Savile groups these science fiction and fantasy television shows thematically. The X-Files, The Prisoner and the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, for example, are linked under the theme of paranoia. He details how these programmes were conceived and produced, reactions to them, and how they reflected and had an impact on public fears, anxieties and aspirations. Many of these series drew inspiration from Erich von Däniken and other ancient astronaut theorists. The premise of Stargate SG-1 (1994–2007) was that the Stargate, a gateway to another planet, had been rediscovered in 1995 and humanity was under threat. Stargate and its tie-in novels played with a belief in alien gods so well that some fans apparently believed they were based on events, rather than on a mixture of ancient mythology, the horror fiction of Lovecraft and our current interest in extraterrestrial life forms.
Television produces an intimate and seductive mixture of fact and fiction. The lines between them blur and distort, but who cares when this interplay can produce such exciting entertainment?
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