BBC's Coming Outcast

Later this summer BBC America will be showing a UK series Outcasts.  As the name suggests, the population on this planet occupy one of many locations for fleeing earthlings leaving behind a home planet at war.  The discovered planet's name, Carpathia, harkens back to the steamship that saved passengers on the sinking Titanic. 

 Hiding away in Forthaven, the colonists face plenty of intrigue as well as threats beyond the city walls.  The show is part Lost in Space and part Lost with its mystical story line and the "others."  It also has some of the bleakness and raw politics of the later Battlestar Galactica.

As a matter of fact, the first episode includes Jamie Bamber, from Battlestar Galactic fame, though he is soon replaced by Eric Mabius.  I was disappointed with the quick part played by Bamber, but Mabius quickly fills the lead role and shakes his image as the wimpy boss on Ugly Betty. The program also boasts other well-known actors, from Liam Cunningham to Hermione Norris.  The series was filmed in outside Cape Town, South Africa, creating a spectacular setting for the lonely planet.

Unfortunately, the UK audience did not take to the series early this year.  As a result, Outcasts has been canceled after its first season.  I recommend the show to sci-fi fans, but it seems the program should have been called Carpathia.  If you recall, some years after saving the Titanic passengers the Carpathia was destroyed by a German U-boat.  So much for the wages of good intentions.

Update:  The series starts on BBC America June 18, 2011.