TDP 1236: FOR YOUR RCONSIDERATION Episode 2 PARADOX

  Paradox is a 2009 British  , starring  as Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint. Written by  and produced by  for the , it was filmed and set in , England. Flint heads a police team played by  and , working with a scientist played by , as they attempt to prevent disasters foretold by images being sent from the future. The series aired on  and  during November and December 2009. It received mostly negative reviews from critics, and it was not renewed for a second season. Synopsis[] Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint (), Detective Sergeant Ben Holt () and Detective Constable Callum Gada () investigate images being broadcast to an eminent  Dr Christian King's () laboratory, which appear to show catastrophic events in the future. Production[] Murray Ferguson, chief executive of , said that they were looking for something "different from the traditional formula of investigating a crime that has already taken place" and premise for the series, the police having knowledge of future incidents, was developed.  (, ) was chosen to write the series. She said she has "always been interested in the decisions you're not aware you are making". The series was based on the "moral and emotional implications of having the ability to change the future". The series was then commissioned by  and  for  with executive producers Patrick Spence, for , and Ferguson. The series was produced by Marcus Wilson and directed by  and Omar Madha. Filming began in , England in June 2009, with the majority of filming in the  district[] of the . The  is used as the backdrop for Dr King's place of employment, Prometheus Labs. Filming was completed over 13 weeks and Fergison said: "Each episode is set within a very short time period so the changeable weather caused havoc." Cancellation[] On 25 February 2010, David Bentley of the  writing in their Geek Files blog, quoted an unnamed BBC spokesman: "In spite of a great cast and production team, Paradox did not find its audience in the way that we had hoped". Episodes[] 24 November 2009 4.81 million Astrophysicist Christian King receives multiple ambiguous images ostensibly referencing a looming catastrophe. DI Rebecca Flint is called in to investigate. Can a disaster be averted? 2 "Episode 2" 1 December 2009 2.94 million Still reeling from events of the previous day, the group attempts to piece together new clues and prevent a tragedy, with DI Flint unaware of potentially devastating personal consequences. 3 "Episode 3" 8 December 2009 3.32 million 4 "Episode 4" Omar Madha 15 December 2009 3.12 million 5 "Episode 5" Omar Madha 22 December 2009 3.11 million The series finale finds a disillusioned Dr. King working with the team to prevent an attack that will have dire consequences for each team member. Consequences of prior failures result in multiple moral dilemmas. Who will live, and who will die? Reception[] The series peaked at 4.81 million viewers for the first episode. In , James Walton said that despite the "exciting" climactic scenes, "[s]adly, by then the show's complete absence of internal logic (or, if you prefer, its overwhelming silliness) meant that it was beyond help." Comparing with American series  and 's , Alex Hardy from  said that the former "is currently doing a much better job at such space-time contemplation" and that the "'working back from an accident' format unfolded much more deliciously" in the latter. Following the second episode, The Times' Andrew Billen said that although the last 10 minutes were exciting, "[t]he difficulty lay in the 50 minutes of scratchy dialogue, robotic acting and general misery that it took to get there." Jeremy Clay from the  also liked the climax but said "the rest was utterly daft", the programme tried the patience of 's Phil Hogan and  from  said that "the Prometheus Innovation Satellite Downlink offers a perfect acronym for the state you'd have to be in to take this kind of thing seriously".