User Reviews

This wasn't intended to be the end, but a fitting end it is. This final story retains the atmosphere and intelligence of the best of the series, with a decent pacing, a compelling narrative, and the cliffhanger is unintentionally a pretty good, if rather sad, way to end things.

With twists a plenty this is certainly one of, if not the, best of the lot.

Sapphire and Steel (Joanna Lumley and David McCallum), along with technician Silver (David Collings) and a couple (Edward de Souza and Johanna Kirby) who appear to have temporally driven in from 1948, find themselves in a 1980's gas station where the flow of time is being disrupted. Soon denizens from other times show up as the investigators try to figure out where and when they are, and what the future holds. Sadly, the future held 'cancellation' as this intriguing but incomplete story-arc is the final 'assignment' in the puzzling sci-fi-fantasy series. After assignment 5's ill-advised foray into 'Christie-esque' parlor mysteries, the return to science fiction is welcome as are the hints about the titular pair's universe and the possibility of an existential struggle that goes beyond mundane chronological meddling and pseudo-ghosts. The show's limited special-effects budget is apparent but forgivable and some of the acting (notably de Souza and Kirby) is either a bit remedial or cunningly intended to make the characters seem a bit 'preternatural' (hard to say, and after 40 years, who really cares). The 6-assignment series was a novel and entertaining attempt at low-budget 'mind-bending' sci-fi that was not always successful but is well worth hunting down on-line and watching, especially by fans of the genre or of the stars.

The final story of Sapphire and Steel. Mainly due to broadcaster ATV losing their ITV franchise.

I have to say I do not remember much about this story from its initial broadcast in 1982 apart from the shocking last scene

It is back to an obvious studio setting. A service station by the road. Sapphire and Steel are joined by Silver who has already been keeping watch.

Past and present have collided. The service station is in the present. The man and woman inside the cafe are from 1948. They seem to be running away from something, they certainly are not married to each other.

Time is stuck and Sapphire sees an image of an old man. It seems to be the person who ran the service station back in the 1940s.

This is a very good opening episode. It seems the culprit is pernicious time itself. It is just a case of how much involved is this couple.

All they want to do is go back to 1948 and they have no interest in the future.

Having Silver involved early on is a bonus.