7

What I vaguely remember:

Live action, aired anytime between 1992 and 2000 — likely before 97. The show is set in space.

Basic plot summary:

Some good kids (two of them I think, age range of 10-16 maybe?) are on the run and are rescued? By some adults..

They have or find some great spaceship which has a drive or power system involving solar sails.

If I remember correctly the ship was long, narrow, generic whitish grey in color with blue glowing outlines in places. On top it had 3 "sails" folded down. I think sails were down for sublight and up for whatever warp or FTL travel this series had. I don't mean like a rocket ship or 50's style sci-fi. This probably had a rounded front and rounded edges. The ship seemed awfully big for the size of crew it had (only 4-5? unless I'm missing many memories)

These sails did not fold out like sails on a boat. They swung up, stood tall, and were only as wide as the ship. They were thick solid grey/white material like the rest of the ship, also with glowing blue outlines. There is a point in the story where the sails are jammed/locked in the sublight position or in between and their enemy is catching up to capture the kids whose parents probably did something important before they were captured, killed, or whatever happened to them.

Apart from the ship the biggest point that stands out is the teleportation used.

When they need to use said teleporter one of the characters asks about (something like star trek beaming technology?) and I think one of the flat adult characters says something about that having been too dangerous and having been outlawed. Instead they use some kind of ... (tesseract?) don't remember what they called it.. but how it worked was:

  • they stand back to back tightly
  • they become visually distorted and some kind of dimensional transportation occurs
  • if they get close to the edge of the blurry field ... they probably lose a limb

Apart from a memorable looking spaceship and approach to teleportation that was unusual for the time, the show seemed quite flat and the good characters seemed excessively and idealistically good. "We'll automatically do anything for each other because the writers wrote it in the script!" kind of tone.

I have scoured lists of 90's sci-fi TV pilots on IMDB and YouTube and tried Google image searches for the ship but never found anything.

The pilot (or what I saw) probably featured 2 large space craft and I don't recall any shuttles or fighters.

Almost certainly had scenes of one or two spaceships near a planet.

And obviously this was a long time ago so I could be off on some details.

Aired in English. I don't recall seeing any aliens in the story. If there were they were likely the humanoid kind.

Improve this question
7
  • "the ship was long, narrow, generic white-ish grey in color with blue glowing outlines in places. On top it had 3 "sails" folded down. I think sails were down for sublight and up for whatever warp or FTL travel this series had." - by long and narrow, I don't mean like a rocket ship or 50's style sci fi. This probably had a rounded front and rounded edges. The ship seemed awfully big for the size of crew it had (only 4-5? unless I'm missing many memories)
    – visitor1138
    Jul 10, 2015 at 7:33
  • 2
    Was it by any chance "The Osiris Chronicles" (aka "Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy")? I can find almost nothing about this pilot/film, but here's a screenshot of the ship, which seems to match your description somewhat: 4.bp.blogspot.com/-hjtItfBbJJo/Umahr8QH4RI/AAAAAAAAaeY/…
    – Liesmith
    Jul 10, 2015 at 8:56
  • It might be in here, hopefully: orig03.deviantart.net/494a/f/2014/171/0/1/…
    – nine9
    Jul 13, 2015 at 9:04
  • 3
    I have similar recollections of this TV show which aired sometime in the mid-nineties. The ship, as I remember it, was elongated and the sails were at right angles to the main body. A lot of thought clearly had gone into the mechanics of the ship which is why, I think, it's so distinctive twenty years later! If I remember correctly - it had something to do with returning to Earth from a human colony on Ganymede or Io. I'd love to know what this series was called!!
    – user48165
    Jul 13, 2015 at 20:22
  • 1
    @Liesmith - The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy does feature an unusual teleportation system, one which "works by folding space", according to its wikipedia description (another plot outline here). There are also some clips from the German airing here, including a clearer shot at 0:22 of the starship "Osiris" with its fins or sails. Maybe you should suggest this as an answer?
    – Hypnosifl
    Jul 13, 2015 at 22:16

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

It may be The Osiris Chronicles, aka Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy. There isn't much footage available of it, but here's a photo of the ship:

enter image description here

The Wikipedia entry gives a brief synopsis which mentions a space-folding teleportation method.

Hypnosifl was able to find this footage from the German airing of the pilot which shows some more footage of the ship in motion with the sails out (thanks!).

Improve this answer
8
  • Like I said above - between the youtube video, the wikipedia description on the teleportation system and the plot, and the imdb review, I'm pretty sold that this is correct.
    – visitor1138
    Jul 22, 2015 at 7:12
  • "Although the box doesnt make it clear, this movie was designed to set the scene for a television series." - imdb.com/title/tt0142973/reviews?ref_=tt_urv (review "A huge disappointment" from user Bass2) - this would explain part of my problem. Looking for a t.v. pilto that was in fact a t.v. movie, setting up to be a t.v. series (almost a pilot but not exactly?)
    – visitor1138
    Jul 22, 2015 at 7:14
  • Thanks to everyone who posted. This question has been bugging me for about 10 years. :)
    – visitor1138
    Jul 22, 2015 at 7:16
  • "Looking for a t.v. pilot that was in fact a t.v. movie, setting up to be a t.v. series" - Hence why I could never find it in any list of worst 90's or failed 90's t.v. pilots. (which I've scoured for a few days every year painfully revisiting this curiosity that I believe you've all satisfied)
    – visitor1138
    Jul 22, 2015 at 7:24
  • 1
    Apologies if this is against community guidelines (and feel free to delete this comment if it is) tfilm.me/19943-letopis-osirisa.html - for the time being it can be seen in full length in english, with russians speaking overtop. Have glimpsed through it - noticed the sails folding down at 36:15. That's 100% proof this is what I was looking for.
    – visitor1138
    Jul 22, 2015 at 8:02
2

Could it be Escape From Jupiter? In a comment Mark mentioned remembering Ganymede or Io, and Escape From Jupiter involves a mining colony on Io which faces disaster after a volcanic eruption, the surviving colonists escape on an old station, and the plot description says "Michael hits the computer and the station begins whirring to life. The station's magnificent solar sails open up to absorb the sunlight from the sun and to also restart the power and life systems." The description doesn't mention any teleportation though, it's possible this is the show Mark was remembering but not the one you were remembering.

Here's a trailer, see if it looks familiar:

Improve this answer
1
  • Cool! But no...
    – visitor1138
    Jul 22, 2015 at 7:11

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.