Well, that was my immediate reaction about 30 seconds into Orbit. Didn't last long, though!

       What a rollicking good episode! It became clear, very early on, that this wasn't going to be an X-files take. And I loved the suspense - I really couldn't work out what was going on (apart from the fact that it obviously wasn't an alien invasion) until more than half-way through.

       I'm going to keep this brief - it's late, and I think I've averaged about 3 hours sleep in each 24 for the last five days, and my brain is hardly at it's most alert or productive (but at least I made my first deadline with two days to spare - the second one shouldn't be a problem...) So I'll just mention some of the more striking 'good bits'...

       Backup in granny glasses as a New Age reporter! She was just so sweet! And then she got the glory of catching Shabadi! Excellent stuff...

       Keel actually admitting he's seen a UFO. Wow... A bit unexpected, that.

       Malone doing a good impersonation of Cowley at his grouchiest! (Still wish he wouldn't wear those 'orrible striped suits, though.)

       The 'car banter' is coming along, though it's still not terribly funny or witty. Problem is, right now I can't think how it could be made more so. The days are long past when TV could really get away with the kind of outrageously non-PC repartee that was such fun in The Professionals - The Original Series. Still, it's a step in the right direction...

       I rather like the way CI5 is taking on the clearing up of old mistakes (first we had WW2 gas in Samurai Wind, and now a hangover from the SDI.) The original series did the same: it creates a thematic coherence that makes me, at least, feel comfortable - the old ideals are still there, it's just that the scale of the problem has grown.

       But best of all is the absolutely extraordinary character of Stoner. Perfectly content to slowly murder the man who fired him and then took the credit for all his work, as Malone points out: not at all averse to providing the means to kill (tens of) thousands of people - as long as they are soldiers (in other words, paid to kill and working with the full knowledge that they may also be killed. Bit like CI5, actually...): but who will not target the Eiffel Tower because it will cause the deaths of ordinary people. Of course, concern for his daughter may have had something to do with this last: my knowledge of geography is appalling and I've no idea how close the Sorbonne is to the Tower. But I guess flying iron girders can travel a long way in any event... The main thing is, Dr Stoner has quite rationally sorted human beings into different categories - those he is prepared to kill, and those he is not prepared to kill (though I suspect the full spectrum goes much, much further than this) - and feels no remorse about doing so. A peculiarly childlike attitude. No doubt some would call him evil. I think he's just honest. (But also not a terribly safe person to have running around free...)

       Finally, just in case anyone's interested, I've quickly checked through all ten "Centuries" of Nostradamus' Prophecies, and have come up with just two 14^th quatrains (in Century One and Century Seven) that make any sense in context (and the first of them is a bit doubtful, at that): -

Sorry, I've had no time, again, to create an animation. However, I do have a couple in mind, so assuming the next few days' work goes well (Oh joy... Freud, Jung, and the Physiology of Dreaming...) I should be able to do at least one for next week. With a bit of luck, I'll also have shifted out of manic mode and into something more closely approaching the rational. Oh, I don't know, though... Why stop when I'm enjoying myself?...