SCI FI PI

Buffy anyone?

Whilst some may scoff or ignore the brilliant, groundbreaking and often snort-milk-through-your-nose hilarious work of Joss Whedon, we at SCI FI cannot be part of such activities. If you've never been fortunate enough to enter into the Buffyverse, this April sees a golden opportunity for you. Tune in weekdays at 6.30am and 5.30pm, where Buffy will start screening daily, from the very beginning. This Monday sees Episode 1, Season 1. 'Welcome to the Hellmouth'.

For that pre-school/work feast or that afternoon special, Buffy will provide action, humour, quips a-plenty and of course, vampire slayage. Get your weekday feast of Buffy, Monday to Friday on SCI FI. Bon appetite!

This week sees plenty going on, with excellent episodes of Battlestar Galactica and Heroes in store. Deep plot twists, plunging dark, dark depths, in both shows (!) should have you scrunching up the couch cushions in disbelief. Catch BSG on Wednesday at 10.30pm, and Heroes on Thursday 7.30pm, with repeats if you miss it on the weekend. Check our Heroes microsite for details.

The movie of the week comes out of the top drawer of cult Sci Fi classics.

Based on the Philip K. Dick short story, 'Second Variety', Screamers stars Peter Weller as a hard-bitten soldier grinding out a remorseless war on the icy planet of Sirius 6B. The war sees the use of hideous anti-personnel weaponry that will tear apart human flesh, a kind of self-aware band-saw that rushes through the earth and then leaps up to get you - the last thing the victim hears, the awful screaming sound it makes. But the real terror is when the technology evolves, by itself.

You can watch Screamers as a Sci Fi horror romp, but it is in fact a bit more of a discussion on the nature of consciousness; of what it means to be alive, with a blurring of the line between mechanized automatons and biological life. To sum up, it's exactly the kind of film that all Sci Fi fans are looking for, and it comes complete with one of those beautiful endings that make you shudder and smile all at once.

If you haven't seen Screamers, you owe it to yourself to experience the mid-nineties special effects and Peter Weller's dry delivery. If you have seen it, come home, to Sirius 6B, home of dodgy children and untrustworthy toys!

Screamers screens on SCI FI on Saturday, April 12 at 1.30pm and 11pm, and Sunday, April 13 at 12.30pm.