Space: Above and Beyond
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Space: Above and Beyond
 | |
|---|---|
| Episodes: | 24 |
| Year: | 1995-1996 |
| Country: | United States |
| Seasons: | 1 |
| Seasons Breakdown: | (1) 24 |
| Category: | Earth Future |
| Colour: | Yes |
| Format: | Series |
| Company: | Village Roadshow Pictures, Hard Eight Pictures and 20th Television |
| Creator: | Glen Morgan and James Wong |
| Run Time (mins): | 45 |
| Language: | English |
| Type of Show: | Live Action |
| Status: | Ended |
| Broadcaster: | Fox |
| First Aired: | September 12, 1995 |
| Last Aired: | June 2, 1996 |
Summary
The series is set in a future where humanity lacks the technology for faster‑than‑light (FTL) travel. Instead, interstellar colonization is achieved through the exploitation of naturally occurring wormholes, transient but predictable phenomena that permit passage across immense distances. This fragile expansion is violently disrupted when an alien species known as the Chigs launches a surprise assault, annihilating Earth’s first extra‑solar colony and destroying a second colony ship. The Chigs possess limited FTL capability, granting them superior mobility, though they also make use of wormholes. Their technological advantage enables them to outflank and devastate Earth’s military forces, culminating in their advance into the Solar System.
In response, Earth deploys inexperienced and hastily trained units such as the 58th Squadron, nicknamed the Wildcards. The series centres on this group, tracing their transformation from untested cadets into seasoned combat veterans. The unified Earth forces operate under the authority of a restructured United Nations, which lacks a formal standing military; instead, national navies, including the United States Navy and the Royal Navy, command interstellar star-ships.
The narrative also incorporates the legacy of a prior conflict between humans and androids known as the Silicates. These humanoid machines, described as walking personal computers, rebelled against their creators, established independent communities, and waged a guerrilla war from hidden bases. Their suspected collaboration with the Chigs adds further complexity to the interstellar struggle. To counter the Silicates, humanity engineered a new class of soldiers: the In Vitroes, artificially gestated humans born at the physical age of eighteen and trained exclusively for combat. Often disparagingly called tanks or nipple‑necks, these troops played a decisive role in the Silicate war. In its aftermath, they faced the challenge of reintegrating into human society, with mixed success.
Cast
Nathan West MORGAN WEISSER, Shane Vansen KRISTEN CLOKE, Copper Hawks RODNEY ROWLAND, Vanessa Damphouse LANEI CHAPMAN, Paul Wang JOEL DE LA FUENTE, Colonel Tyrus Cassius (TC) McQueen JAMES MORRISON, Commodore Ross TUCKER SMALLWOOD.
Tags: Earth Future, United States, 1995, English
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