’s an attack on the Visitors, and there will be deaths involved. It’s an attack that is completely something Erica has come up with… Read more & comment »

I was very pleasantly surprised by this latest US import – made by the Fox network. I’d thought it was going to be dross, because a) based on the synopsis of the show, it seemed utterly unbelievable and b) it’s on the Sci-Fi channel, and let’s face it, that is a notorious laugh-at-not-with channel.

However, my husband insisted on watching it because he thought it was going to be sci-fi, not unreasonably given the channel it’s on, but the only thing sci-fi-ish is that it seems to be set in the future.

Other than that, it’s basically an action thriller… Read more & comment »

I vividly recall the first-time-around series V, when aliens ate guinea pigs with nauseous realism, and where babies were born that looked more like gargoyles than babies – watch out, they bite! – but in this remake’s first outing, I suspect the show’s writers have stumbled upon who the Tories really are…

As the newly formed – and rather too rapidly formed if you ask me – resistance movement was gathering momentum, we heard that the Vs have been on earth for ages, causing “economic meltdown” and fostering racial hatred and causing wars. Sound familiar??

Mrs Thatcher saying “Rejoice!” when we sunk the Belgrano, the Tories introducing poll tax and mass unemployment? Yep, I think we now know why… and Smarmy Cameron’s façade is probably hiding the true hideousness of his fizog, if it can get uglier that is.

However, conservatives-are-aliens theories aside, the spectacular nature of this remake struck me right from the get go. Gone are the dodgy shifting cardboard sets and polyester reliant wardrobes. Instead, we were treated to some brilliant graphics and a convincing cast… Read more & comment »

Will Smith is all set to produce a new show for Sci Fi titled ‘Unfinished Business.’

The series is about an ex-cop who starts seeing flashes of memories from the recently deceased. The visions help him to resolve their unfinished business.

The network (I refuse to call them SyFy until the changeover takes place this July!) plans to air “Unfinished Business” as a two-hour movie that will also serve as a potential series pilot.

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