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| Zoxim First Aired in UK: May 31st 2003 First Aired in Canada: October 22nd 2003 Written by: Andrew Marshall Directed by: Joe Ahearne John Strange: Richard Coyle Jude Atkins: Samantha Janus Canon Black: Ian Richardson Toby: Andrew Lee Potts Doddington: Samuel Barnett Kevin: Timmy Lang Joey: William Tomlin Guest Cast: Tricia Aileen (Parishioner), Mark A. Brighton (Bus Driver), Jacqueline De Peza (Parishioner), Seeta Indrani (Mrs Siva), Michelle Joseph (Marion), Anna Massey (Miss Hawthorne), Colin McFarlane (Reverend Johnson), Simon Morris (Policeman), Femi Oguns (Robert), Hassani Shapi (Ravi Siva). UK Ratings: 4.7 million Read the original 'Reaction Summary' What Happened... In the first episode of the series, the episode that was never meant to be, everything is where we left it after the Pilot. Canon Black is still in possession of the Demonica Diablo, and according to Kevin, is studying something by the name of Wixoz, which wields no results in any of Toby’s searches. Meanwhile, fellow sensitive and friend of John Strange, Emily Hawthorne, is also experiencing unusual visions. When local Vicar’s (AKA ‘The Reverend Happy-Clappy’) wife, Marion Johnson, finds the body of an apparent octogenarian, the mystery is deepened by the fact that he is Ravi Siva, Jude’s Doctor who was most definitely not an old man earlier this evening. Of course, Canon Black is more than happy to suppress any news coverage, and take the distressed Mrs. Johnson into his home. Strange and Jude decide to investigate the matter; Strange out of his general curiosity presumably, and Jude out of the desire to know that it is not Joey behind these seemingly demonic killings. The plot thickens when Miss Hawthorn also turns up deceased and dramatically aged, and it is an old book of Strange’s which leads them onto the theory of rapid aging, otherwise known as Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Syndrome, which just happens to be the subject of Dr. Shiva’s specialist research. The exposition is achieved when it is revealed that Kevin’s note is upside-down, revealing the demon Zoxim, otherwise known as Marion Joseph, who travels around in a wagon, otherwise known as the N68 night bus, feeding on the life force of those who get in the way. Jude is infected by Zoxim’s toxins, and ages almost to the point of death before Strange James Bonds his way in at the last minute and saves the day. What I thought... The most interesting thing about this episode (aside from the plot itself, of course), is the fact that as far as we can gather, it was never really supposed to exist. Originally written as a series of six episodes, the BBC took the first Strange script and produced the pilot episode to test the waters. On commissioning the series itself, a second pilot was then needed to reintroduce the characters and the world of Strange. With that in mind, this episode becomes far more impressive than you might think on first watching. The opening few minutes introduce us to Strange, Toby, Kevin, Joey, Canon Black and Jude within the space of ten minutes, establishing Strange and Toby’s interest in the paranormal, Jude’s past experiences with Black, her fears about her son Joey, and the fact that she has previously worked with Strange. To have all of that covered without backtracking over the pilot is quite an achievement, and then allows for the moving forward of this weeks mystery plot, which is a really rather clever one if you ask me. The only character that doesn’t get a recap in those first few minutes is Doddington, but his role in the whole affair is hardly difficult to grasp! The plot itself is an interesting one, because instead of assuming that there’s either a scientific explanation or a more mystical one, it explores the idea that it could just be both, with a recognised medical condition being caused by a demonic attack. In true Agatha Christie style, all of our main suspects are introduced in a throwaway style, with to my mind, no obvious leaning to any of them being more involved than any other, although of course once you know the outcome, the clues throughout are obvious. This episode also has some great guest stars, in the form of veteran actress Anna Massey, Fast Show regular Colin McFarlane, and former Eastender Michelle Joseph, giving us a hint of the show’s diversity. Some elements seem a little forced, with some of the exposition sounding slightly stilted, but it has an air of the Doctor Who episode ‘Tooth and Claw’ about it, whereby once you know it was a late addition, the slight problems make a little more sense, especially as some of the things I’m talking about stem from the attempt to recap the pilot without covering the same ground. Despite its faults however, it’s an enjoyable first episode, and sets things up nicely for the series to continue, and in any series there’s always going to be some episodes better than others. What They Said... Being the first episode of the full series, the content of this episode itself got a little more press coverage than most, the majority of it focussing on Samantha Janus’ transformation into an old woman, which earned itself a place as the ‘Radio Times portrait’ in the run-up to transmission. “There’s something bizarrely comforting about seeing yourself in years to come,” Janus told RT, “However the worst bit was having to be up at 2.30am each day and then having to sit for four hours having my make-up done.” Continuing the Jude focus in the press, Janus spoke to friend of StrangeOnline, MJ Simpson in Shivers #104, explaining the progression from pilot to series. “We’ve brought elements of the characters’ relationships through that remind them of what happened before – but nevertheless,” she continued, “you can quite easily tune in and pretty much get a grip of the story, if you just caught the series and not the pilot.” Dreamwatch’s in-depth look at the making of Strange covered Zoxim in #107, focussing once again on Jude’s transformation. “It was difficult to shoot just because of the logistics,” was the reported comment of Joe Ahearne, covering similar territory to the Janus interviews, concluding, “We only had two days to shoot it all [that sequence, not the whole episode], so that was quite a carnival.” The article also features contributions from Samantha Janus and visual effects master Alan Marques, all adding their thoughts on the bus sequence, accompanied by a range of green screen behind-the-scenes shots. The BBC website coverage of this episode explored Muslim beliefs on the Jinn, pointed out Miss Hawthorne’s Doctor Who connections, and provided a few more details on Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, AKA rapid aging. Writer Andrew Marshall commented on the difficulties of creating a new opening episode, stating, “Since the BBC's policy is not to re-show the pilots of programmes ahead of their first series, and the inclusion of flashbacks was thought to be too exclusive, what I finally decided to do was a kind of Star Trek teaser opening, which fulfilled all the functions of a flashback, but was completely new.” The website also featured further discussion of the logistics behind the bus sequence, attributing the idea of Jude’s aging to director Joe Ahearne, as well as identifying some deleted script segments. Back To: Episode Guide StrangeOnline Home |