| Babylon 5 |
News |
When & Where |
InterWeb |
Other Info |
About Gold Channel |
| Babblings Meetings |
These pages are information pages for the Babylon 5 TV show in the UK. They're separate from the
B5 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages
for the UK B5 Newsgroup (
uk.media.tv.sf.babylon5) which I also hold but which was maintained
by a group of us. This page represents mainly my own waffling, but with
contributions from Gareth Edwards (config@ultim.demon.co.uk) and others! So,
cue music
, and on with this show!
Please note that these pages are only occasionally updated these days.
WayBack
machine: if you're interested in the history of these pages, to track
the comings and goings while B5 was first shown, why not visit the
Internet Archive's "Wayback Machine"? Because of the evolution of the
link to these pages, you can look here and here for the earlier archive (1998-2008) and here for more updates during 2007 & 2008. Unfortunately I don't have snapshots from before 1998.
You may have noticed that the URLs are being redirected to the
University of Nottingham. This is because I've finally moved jobs! Any
old link to this site should be correctly redirected.
B5 is available on DVD, as individual seasons, box sets of the films, etc.,
spin-offs such as Crusade and Legend of the Rangers, and as a "Complete Universe"
collection.
There are some significant differences between the regions 1 and 2 releases.
Also be aware that the packaging doesn't hold the disks in place at all
well (at least on the UK version), so if you're picking it up from a shop,
make sure your box doesn't rattle...
In the UK, B5 is currently (February 2010) being shown on the cable channel "FX" at 6pm on weekdays evenings.
The Warner Bros. B5 web site has
had a make-over and now has an extended video, presented by JMS(!), on the
behind the scenes preparation for The Lost Tales. There are 3 JMS video reports on the
MySpace page for the
DVD.
While "The Memory of Shadows" was cancelled, apparently over differences
in direction between the studio and JMS, there is new B5 on its way.
A new series of B5 direct-to-DVD anthology stories starts with
"Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales", due out
in the US on July 31.
The UK, region 2 edition, follows later on 3rd September 2007.
It looks as though JMS is in the UK specifically to film the new
"The Memory of Shadows" film, probably at Elstree Studios. This is
good news. On the other hand, there are rumours circulating that
Warners would like to recast some/all of the characters to bring
in 'bigger' actors. There's little information to say whether
this has any truth in it, other than the rumour being cited from
a variety of sources.
Posted on the rastb5.mod on 7th
October 2004:
"Oh, and for the first time in five years, there is an office
somewhere in England with the words Babylon 5 on the door...."
Babylon 5 actor Tim Choate (He played two characters, "Zathras" and his
brother "Zathras") was killed in a motorcycle accident on his way to a
play rehearsal on 24th September 2004. Another sad loss.
Subject: Today We Lost Richard Biggs
From: Jms at B5
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
I was awakened today with several phone calls from cast members and
Doug to pass along the terrible news that this morning, Richard Biggs
passed away.
We're still gathering information, so take none of this as firm word,
but what seems to have happened, happened quickly. He woke up, got up out
of bed...and went down. The paramedics who showed up suggested it was
either an aneurysm or a massive stroke.
His family members have been informed, and all of the the cast have,
as far as we can determine, also been informed.
This is a terrible loss for all of us. Richard was a consummate
professional but more than that he was an honorable, stand-up guy. If he
gave you his word on something, you never had to wonder about it
afterward. He was always helpful and supportive of all the cast, even
those who only came in for one episode, always with a ready smile and
determined to do whatever it took to make the scene work. He was, quite
simply, a terrific guy, and everyone here is just devastated at the news.
More word as this develops. We may try to have some kind of fund
raiser to help give whatever assistance may be helpful for his kids.
We all miss him terribly.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)
It's
ten years this year
since Season
1 started airing on Channel 4 in the
UK. To celebrate there will be a Babblings
event held at Page's
Bar in Westminter, London on Sunday May 16th from 5pm 'til 10pm.
Everyone is welcome - please see the umtsb5 newsgroup for further
details and to express an interest.
This isn't a full edit to this site, but there is one piece of news that's brought me
back to do an edit (beyond the untrue rumours that this site is about to disappear).
More from JMS on the new B5 project... (end of April, 2004):
"I know I've been absent for a while now, but there are reasons,
especially in regards to B5:TMoS. In a project of this nature, and
this size, there's stage one (let's do this) stage two (let's make
everybody's deal) and stage three (making it). We're hip-deep in
stage two just now, and it's taking a freaking long amount of time to
get through it all. Stage two is also the most unnerving and
nerve-wracking stage when there's a lot of money involved, as
there is in this situation.
So every day is a case of "Are we there yet?" and being told
yes...almost.
I swear, it's the kind of thing that could lead a monk to murder.
Thing of it is...there's a LOT happening right now in the B5 universe,
on a multitude of fronts, some of it in response to TMoS, some of it
coming up completely on its own. All I can say at this moment is that
if you've been waiting for new stuff in the B5 universe, you may be
getting your wish in spades very soon.
Soon, I promise, all will be made clear. I don't like being Mr.
Mysterioso on this, but if I say too much, the-powers-that-be will use
my head to make a 2.35:1 sized hole in the wall."
Hmm - odd sort of aspect ratio to choose... ;-)
On 30th January 2003, JMS posted an update regarding a proposed new B5
project:
From: jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5)
Subject: Re: JMS New Babylon 5 related project (sorry if it´s already been
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 05:01:43 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
It's taken longer than hoped for to be able to talk about this, because it's
taken longer than hoped for to go through all the machinations of the deal.
Depending on the nature of a given deal, it can take a few weeks to a couple,
three months to actually cut the deal and finalize the language in terms
everybody can agree with. We only literally finished the deal last week.
Writing on B5:TMoS is complete, and as soon as the powers that be sign off on
everything, it can be turned in and we can start moving. At that point, I can
say more about this.
Figure another couple of weeks.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)
On 30th November 2003, JMS posted some news on rastb5m
to say that a new B5 development is in the offing which has reached a relaively
likely-to-happen stage of development (usually equals money available). The posting
reads as follows:
Subject: Re: attn. JMS: Update?
From: jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 10:34:36 +0000 (UTC)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
>>I was reading in another post that somebody was saying that they'd read
>>that the Rising Stars matter with Top Cow had been resolved. Is this
>>true?
Yes. There were a number of conditions set before Top Cow in order to
resolve this, and those conditions were met. So the final three scripts
will be turned in by late January/early February, and the Rising Stars
story will be complete.
>>And also, is there anything else new for all us grateful fans? :)
Well, lessee...the first issue of the Doc Strange mini is nearly done,
and I've turned in the first issue of a new series for Marvel which will
have to await a more formal word from them, I'm afraid, since PR is
properly their venue on things like this, and the next Supreme Power
comes out next week. Spidey 501 came out a few days ago (and the last
page is kind of a goof from what I'd originally scripted...it's a long
story, but it doesn't look like it should.)
On the B5 front, there has been something of rather substantial
proportion that's finally gone from talk to money, such that I'm now
working frantically to meet some deadlines, but there's nothing I can
say about this until after January 15th, probably closer to the end of
that month.
The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a go,
hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which is why
I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the political
discusion. I've been writing my little brains out.
I know the immediate result of this will be speculation, but if we could
keep that to a low roar on the nets to avoid precluding anything, that
would be a wonderfulness. But trust me: I wouldn't go on about something
in this way if it wasn't a significant development. Just trust me on
this one for a bit and hold fire until further word.
(Longtime followers of the various news groups know that an eep means
that something significant has happened, but that I can't talk about
it...the eep is just a way of saying, on the QT, that something has,
indeed, happened and it's real, not just speculation or
maybe-gonna-happens. So on that basis, you may consider this an eep.)
And on the topic of fans for a moment...I'm happy to mention that we've
included a thanks to Steve Grimm (Lurker's Guide) and our resident
moderator Jay Denebeim on the Season 5 DVD. Just a way of saying thanks
for years of help and support.
Oh, yeah...and next year you can expect two new DVD sets that a) include
all of the TV movies in one package (with commentaries from me on "The
Gathering" and "In the Beginning") and b) package all 13 of the Crusade
episodes into one box.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)
By way of some sort of edit, all the old news that had accumulated on this page
has been moved, essentially uneditted, to the
news page.
<SMUG>
This site was listed in the Top Ten B5 sites on the "Total TV" Web
site and in the Top Five in the printed magazine. (Total TV is a US cable
listings magazine).</SMUG>
See the main News page for
older news...
Some obligatory links:
Please note that any views expressed here are my personal views & do
not necessarily reflect University of Nottingham policy. No claim is made, explicit or
implied, about the suitability of any data presented here for any
purpose and all rights are reserved by myself or UoN as appropriate.
ie Don't take any data without asking & don't then blame me if it's not what you were after!
"Babylon 5" is copyright Warner Bros. / the Prime Time Entertainment Network.
Thanks to Project Cool for the original
mouse-tracking JavaScript.
Jeremy Morley / jeremy_morley@hotmail.com
University of Nottingham
Most recent edit: 22nd February 2010
