Old TV Show Request

October 6, 2010 6:04 AM

Asking for a friend of a friend. He wants to remember the name of some old sci-fi TV show and we're all stumped, so I turn to the collective memories of AskMe.

Here are the details we have:

Either a mini-series or a quickly canceled series in the late 80s or early 90s that aired on PBS or more likely network television.

The setting was mix of sci-fi and fantasy; the story centered around a small group, possibly a family, that were outsiders learning about their new surroundings. They were either from our world or from a more mundane part of the setting.

Set pieces were vaguely Victorian in appearance and the action was often set in green rolling fields with colorful tents (kinda circus/medieval kinda not).

A wizard (of Oz)/Doctor Who type character who was very powerful but unreliable.

His clearest memory centers on a glove (possibly red) that a "native" character was able to perform miraculous surgery by reaching through flesh. Later on it was revealed that an outsider (probably a child) was able to use the mysterious glove...this initially was a source of conflict between the two characters but evolved into a (tentative?) mentor/student relationship.

It would not surprise me in the least if the show was based upon a book and the show was produced by the BBC.

I can't for the life of me remember this show. This ring a bell for any one else?

posted by charred husk to Grab Bag (4 answers total)

This sort-of reminds me of a very short-lived TV series called Otherworld. It had a family from modern-day Earth transported to an alternate world divided into zones, each one different and conveniently entered and left in the course of the episode.
posted by suetanvil at 6:27 AM on October 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Probably not it, but the glove thing reminds me of my vague memories of the movie/TV pilot White Dwarf. (It looks like the glove scene is on YouTube, actually.)
posted by posadnitsa at 6:50 AM on October 6, 2010

Best answer: Not sure, but White Dwarf is what I immediately thought of - matches the semi-victorian feel, and there's an opening scene with green rolling fields.
posted by korej at 7:30 AM on October 6, 2010

Best answer: Definitely White Dwarf, a failed pilot for a futuristic fantasy series, aired once in the US on Fox. The DVD for it and something called W.E.I.R.D. World was once available on DVD in drugstore and supermarket dump-bins.
posted by infinitewindow at 8:13 AM on October 6, 2010