Omega Factor, The - The Complete Series on DVD

Martyn from Cornwall , 20/10/2005

I never saw the series when it was first broadcast in the late seventies, but have found that over 25 years later, The Omega Factor is still very fresh and intelligently written.

Unlike much of the TV from the period, Omega is well edited and has a sharp, enthralling script, all neatly delivered with some excellent acting. The effects are primative, but there you go!!

If you are interested in the Paranormal, many of the Omega storylines are based on theories that are still relevant in today's research and investigations, so also an excellent watch for those who want to develop their knowledge of the unknown.

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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A customer from London, England , 10/11/2005

I remember watching this in the late 70s and was reminded of it more recently while watching Sea of Souls on the BBC, which you could almost call 'Son of Omega Factor'. When I saw the DVD was out had to rekindle the memories and was VERY impressed with how well they stood up! The performances were excellent, special effects were effective and not to ambitious and overall I thoroughly enjoyed watching the series again.

As with all these 70s series, seeing so much smoking on the screen was something of a culture shock :)

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Fareham , 10/11/2005

Before Chris Carter worked through the dictionary to come up with the X Files, the BBC had created the short lived (just one series) and controversial (Mary Whitehouse accused the production team of promoting devil worship!) Omega Factor. Of course, by today's standards it all seems very tame - don't expect monsters of week, state of the art special effects et.al. - but there's still very solid story-telling, great atmosphere and strong likeable performances from James Hazeldine and Louise Jamison. I had fond memories of this series when it was originally show .. I'm glad to say it still holds those feelings after a second viewing.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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Richard Holland from Mold, North Wales , 12/12/2005

I vividly recall watching episode 2 of The Omega Factor at the age of 14 in 1979 and thinking it the scariest thing I'd ever seen on television. Not quite so scary now... Despite the usual BBC drama faults of low budgets and rushed production schedules, however, The Omega Factor still has a lot to recommend it. The central premise is excellent and undated. A government department is investigating the potential - military intelligence and otherwise - of psychic phenomena, because other nations are doing the same. However 'Department 7' has also been infiltrated by a sinister organisation known as Omega - with designs of its own. Add to this a journalist who discovers his interest in psychic phenomena is due to his own latent abilities - and that he has been monitored by Dept 7 for some time (even his wife and brother are members) and it all gets rather intriguing. The central team of James Hazeldine, Louise Jameson and John Carlisle are unfailingly superb, but some of the support cast are often shaky, no doubt due to the hurried production, and some of the scripts are rather clunky. But others remain very effective, including the aforementioned haunted house episode, the poltergeist story and those involving the use of hallucinogens in combination with psychic power to control the population. If it all sounds a bit X-Files - it is, right down to the 'trust no-one' wheels within wheels scenario. Well worth watching - but could do with a classy remake with decent production values and a good budget. Where's Russell T Davies when you need him? Oh yes!

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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Richard Holland from Mold, North Wales , 12/12/2005

I vividly recall watching episode 2 of The Omega Factor at the age of 14 in 1979 and thinking it the scariest thing I'd ever seen on television. Not quite so scary now... Despite the usual BBC drama faults of low budgets and rushed production schedules, however, The Omega Factor still has a lot to recommend it. The central premise is excellent and undated. A government department is investigating the potential - military intelligence and otherwise - of psychic phenomena, because other nations are doing the same. However 'Department 7' has also been infiltrated by a sinister organisation known as Omega - with designs of its own. Add to this a journalist who discovers his interest in psychic phenomena is due to his own latent abilities - and that he has been monitored by Dept 7 for some time (even his wife and brother are members) and it all gets rather intriguing. The central team of James Hazeldine, Louise Jameson and John Carlisle are unfailingly superb, but some of the support cast are often shaky, no doubt due to the hurried production, and some of the scripts are rather clunky. But others remain very effective, including the aforementioned haunted house episode, the poltergeist story and those involving the use of hallucinogens in combination with psychic power to control the population. If it all sounds a bit X-Files - it is, right down to the 'trust no-one' wheels within wheels scenario. Well worth watching - but could do with a classy remake with decent production values and a good budget. Where's Russell T Davies when you need him? Oh yes!

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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itstinks , 21/08/2006

A tale mixing witchcraft, the secret service and military weapons,

obviously the special effects are no great shakes but some of the very poor acting really lets it down, some good little bits but hope it gets better on disc 2

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

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