Many series released on DVD have the episodes arranged in a very different order to the way they were originally aired on T...more »
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 less «