Chimera [DVD] [1991]: Amazon.co.uk: John Lynch: DVD < same review should be up on Amazon pretty soon!

I didn’t watch Chimera (pronounced Kai-mera) back in 1991 as I was only 6 and this would certainly have scared me but while this TV series has become very dated in fashion, the subject hasn’t. Based on the book of the same name by Stephen Gallagher, the TV series is set over four episodes on two disks.

We are introduced to Tracy as she changes her career slightly to work in The Jenner fertility clinic but while adapting to a quiet country lifestyle, Tracy realises she’s got into something far more complicated resulting in pretty much a whole new cast for the second episode. I don't want to say any more as it will ruin it!

The cliff hangers in every episode are superb. They’re really unexpected – especially the first. Unfortunately some of the acting is a bit below par, a few over zealous facial expressions or actions and it’s obvious there is no one on the other end of the phone if you don’t give them the chance to say one word while having a whole conversation. There’s also a few scenes involving two little kids and it surprises me that they don’t seem to question where their parents may have got to.

There are so many well known names and faces in this series: John Lynch, George Costigan (in very fetching Hawaiian shirts), Paul O’Grady and Christine Kavanagh to name a few. If you’ve seen Emmerdale or Corrie you’re bound to recognise a few faces. As this is set in the very early 90s the fashion is just hilarious. I barely recognised Paul O’Grady – it was the voice that made me realise. Christine’s character could easily be from today with a few exceptions but there are a few hairstyles and jumpers and the biggest (literally) dating object has to be a mobile phone – it’s a huge brick!

I sat and watched all 4 episodes plus the features in one go but it was worth it just to make sense of what was happening. The fourth episode is good at tying up the lose ends and explaining important moments where we ended up following another character earlier on. I wasn’t overly keen on the music – mainly from the intro as it’s more operatic which seems quite out of place. The special effects are nothing compared to what could be created today and the main subject of the series just isn’t realistic enough but I did find myself thinking I wouldn’t like to see that in real life.

The special features are very thorough covering plenty of the behind the scenes action which show the making of the prosthetics, the movements and the work that went into filming some of the scenes while Stephen Gallagher narrates. There’s a radio interview available for download from the disk as well as a video interview so there’s a lot of background as to how the idea came about from the book through to casting and how ITV was the channel to show it. The photo gallery has some great shots from the 4 episodes with press kit also available for download and just pictures of other DVDs available to buy which don’t really add anything to it.

So would I recommend it? Yes. If you keep in mind this is almost 20 years old there’s no reason it still can’t be enjoyed. I wouldn’t say it was scary in a horror film type of way – it’s more just the unknown and suspenseful scenes that add a lot of drama. I’d give it 3.5/5.