Many series released on DVD have the episodes arranged in a very different order to the way they were originally aired on TV (such as Gerry Anderson's UFO & Defenders of the Earth). This can be because some TV networks don't care what order the episodes are played, especially when it comes to cartoon shows aimed at kids. However, this means that anyone carefully watching each episode in order will discover complete inconsistencies in the overall plot which can undermine an otherwise excellent show. So here is my watching guide to Centurions to help you better enjoy the series (and I hope the running order will be addressed when this great series finally gets a DVD release).
Suggested Running Order
1. The Sky is on Fire
2. Battle Beneath the Sea
3. An Alien Affair
4. Found, One Lost World
5. Sand Doom
6. Whalesong
7. Tornado of Terror
8. Denver is Down
9. Micro Menace
10. Attack of the Plant-Borg
11. Operation Starfall
12. Let the Games Begin
13. Firebird
14. Cold Calculations
15. Return of Captain Steele
16. Three Strikes and You're Dead
17. Double Agent
18. Child's Play
19. Terror on Ice
20. That Old Black Magic
21. Max Ray: Traitor
22. Crack the World
23. Incredible Shrinking Centurions
24. Live at Five
25. The Mummy's Curse
26. Counterclock Crisis
27. Zombie Master
28. Malfunction
29. Broken Beams
30. The Chameleon's Sting
31. Film at Eleven
32. Hacker Must Be Destroyed
33. Showdown at Skystalk
34. The Warrior
35. Return of Cassandra
36. Night on Terror Mountain
37. Merlin
38. The Monsters from Below
39. The Road Devils
40. Traitors Three
41. You Only Love Twice
42. Sungrazer
43. Novice
44. Atlantis Adventure Part 1
45. Atlantis Adventure Part 2
46. Cyborg Centurion
47. Day of the Animals
48. Battle Beneath the Ice
49. The Better Half Part 1
50. The Better Half Part 2
51. Revenge
52. Man or Machine Part 1
53. Man or Machine Part 2
54. Man or Machine Part 3
55. Man or Machine Part 4
56. Man or Machine Part 5
57. Zone Dancer
58. Firecracker
59. Breakout
60. Ghost Warrior
61. Let the Lightning Fall
62. To Dare Dominion Part 1
63. To Dare Dominion Part 2
64. Hole in the Ocean Part 1
65. Hole in the Ocean Part 2
Reasoning for the altered running order: MILD SPOILER WARNING
Introduction of Rex Charger and John Thunder - The three original Centurions meet, and allow to join, Rex Charger and John Thunder in the five-part story "Man or Machine" (Episodes 61-65). In the two-part story "The Better Half" (Episodes 58-59), the Centurions make a big deal of the fact that there are only three of them on more than one occasion, which means that all episodes featuring Rex Charger and/or John Thunder must occur after "Man or Machine Part 5" (these are Episodes 41,42,47,50-51 & 54-57).
The Destruction of SeaLab - SeaLab is totally destroyed in "Battle Beneath the Ice" (Episode 11). In "Man or Machine Part 1" (Episode 61), Mei Lee says that SeaLab has recently been rebuilt after its destruction, although Jake Rockwell's comments about "remembering it well" suggests that it didn't just happen. However, SeaLab appears in many episodes after "Battle Beneath the Ice" with no explanation as to why it still exists. SeaLab's final appearance before "Man or Machine Part 1" is in the two-parter "Atlantis Adventure" (Episodes 48-49), meaning that the simplest method of re-organising would be to place "Battle Beneath the Ice" somewhere after "Atlantis Adventure Part 2" and before "Man or Machine Part 1" (noting that Episodes 50-51 & 54-57 have already been placed after "Man or Machine Part 5"). I think that placing "Battle Beneath the Ice" just before "The Better Half Part 1" is as good an arbitrary place as any, as it gives a three episodes gap before it's 'remembered' in "Man or Machine Part 1", but it's not so long ago that the viewer may have forgotten all the details of that story.
Further Tweaking? - I'm sure there are many more arguments for other swap-rounds in the episode running order. I've only just finished watching all 65 episodes after several months, so I'm not prepared to watch them all again straight away to look carefully for other subtle plot or character development discrepancies. My attempt has been to leave the original airing order in-tact as much as possible, and have only changed it where it seems absolutely necessary. I welcome any well-reasoned suggestions for further changes to the running order.
Original Running Order
1. The Sky is on Fire
2. Battle Beneath the Sea
3. An Alien Affair
4. Found, One Lost World
5. Sand Doom
6. Whalesong
7. Tornado of Terror
8. Denver is Down
9. Micro Menace
10. Attack of the Plant-Borg
11. Battle Beneath the Ice
12. Operation Starfall
13. Let the Games Begin
14. Firebird
15. Cold Calculations
16. Return of Captain Steele
17. Three Strikes and You're Dead
18. Double Agent
19. Child's Play
20. Terror on Ice
21. That Old Black Magic
22. Max Ray: Traitor
23. Crack the World
24. Incredible Shrinking Centurions
25. Live at Five
26. The Mummy's Curse
27. Counterclock Crisis
28. Zombie Master
29. Malfunction
30. Broken Beams
31. The Chameleon's Sting
32. Film at Eleven
33. Hacker Must Be Destroyed
34. Showdown at Skystalk
35. The Warrior
36. Return of Cassandra
37. Night on Terror Mountain
38. Merlin
39. The Monsters from Below
40. The Road Devils
41. Zone Dancer
42. Firecracker
43. Traitors Three
44. You Only Love Twice
45. Sungrazer
46. Novice
47. Breakout
48. Atlantis Adventure Part 1
49. Atlantis Adventure Part 2
50. Ghost Warrior
51. Let the Lightning Fall
52. Cyborg Centurion
53. Day of the Animals
54. To Dare Dominion Part 1
55. To Dare Dominion Part 2
56. Hole in the Ocean Part 1
57. Hole in the Ocean Part 2
58. The Better Half Part 1
59. The Better Half Part 2
60. Revenge
61. Man or Machine Part 1
62. Man or Machine Part 2
63. Man or Machine Part 3
64. Man or Machine Part 4
65. Man or Machine Part 5
Suggested DVD releases (based on Defenders of the Earth DVDs, which also had a 65 episode run)
Complete Series Part 1
Disc1: Episodes 1-8
Disc 2: Episodes 9-10,12-17
Disc 3: Episodes 18-25
Disc 4: Episodes 26-33
Disc 5: Episode 34, extras
Complete Series Part 2
Disc 1: Episodes 35-40,43-44
Disc 2: Episodes 45-46,48-49,52-53,11,58
Disc 3: Episodes 59-65,41
Disc 4: Episodes 42,47,50-51,54-57
Disc 5: extras
Edited 2 total times.
