DVD: The 4400 - Season One

A comet travelling close to Earth suddenly changes direction and heads for the US. Those arriving at what should be the crash site are astounded by the sudden appearance of 4,400 people. The ‘returnees’ all disappeared from different years and places around the world and after being held in quarantine they are eventually released back into the population...


Like a massive version of The Flight of the Navigator (where a young boy is returned to his family years after being abducted, having not aged a day) this has the scope and ambition to be a top-notch genre show. It starts magnificently, with bewildered people from different times struggling to come to terms with everything from suddenly being in the year 2004 or having outlived their families, to dealing with loved ones who have moved on.

The most interesting character is Richard Tyler (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), a black man pulled out of a racist 1950s. His reaction to the new age is explored in a poignant way and it’s a shame the series didn’t follow this line with more characters. Tyler has already battled a taboo by dating a white woman in his own time. However, when he finds that a returnee he starts a relationship with is the granddaughter of the woman he used to date, this modern day taboo is passed over.

It’s here that the show takes a wrong turn, as insightful social commentary is replaced by a focus on the new powers that the returnees have been given. This leaves the two main investigators from Homeland Security – Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie) and Tom Baldwin (an uninspired performance by Taken’s Joel Gretsch) – to do a poor imitation of Mulder and Scully.

The other main loss of believability comes in the way America deals with the problem. When in the real world suspected terrorists are held in Guantanamo bay, it’s difficult to see why the returnees wouldn’t be pulled back in when it becomes clear they have dangerous special powers. Strangely, this is only tackled in throwaway remarks by the characters.

It’s also worrying that in six episodes two of them feel like filler, with only the opening and final chapters fulfilling the show’s promise. Overall, this is a superb idea that unfortunately doesn’t deliver.

Buy The 4400 - Complete Season One on DVD at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com