Warehouse 13 Season 1   Starring: Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly and Saul Rubinek Universal Playback RRP: £29.99 8274449 Certificate: 15 Available 28 June 2010

Follow the adventures of Secret Service Agents Peter Lattimer and Myka Bering as they are tasked with overseeing the mysterious Warehouse 13. The government’s secret hiding place for all manner of supernatural and extra-terrestrial artefacts, the warehouse becomes the agents’ base of operations as they are charged with the job of retrieving missing objects and investigating alleged new ones...

Warehouse 13 is a pretty enjoyable sci-fi show. Whilst it's obviously fairly low budget when compared to some American sci-fi shows, it does have a charm that is hard to resist. The series opens with our two heroes Secret Service Agents Peter Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) being introduced to the world of Warehouse 13. The powers that be there want their services as agents to travel the world collecting dangerous artefacts with supernatural powers and bring them back to the Warehouse so that they can be stored and catalogued by the archivist Dr. Arthur "Artie" Nielsen (Saul Rubinek).

Over the course of Season One, the show examines a number of interesting artefacts including the Tesla Gun (designed by Nikola Tesla, this is the firearm of choice for the Warehouse 13 agents and fires a polyphase electrical pulse instead of bullets); The Farnsworth (this is a two-way audio visual communicator invented by Philo Farnsworth in 1929. It's the main communication device used by Warehouse 13 agents in the field); Lewis Carroll's Mirror (allows you to interact with an alternate version of yourself); Harry Houdini's Wallet (which can control the souls of the dead); Sylvia Plath's Typewriter (which sucks the life out of anyone who gets too near); Edgar Allan Poe's Quill Pen and Notebook (the pen brings any words written with it to life, while the book draws life force from the owner - in order to fuel the effects of the pen); and Jack the Ripper's Lantern (which mesmerises anyone who looks into its light). This is only a small selection of the artefacts seen, but represent the most historically interesting.

While there is a large element of "artefact of the week", in which each episode follows the pair as they track down yet another mysterious artefact, there is a story arc running through the show's later episodes. Also, as the show progresses, a number of new characters are slowly introduced including Mrs. Irene Frederic (C. C. H. Pounder) the director of the department that deals with Warehouse 13; Leena {Genelle Williams) who can see a person's aura; and Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti) a genius technical wizard who can crack just about any technological puzzle.

Of the 12 episodes in this first season, I have to say that Resonance was by far the most interesting. This is mainly down to the fact that the twist at the end is pretty unexpected, making it a little more believable. But having said, there isn't a dull episode in here.

Extras include deleted scenes for a number of episodes; a handful of audio commentaries; and Bloopers (3 min, 11 sec).

7

Darren Rea