The Omega Factor (1979) User Reviews

drips with dread and unease

[myriamlenys · 8/10 · 18 May 2023]

Having survived a serious car accident, an investigative reporter is determined to avenge the death of his wife, who did die during the accident. He is also firmly convinced that his wife died as a result of some kind of paranormal or occult malice. Hoping to find allies, he becomes part of a secret government organization specialized in the study of rare human abilities...

An unusual series, this one. "The Omega Factor" deals with a number of fantasy or science fiction subjects - telekinesis, telepathy, time shifts and the like - but mixes them up with espionage tropes, for instance about the Cold War. Moreover, the atmosphere is reminiscent of one of the more intricate spy series. Indeed, there is much about "The Omega Factor" that reminds one of the work of John le Carré - think Byzantine office intrigues, inter-agency rivalries about personnel and funding, murky objectives, morally dubious politics and multi-layered deceptions.

Or, to put it more succinctly : the series abounds with spooks, in both senses of the word. At first many of the storylines seem far-fetched. However, it is worth remembering that during the 20th century various governments have undertaken research into the possible military applications of paranormal abilities. Consequently the thought of some well-camouflaged secret service trawling for telepaths and clairvoyants is not all that absurd. Neither is the thought of such a service becoming a target for enemy action or hostile take-over.

"The Omega Factor" provides an intelligent look at the world of the arcane and the paranormal. The tone is sombre and disquieting rather than exciting or playful. (Episode 7, for instance, begins with a lady of blameless habits stabbing her much-beloved husband to death, without any provocation.) The same goes for the music. Unsurprisingly, the ending isn't a barrel of fun either.

I'm giving "The Omega Factor" 8 stars because it is original and well-made (well-written, well-acted, well-directed and so on). However, I would only recommend it to the more patient and mature viewers.

truly disturbing TV

[spamtrap1-1 · 6 December 2004]

Saw this when it was first broadcast (when I was 12) and I found it truly disturbing. I don't think the BBC ever repeated this but it was a show which has lingered in my memory ever since. It built up quite nicely and the use of urban locations added a certain realism to the whole proceedings.

The story revolved around investigations into a number of paranormal incidents which are eventually revealed as part of a satisfying over-arching conspiracy - with a lot more plot coherence than, say, the X files or Millennium.

I would be very interested in getting this on DVD - even if it was only to compare the reality to my hazy memories.

An excellent Series, made before its time.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 9 October 2015]

A ten part series made by the BBC back in 1979. It starred James Hazeldine as Tom Crane, Louise Jameson as Anne Reynolds, John Carlisle as Roy Martindale, Cyril Luckham as Edward Drexil.

The series focuses on Tom Crane, a journalist with a high level of dormant psychic powers. Tom tragically loses his wife, he blames rogue Psychic Drexill and swears vengeance. Tom joins a Government Department, known as 7, a unit set up to look at cases out of the ordinary. The team learn they are up against a powerful organisation known as Omega. Whilst working at Department 7 Tom works closely with Doctor Anne Reynolds, and their relationship gets closer.

What an absolute travesty that only one series was made, I think there was definitely more mileage in it. There were some great characters, Tom, Anne, Drexill etc. I imagine Mary Whitehouse would have had a field day with the Series, she must have had a fit watching Powers of Darkness.

It was a wonderfully well made series, great writing, really well acted, and who wouldn't enjoy anything with the beautiful Louise Jameson in it. Always a degree of the wacky and strange in the episodes, but they never went absurdly over the top, they remained fairly grounded.

Anyone who likes a bit of mystery, and a little element of sci fi will enjoy this series. 9/10

Very interesting series.

[artilevel · 9/10 · 16 May 2008]

I never saw this before until I purchased the DVD recently. Very interesting, even more so for seeing the combination of Louise Jameson AKA Leela from Doctor Who, teamed up with what to me is a Tom Baker lookalike, and the fact that his name in this series is _Tom_, seemed kind of funny. Rather like watching an alternative version of Dr Who and Leela, OK, it was maybe mainly the character Tom Crane's hair that made me think of Tom Baker, but I can't believe I'm the only one to have noticed a similarity, and maybe it's just me, but I think the similarity is more than just his hair, his face too bore a look of Tom Baker to a certain degree. Anyhow, that bit of trivia out of the way, I really enjoyed the series for the story too, very thought provoking with it's tales of mind control and secret organisations and not knowing who to trust. A shame they never made another series. Apparently another one looked likely, but the rumour is that Mary Whitehouse and her listener's association complained, (she did the same with Doctor Who, "The Deadly Assassin" story mainly, maybe she had an aversion to curly haired men! Or Tom Baker and any lookalike! LOL) and the series had loose ends that would maybe have been dealt with in a second series. How Mary Whitehouse came to have so much sway over what got shown on TV, is anyone's guess, but Doctor Who had to be 'toned down' on her say so, cuz the makers got fed up with her complaining about it. Nice to see these much loved series getting DVD releases now, this one, along with the Saphire and Steel series, and the complete set of "Timeslip", and now the Armchair Thrillers being put out on DVD too, have been well worth waiting for and praise be to whoever is responsible for them seeing the light of day now.

'The Alpha and Omega of vintage small screen shock!'

[Weirdling_Wolf · 10/10 · 24 February 2022]

I've only just recently been able to prize the tremulous fingers away from my fear blanched boat-race after watching show runner George Gallaccio's anxiety-inducing, pioneering small screen spook show 'The Omega Factor' again, which actively remains some propah old school creepy telly, mayte! This has the kind of insidious 'creeps-under-the-skin', 70s freak-beard weirdness you just don't see manifested today! And our handsome proletariat hero Tom Crane (James Hazledean) still remains one of my favourite truth-seeking TV psychic protagonists! And the delectably lithe, foofy-haired Crane is ably assisted in his increasingly dark conspiratorial travails by the deliciously dynamic, no less aesthetically appealing scientist Annie Reynolds (Louise Jameson), whose radiant beauty is readily matched by her inquisitive, equally luminous mind!

The Omega Factor's starkly beauteous, majestically moody Edinburgh setting adds a grim, palpably ominous veneer of inclement atmospheric despair, with its dizzyingly eclectic, mind-warpingly wicked terror tales of morbid body snatching, malign government conspiracies, demoniacal displays of terrifying telekinesis, macabre black magic rituals, weird flights of astral projection, deadly duplicity, Machiavellian brainwashing, and old fashioned, black-handed murder! The persistently paranoid, oppressively sinister series that dared to venture far beyond the nebulous veil of reality and eerily expose mad, disturbingly alien, nightmarishly vivid vistas to terminally quake the stoutest heart, unhinge the most resolute of minds, 'The Omega Factor' may even have those fearless, fright-loving boys and girls of all ages anxiously peeking into the dusty voids under the bed before lights out! Don't say I didn't warn you!!!!!!!!!

Made in a frantic hurry?

[siobhan-rouse · 4/10 · 5 February 2007]

I bought this after seeing rave reviews on the Net, but frankly I found it a disappointment, even allowing for the fact that it is a Seventies BBC production. Even when compared with other BBC video-taped productions of the time, such as Doctor Who and Survivors, this is terribly slow and unconvincing. The actors are obviously doing their best with the lines they have been given, but honestly their faces display the boredom and dissatisfaction that I experienced when watching this ! I think the problem is with the terribly disjointed scripts. As the DVD booklet relates, this series was conceived and rushed into production with the kind of speed that didn't allow for enough thought to be put into what would nowadays be described as a story "arc". Someone seems to have made the conscious decision that each episode would end, not with a spectacularly frightening event (of which there are many in this series) but with a dull, inconclusive talky scene that makes a half-hearted attempt to persuade us to tune in next week. I felt sorry for actors who were required, week after week, to be demon-possessed or something, yet who had to turn up for the next scene apparently completely unaffected by their experiences ! And could no-one think of a way to end the whole saga? It just peters out ...

Haunting

[chris-321 · 22 September 2004]

I saw the series just once, but I longed for each episode to come round. I have the book (which is good) but OHHHHH I would like to see the series again.

Expect atmosphere. Expect uncanny. Expect thrills. If you get the chance, take it. You'll be haunted by the memory! Don't expect fantastic effects, ray guns, funny aliens or obscenities. You don't need those to ice your spine. In fact, good stories, good acting, and good dialogue are far more important, and although it's been a few years now, I seem to remember that the Omega Factor has all those.

Why it isn't on DVD is a mystery worthy of the program itself. It's like Kolchak:Night Stalker and Australia's own "The Evil Touch". An absolute gem, but as with all gems, hard to find.

Channel 2 (in Australia) showed this series, so perhaps if you live in God's own country you might like to pester the ABC into a reshow.

What a disappointment

[fdt-07813 · 3/10 · 10 February 2022]

I had high hopes for this series at the start, but those hopes got a knock with every episode so that I was glad, or rather relieved, when I had finished watching the series (yes, I'm a sucker for punishment).

To me the main problem is that an excellent premise had been ruined by poor execution. I can't remember when last I've seen a series lacking continuity to the extent that this one does.

Several episodes end on a cliff-hanger with nothing to tie it to later episodes (except perhaps the odd brief reference to earlier events). It is like some Deus Ex Machina did its thing between episodes: unseen, unheard, and generally more secretive than the Omega organization itself.

And the two main characters do nothing to improve this sad state of affairs: Anne is so meek and mellow it almost makes one cry, while Tom really is a bit of a knob. So I found it almost impossible to relate to either.

Now out on DVD!

[hitmouse · 16 August 2005]

I too have been waiting 25 yrs for this to be repeated or appear on VHS or DVD, but now it is available as a complete 3 DVD set: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009UCET6

Very good review here: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=58025 which notes:

"When Mrs Whitehouse called the show "thoroughly evil", executives giggled behind their hands, but they also conceded that guidelines had been breached, mistakes had been made, and so forth. They would "forcibly" remind producers about their responsibilities. So they solemnly promised. And while they patronised her - no such reminder was made - they also gave in to her, because when it came to deciding which shows to renew, this one disappeared in the night. I doubt if there was any explicit prohibition, but it was never repeated, never shown on UK Gold, never syndicated abroad, never released on video tape. In the quarter-century since broadcast, these ten 50-minute episodes acquired considerable mystique. Every now and again I would hear about somebody who had a friend who had a copy."

Don't believe the hype

[rocknrelics · 5/10 · 27 May 2019]

I don't recall this from when it was on, but having read reviews it seemed to be my kind of thing, so bought the dvd set. Well, with the exception of the 'Powers of Darkness' episode, this is seriously tedious stuff. I have no problem with the acting, cinematography, limited budget, or special effects, but it's just that it is all so dull. I actually fell asleep watching a couple of the episodes. Not recommended.

Very watchable

[Adrian Sweeney · 15 September 2019]

A man with psychic powers is recruited by a secret department devoted to the rum and uncanny. Good fun and very atmospheric and creepy at times. The first main villain is described as 'The man Crowley refused to meet... just in case.' I wonder if the spooky recurring symbol motif from 'Watchmen' was unconsciously borrowed from the very similar one in the early episodes of this?

In some ways it was ahead of its time and it's a shame a second series wasn't made. Re the other reviewer who suggests Mary Whitehouse put the kybosh on it - this seems unlikely as I found an interview with Louise Jameson online where she says that whenever Whitehouse attacked the show everyone involved was delighted as the ratings would go up.

Not so great, still there is a mysterious quality to it which keeps one wanting to see what happens at times.

[newcastleboy-1 · 1/10 · 31 December 2006]

I found what I've seen of this series to be too slow and not very interesting for my liking. I must admit I bought this series blind thinking it would be another good BBC like production - how wrong I was. The most interesting part of the series is how it is an early version of X-files. Also the mysterious element kept me watching, because I wanted to know what happens next, more so out of curiosity. I bought this set around March / April and haven't watched all of it yet - Ifind it difficult to finish episodes and need a frequent breaks before I can come back and finish watching them. I'm hoping when I start watching the remaining episodes - there's about six to go - my opinion might change somewhat, and I'll be able to watch the rest of the series without needing to feel I have to leave the room. I've never done this with any BBC TV series, so obviously this series isn't doing much for me. I will have to make sure I do my research more thoroughly before investing in a TV series I know little about. This is the only dud purchase I've made, and even though it is so, there are elements of The Omega Factor I find slightly interesting... like the psychic connection, visions of the main protagonist. I will report later what I think of the entire series once I'm finished, but I can see why it only lasted one season.