Bugs

I revisted Bugs by accident.

I had been discussing old TV shows with a friend when Bugs sprung to mind. I couldn't recall much about it but i remember i enjoyed the theme music when i watched it as a kid so i used a popular Internet video-based site to look up the theme. In doing this i found all 4 series available to watch so began binging.

In the beginning, it looked modern with its use of shooting locations, most notably the (then) recently redeveloped London Docklands.

Unfortunately the stories seem a bit far fetched and the action falls short in places as its clearly trying to keep up more edgy US shows and movies.

It shows its age today but i have thoroughly enjoyed the rewatch. I watch it alone as it can be very cheesey and cringy at times and anyone sitting with you would be well justified in asking, "why on Earth are you watching this?"

But it had good intentions and clearly the budget to back it up with decent FX, ever changing musical score and some set designs that put some other shows to shame.

If you're in the mood for a cheesey, 90s looking, not quite polished in the writing department show, then definitely give Bugs a watch.

When I first started watching bugs when I was about 9, I through it was one of the best programs around. However as I got older the shows cracks started to show, the sometimes rather poor special effects and general things that did not make sense.

However, when Bugs was at its best it really did quite well, for example the "Cyberax" storyline really captured my imagination and when they did get round to doing the Special effects right, they did them well. I still enjoy watching the show on DVD and to me, it still has not lost its charm despite the noticeable errors.

It is my opinion that the show should be remembered well because of how fun it was. Bugs may not have lived up completely to the standards of cool gadgets and supper villains of James Bond or the Avengers, but it still packed some very interesting characters and organisations, i.e. "Jean Daniel" and "The Hive".

P.S Why did Craig McLachlan leave the show after series three???

The first series, apart from the epsiode "Assasins Inc." I thought was very good. For the first time in many years the BBC had applied a proper budget to a drama programme and added an element of SF/fantasy. Brian Celmins (who helped devise The Avengers) was a story consultant and the whole thing worked well.

After that things tended to go downhill, with the scripts getting less believable even though today, some years on, the idea of a computer virus attempting to take over the world through the internet isn't quite as far-fetched as we thought!

There were some entertaining episodes in later years but the ratings dropped from an excellent 9-10 million in the first series to more like 6 million I believe, and the BBC pulled the plug after four series.

the premise of this series is very good and the original cast of Jaye Griffiths,Jesse Birdsall and Craig Mclachlan are charismatic. The show has a very distinctive look and yet somehow the episodes are tepid and uninvolving.It is not just the reliance on technobabble or the poorly-staged action and stunts.The series is simply less than the sum of its parts.The problem was compounded in later years as changes to the format meant that the number of recurring characters was almost doubled and the already thin plotlines were spread pretty thinly between them. The final straw came when Craig Mclachlan left and was replaced by Steven Houghton as the same character.He was simply a dull wet piece of wood and enjoyed none of the rapport with his colleagues which had come naturally to his predecessor. The audience turned away in droves and the BBC stopped transmitting halfway through the series.

I used to watch this show every Saturday night with my family, right through from the very first episode. It was brilliant, and I was really upset when the BBC said they would not be making any more, but even more upset that they left it hanging. What ever happened to Beckett, Ros, Ed and Alex? That's what I want to know.

However, I will say that i think that Craig made a much better Ed than Stephen ever did. The on screen chemistry between him and Paula (Alex), made it seem more real, but when Stephen came along, that chemistry fell flat. Why did they replace Craig in the first place? Th only good thing I have to say about Stephen's Ed, is that, unlike Craig, Stephen actually managed to make it look like Ed was a real tai-Kwon-Do expert, and made him kick butt. I think that this was one of the reasons why the BBC axed Bugs.

I've just been reacquainted with it, via the DVD series, after 6 (or is it 7?) long years, and, as a result, i think all us loyal BUGSs fans should start a campaign to bring a half decent TV show back to Saturady nights. BRING BACK BUGS! BRING BACK BUGS!