Approx length: 6 serials, 34 episodes total, approximately 17 hours total
Where to find it: legally available on Tubi and Shout! TV
What is it, in summary?: "All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned." The weirdest little sci-fi horror show to come out of the UK in the late '70s. Sapphire and Steel are elements (yes, I know neither are actual elements) who are assigned to places where time goes wonky. Sapphire can turn back short periods of time and do a "spot analysis" to discover the age and history of things. Steel can get really cold and gets beat up a lot. They're both telepathic. Together they fight time!
What do you love about it?: Man, where to start. It's weird, it's creepy, it's unapologetic low-budget cheese. They start you off with this very simple paradigm of "Sapphire's the nice one, Steel's the mean one," but about halfway through Assignment 3 you realize that Steel's about three seconds from a panic attack at any time and Sapphire will steal your credit card information and sell your soul for a dollar. They've got the weirdest co-dependent dynamic going on - they're work partners, they're best friends, they flirt, what the heck would a romantic relationship between two aliens(?) who are so completely up in each other's business even look like? It's a vibe, man.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Case fic. Fic where Sapphire, Silver, and Steel are romantic but in a distinctly non-human way. Worldbuilding about what the actual fuck is going on with these guys. Angsty H/C.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Assignment 1 (6 episodes, ~2.5 hours) will give you a good idea of their whole deal and their dynamic. The last episode of Assignment 3 (5 episodes total, ~2.5 hours total) will give you a good angst basis and also some of their more complicated elements. Assignment 6 (4 episodes, ~1.5 hours) gives a lot of worldbuilding hints and also the infamous finale of the show.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Since everything's very low-budget, a lot of the darker elements are kept to non-graphic depictions, hints, and insinuations. Assignment 2 is probably the heaviest, since it deals with war and a very eh student/teacher age gap relationship. Assignment 3 has some animal death and Assignment 4 has a person trapped in a picture being burned alive? This is very hard to warn for lmao
Sapphire & Steel
Media: TV
Approx length: 6 serials, 34 episodes total, approximately 17 hours total
Where to find it: legally available on Tubi and Shout! TV
What is it, in summary?: "All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned." The weirdest little sci-fi horror show to come out of the UK in the late '70s. Sapphire and Steel are elements (yes, I know neither are actual elements) who are assigned to places where time goes wonky. Sapphire can turn back short periods of time and do a "spot analysis" to discover the age and history of things. Steel can get really cold and gets beat up a lot. They're both telepathic. Together they fight time!
What do you love about it?: Man, where to start. It's weird, it's creepy, it's unapologetic low-budget cheese. They start you off with this very simple paradigm of "Sapphire's the nice one, Steel's the mean one," but about halfway through Assignment 3 you realize that Steel's about three seconds from a panic attack at any time and Sapphire will steal your credit card information and sell your soul for a dollar. They've got the weirdest co-dependent dynamic going on - they're work partners, they're best friends, they flirt, what the heck would a romantic relationship between two aliens(?) who are so completely up in each other's business even look like? It's a vibe, man.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Case fic. Fic where Sapphire, Silver, and Steel are romantic but in a distinctly non-human way. Worldbuilding about what the actual fuck is going on with these guys. Angsty H/C.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Assignment 1 (6 episodes, ~2.5 hours) will give you a good idea of their whole deal and their dynamic. The last episode of Assignment 3 (5 episodes total, ~2.5 hours total) will give you a good angst basis and also some of their more complicated elements. Assignment 6 (4 episodes, ~1.5 hours) gives a lot of worldbuilding hints and also the infamous finale of the show.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Since everything's very low-budget, a lot of the darker elements are kept to non-graphic depictions, hints, and insinuations. Assignment 2 is probably the heaviest, since it deals with war and a very eh student/teacher age gap relationship. Assignment 3 has some animal death and Assignment 4 has a person trapped in a picture being burned alive? This is very hard to warn for lmao