Television taken over by fantastic shows!

Well, the number of science fiction, fantasy and supernatural horror shows still pales into insignificance when compared with dreadful sitcoms or awful reality TV shows or CSI: Pick A City type shows, but the lover of fantastic TV has a lot of stuff spread out across the telewaves in the UK now and in the next few weeks.

TERRA NOVA, the all new dinosaur romp joins the recently re-started FRINGE on Sky 1 providing an action-orientated entertainment to counterpoint the more cerebral mystery investigations of the Fringe Division.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is back on ITV 2 next week with its teenage take on the toothsome kind, dovetailing nicely with the fact that the same writer's THE SECRET CIRCLE has just kicked off on Sky Living.

HAVEN returns to Syfy where it lines up alongside the currently running LOST GIRL and WAREHOUSE 13.

And for those people who can't be bothered with all that Skybox stuff then the good ol' BBC has MERLIN which is back on BBC 1 for Saturday nights and the much more aimed at adults THE FADES on BBC 3.

And of course, Sky Living is also still scaring the bejeesus out of people with the always excellent SUPERNATURAL.

It is interesting to note that of all the above shows only TERRA NOVA is a straight science fiction show with all the others edging more towards the fantasy and supernatural horror strands.

Angels At Work in the UK

It's truly amazing what people will come up with to publicise their products. The Sci Fi Freak Site received the following data release about angels and other spirits at work in the country to publicise the release of the fifth season of the utterly brilliant SUPERNATURAL  starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki on DVD. This show has changed from a humble 'monster of the week' series to a remarkable examination of brotherhood and the fight against evil, no matter how serious that evil becomes. Season five dealt with a war between demons and angels and the coming of the Apocalypse and was the best yet. If you haven't seen the show then get hold of copies right now. You won't regret it.

 

And how to publicise this release? Apparently to commision a study into angels and fairies and their activities in the UK. So, for allthose who believe and for those that don't here is the release in full:

 

"Guardian angels, white witches and fairies are just a few of the good spirits which are active in the UK today according to the Supernatural Angel Report – a comprehensive study into angelic paranormal activity in the UK over the past 25 years.

The  Supernatural Angel Report was specially commissioned to celebrate the release of Supernatural: The Complete Season 5 DVD out now and focuses upon paranormal occurrences associated with angels and good spirits which have been reported to the police and leading paranormal organisations in the UK over the last 25 years. The extensive research, conducted by the UK’s leading authority on the unexplained, Lionel Fanthorpe, included studying multiple archives, police reports, published reports and interviews with a number of ex police officers.

The report notes that there have been 755 documented incidents in the past 25 years, ranging from healing and helpful entities, to visions of angels and animal spirits. The report reveals that benign entities are the most common angelic paranormal experience with 192 reported incidents in the past 25 years, the majority of which can be found in Yorkshire with 18 reported cases.

 

Official Reports of Angelic Activity in the past 25 years:

1.      Benign Entities                      192

2.      Friendly Entities                     127

3.      Visions of Angels                  104

4.      Helpful Entities                       99

5.      Animal Spirits                         69

6.      Fairies                                      44

7.      Visions of Saints             41

8.      White Witches                       32

9.      Guardian Angels                 24

10.  Healing Entities                     23

 

Benign entities are neither helpful nor friendly but people, who have come in contact with them, describe them as harmless and non-threatening. One example case is at St Martin's Church in Westmeston in Sussex, where there are reports from witnesses of a strange, eerie phantom which glides from the St Martin's Churchyard then drifts across the road and finally vanishes through the wall of a neighbouring house.

 

The second most reported type of angelic paranormal activity are friendly entities with 127 reports. One witness, at St Botolph's Priory in Colchester in Essex, reported seeing a phantom figure moving among the gravestones.  It paused and smiled in a very friendly way at the witness and her friends - then faded away and vanished altogether.

 

There have been 104 reported cases of angel visions over the past 25 years. In Sutton Wood in Derbyshire what seems to be an angel takes the form of a pious monk wearing a large golden cross.  Witnesses have described the entity as very holy and having an aura of goodness that makes them glad that they have seen it.

 

Helpful Entities are the fourth most reported about angelic paranormal beings and there have been 99 cases of them helping people repeatedly over the years. One of the most documented takes place at the site of the old Manor House at Cold Ashton in Gloucestershire.  One of several episodes connected with the site concerns a lost motorist who called at the Manor and asked the very friendly butler, who answered the door, for directions.  The motorist set off on the right road and reached her destination safely.  When next in the vicinity, she looked for Cold Ashton Manor again - only to find that it was empty and had been derelict for many years.

 

In at number five are animal spirits, with 69 being reported, the most prolific of which is the Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye Terrier who belonged to a man named John Gray.  When John died in 1858, Bobby guarded his grave for the next 14 years until Bobby himself died in 1872.  Witnesses have reported seeing the phantom of the faithful little terrier still loyally guarding John's last resting place in Greyfriars Cemetery.

 

There have also been 44 official reports of fairies and the woods in Croston, in Lancashire, are home to a fairy known to the locals as Shrewfoot, or Marsantos.  It is a very protective entity and is reported to have saved at least one pedestrian who was in danger on the adjacent road from a speeding lorry. There have been 41 reports of visions of saints, plus 32 accounts of white witches.

 

Some additional reports include; multiple experiences with Guardian angels on the M4 and powerful healing abilities at the Well of St Madron in Cornwall. "