Escape From Jupiter

YouTube, Escape From Jupiter (1994) TV series, 13 episodes

I remember this series from childhood and I think at the time I liked it even better than Trek, probably my favourite series back then because it seemed to have all the ingredients that made Trek great, but the added identifiability that it was from the perspective of children and teens. I've wanted to see it again for years, but it was never released in its entirety on DVD and was never available fully in any form, but thanks to YouTube I finally found it, with its own official channel and good quality picture and sound (with the caveat of a slight issue with the dialogue coming only through the left channel, while all other music and sound came through both channels as normal). A very minor gripe when compared with being able to see a series that had such an impact that it's remained with me to this day. I didn't have many strong memories about it, though the music was very familiar as I recorded it onto cassette tape back then, and I was curious to view it again through older eyes. The impressive thing about it is how well it holds up, both in the acting, the stories, and even the CGI, which is something special for a 25-minute children's TV show that came out in 1994! The computer models are beautiful and have their own distinct style, as good as 'Babylon 5,' an adult space series of that same period that used CGI and which must have had a huge budget compared with this.

I don't know what it was about Australian children's dramas in the nineties, but they produced a number of great series' like this: there was the sequel, 'Return To Jupiter,' 'The Girl From Tomorrow,' 'Ocean Odyssey,' even non-genre examples like 'Glad Rags' stuck with me, and probably a few more I'm forgetting. But this and its sequel were the best, with my predilection for space drama drawing me to it. It concerns the crew of a mining station on Io, one of the moons of Jupiter, and their emergency evacuation back to Earth when deep drilling causes lava eruptions that destroy the base. The characters are well defined, with Duffy, the commander of the mission, an especially stressed, hot-tempered leader who hates children and is constantly trying to curb their explorations of childhood and clamp down on them so they can't keep causing trouble. Of course boredom, something every child knows too well, is the cause of most of their escapades, but if they were all good and quiet there wouldn't have been much of a series since space travel is basically a long, drawn-out journey through nothingness in a straight line! The main adult crew are made up of a couple of miners, one of whose wife is in charge of operations from what I can tell (some have coloured plastic collars as if to denote rank or designation, Duffy with blue, this lady with yellow), an Asian couple as tech experts, Professor Ingersoll as the brains of the operation, and a female doctor. We rarely see any other crew, but there's the impression of a larger complement.

The main characters are really the group of children, so you have the two main teens, Michael and Gerard, the first being more of an intelligent, thoughtful type, the other being the cool dude, hair all slicked up in spikes, and always up for a fight. Kumiko rounds out this group, newly arrived from Earth, and initially sceptical of being in some dump, she soon becomes firm friends with the boys, the group complemented with the two younger children, Kingston, the 'genius'/tunnel rat, and Anna, Gerard's younger sister. It's a really good mix of personalities and where too many child actors are obnoxious or unsympathetic, that's not the case here, making you care about them and wanting to be part of their adventures. The group dynamic holds a fascination as we see the various ups and downs that bring them all together, ultimately into a team that the adults depend upon for their survival in the final episode. There's a lot of "drop dead" and squabbling to begin with as they respond to the only lives they've ever known collapsing, but far from being a series where the children mope and moan, they take every opportunity for fun and adventures to the extreme detriment of senior adult Duffy, the headmaster figure in the drama. Without his rigid, uncompromising shadow looming over everything it's hard to see where much of the conflict would have come from, but they all at least have a common enemy to band them together, and the most delightful part of the series is seeing those moments where differences are overcome.

That two such different young lads as Michael and Gerard end up as fast friends through the challenges they face, is something that adds a deeper dimension to what could have been a simple escape story. They both show their growing age by the responsibilities handed to them by their parents, but at the same time they're still young enough to drop everything and have fun. Similarly, it's great to see Duffy go from child-hating bureaucrat to a man that has enough sensitivity to be able to persuade young Anna to go on the final escape aboard the tug that only has room for the five children, and really takes his character to a new plateau. As an adult you can appreciate the position of the adults as much as you can remember the viewpoints of the children. The adults don't contribute a huge amount to the ongoing story, but they're always there to reassure or to remind the main characters what they should be doing, or show concern for their safety. But as befits a series aimed at children, it is they whom are often the heroes, solving problems and arriving at solutions the adults haven't foreseen. Professor Ingersoll is the closest in mind to them, existing outside the command structure and the pressures of parents, he is open to their thoughts and shows himself to be an unconventional intelligence.

There are a lot of aspects to the series and the children's lives that would appeal to a young audience without putting off an adult one: gadgets of all kinds, from Zit, Kingston's characterful robot that can zip about on its tank tracks, Kumi's amazing computer which can shape-shift into something much smaller, Kingston enjoys Sega games in 3D holographic form (which shows what a powerhouse brand this particular games company was in the early nineties, though in the real world has since been eclipsed by Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft), and even Gerard has his multi-mate that acts as a tool for most eventualities. The technology even now looks impressive, with transparent flat-screens for communication, but also a pleasingly chunky, working impression to everything. Like 'Star Wars' it has a heavily lived-in feel, from the worn clothing to the battered consoles and the industrial nature of station KL-5's interior. It's a world that is worth exploring and I found myself only wishing there was more to see of the state of human technology and development in this undated era. What draws me to it is the way they solve each problem, the ridiculous pranks they get up to, and a really good sense of what real people do. We get some touching moments as the parents say goodbye to their offspring when they have to leave as the point of no return for the station is reached, and that, as much as those times when they're furious with the hi-jinks, spreads a strong feeling of the reality, stakes, and gravity of the situation.

As if the graphics, the humour and drama, and the look of the production weren't all top-notch, we're also treated to sly little in-jokes about other sci-fi. The most obvious one is Ingersoll's wishing "May the Force be with you," to Michael as he takes control of the escape tug, which all the children have no idea what he's talking about. 'Star Wars' is also referenced in the occasional 'I have a bad feeling about this.' They also mention they need to 'phone home' ('ET'), there's talk of xenomorphs and 'in space no one can hear you scream' ('Alien'), and possibly even 'Total Recall' when Kingston is talking about having your eyes melt and stuff when you go out into space. None of these things take away from what is a very grounded series, despite its location of spinning off into space, and that's probably thanks to the Antipodean attitudes we see, and those accents which when serious seem very serious. We see the children grow and learn, with Kumi giving up her prized possession, her beloved computer, for the sake of their survival, and Michael having to take the pilot's seat as the ultimate test of courage. Maybe Kingston doesn't change, but we get to know him better through his sense of injustice at being one of the youngest, and his desperate fear of being parted from his Mother. There are side quests into future tech, such as the holographic chamber that beams worlds into your head, though it's the exploration of the inner workings of the air ducts that provides the best diversion for them.

Being a children's series it has a happy ending, and all the better, with a beautiful final shot of all five children running about on the beach by the sea, playing with new dog, Duffy, as the camera whirls up and away above them. It's a terrific way to finish the thirteen episodes that were made with a deft touch. It's not rocket science or great art, but it very much succeeds at what it sets out to do, and I would say does more than you'd expect of it. I don't know why it should have worked so well, why they spent so much effort on making something right (that Consulting Script Editor, Peter Jackson, he wasn't the… nah, probably a common enough name… but if it was…), or whether it simply happened to be one of those productions that clicked together, but it certainly did, and that's not nostalgia talking because as I said I really didn't have that many specific memories of the series, I don't even know if I saw the final episode, but it was charming to see it the full journey, my only regret being that it had to end after only thirteen episodes. But then there was the sequel, 'Return To Jupiter' which I await with glee. If it's as good as this one it'll be well worth the return journey!

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