ARTHUR C CLARKE'S MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE PART 2

Right - let's get started with the next bunch of episodes in this epic 90's slice of Fortean Television.

 EPISODE 10 - AT DEATH'S DOOR

This episode deals with the possibility of life after death, thankfully it doesn't get too existential or metaphysical, instead it chooses to concentrate on the creepier end of the scale.

We get the story of a college lecturer who by all accounts was a bit of an arsehole who had a vision of being tortured by Demons from Hell whilst undergoing a near death experience - this vision shat him up so much that he totally changed his outlook on life and became a priest. Certainly gives you pause for thought.

We also get the story of a little girl who nearly died and claimed to meet her dead grandmother in "Heaven" and other tales of near death out of body experiences.

Arthur posits that these experiences may well be hallucinations induced by an Oxygen starved brain but even he's gracious enough to credit that all still may not be as it seems and the only way we'll ever know for sure is when it's our own time to shuffle off this mortal coil.

A good episode this one.

EPISODE 11 - CALLERS FROM THE COSMOS

Out of all of the episodes broadcast in this epic series I'm guessing that this one was the most popular with audiences in the mid 90's.

Thanks to the popularity of the X-Files, the release of the infamous Roswell alien autopsy footage (which was a fake) and a general cyclical fascination for all things UFO related, the image of the "Grey alien" was EVERYWHERE in the 90's. T-shirts, posters, figures - you name it and those little grey buggers would be all over it. So it's a foregone conclusion that this show would want to tap into that zeitgeist, and it does so in grand style.

The episode mainly covers the topic of UFO abductions and goes into a fair amount of depth regarding the abduction of Betty and Barney Hill in 50's America. The Hill case was one of the first examples of an alien abduction, you know the drill -   a couple driving down a dark road at night, UFO appears, Aliens get out and force the couple inside, experiments ensue (probably including the odd anal probe), the bewildered and scared couple are then dropped off outside and find that they're missing a few hours of time. All the tropes are here and this is one of the earliest examples.

Other cases are also covered, the really nice thing about this episode is Arthur's enthusiasm - he's still partially wearing his sceptic's hat but it's more of a case that he doesn't really know if it's real or not but he WANTS to believe. 

This episode is interesting, nicely nostalgic in that 90's way and as a result is utterly charming.

EPISODE 12 - THE EVIL EYE

This episode covers curses and asks the question - Is it possible for someone to become cursed or is it just simple coincidence and bad luck (no prizes for guessing which side of the debate Arthur C Clarke is on).

The main case covered in this episode is the infamous curse of Tutenkhamun - where several members of Howard Carter's excavation team ended up dying by various means shortly after opening the Pharaoh's tomb.

Another good solid episode this one. The series seems to have found it's feet again after a bit of a shaky start.

EPISODE 13 - SECRETS OF THE PYRAMIDS 

Oops I spoke too soon. This episode is a companion piece to last week's, however where the previous episode was actually interesting and dealt with all the cool, weird stuff about ancient Egypt, this episode is a lot more boring.

Yes, we're back in Archeological territory again - who built the Pyramids of Giza ? (Erm...the Egyptians...), and how ? (lots of slaves and cleverly designed construction techniques). It's more like a Discovery Channel documentary. Ok, if that sort of thing floats your particular boat but not for me sadly.

EPISODE 14 - MYSTERIES OF THE MAYA

Yet more archeological "mysteries", this time centering on the ancient Mayan civilization (they really should have called this series "Arthur C Clarke's World Of Archeology").

BUT - this episode is slightly (only slightly mind) more interesting than the other archeology based episodes because of one thing - PRIMITIVE FOOTBALL.

Now, I'm not in any way shape or form remotely interested in Football, quite the opposite in fact. At school I absolutely HATED football with a passion bordering on being an actual phobia. When it came to being picked for teams for that day's game there where always three kids left that nobody wanted on their team - the obligatory slow, overweight asmatic kid, the stick thin puny kid with bad eyesight and me. That's how utterly shite I was a footie. So I'm in mo way coming at this as a football fan.

However - what we see is interesting all the same. It turns out the ancient Mayan's had a football style game that they used to play, we're even treated to seeing a reconstruction of a game played by some loincloth wearing chaps. The REALLY interesting thing about this is that ancient Mayan footie was basically gladiatorial - meaning whichever team lost then got brutally sacrificed to the Gods.

For someone who's always found Football a bit pointless and boring, the notion of it becoming a "win or die" type of game just seems to liven the whole idea up a bit, and I'm not alone on this as none other than Arthur C Clarke himself agrees with me !

Yes - in Arthur's little end of segment chat to us he clearly says that they should make footballers play under death match conditions. Arthur does, of course, have a wicked mischievous glint in his eye when he says this, he's only joking (as am I), but I really liked this little glimpse of Clarke's warped sense of humour. It made me realise that I've actually grown quite fond of him over the course of watching his TV mystery shows, and for that little moment alone this episode stands out amongst the other less interesting archeological episodes as at least having SOMETHING to make it a bit less dry.

EPISODE 15 - SQUARING THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE 

This episode deals with the Bermuda Triangle - that infamous stretch of ocean where ships, planes and boats have mysteriously vanished without a trace.

It's nice to see the series pop it's head back into the realms of the paranormal again even though Arthur pretty much debunks the entire phenomena by the episodes' end. Basically Arthur reckons that the dissapearences are down to nothing more than bad weather conditions and inexperienced sailors foolishly trying - and failing - to navigate the Triangle just to say they've done it. He goes on to say that the real mystery is how come there aren't actually MORE boats run into trouble in this area ? He puts this down to the high professionalism of local sea rescue services. Good old Arthur, ever the realist.

At that's all I've got time for today, I'll be back soon with a look at the final of few episodes of this show. See you then...