Tuesday, June 02, 2026

Where Did All the Blue Sky Go?

Mercy Point, a 1998 TV series about a 23rd century space hospital:


Mercy Heights, a 1997 story in 2000AD about a 23rd century space hospital:


Hm.

3 comments:

  1. I have been wanting to watch the TV series for a bit. I have a Star Trek game (using the FASA rules) for the USS Mercy, a hospital ship from the late 2290s. So yeah, 23rd century too.
    I guess some ideas are natural.

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  2. Sure, but when did Mercy Point get commissioned? Looking at the Wikipedia entry it looks like it was originally a feature film and had been bouncing around in development hell for a few years.

    Plus it's not like 'Future Hospital dealing with Aliens' was some revolutionary idea. White's "Sector General" books had been popular SF works for decades at this point. Probably inspired both the show and the 2000AD strip independently.

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    1. Mercy Heights is an explicit homage to Sector General, although the writer John Tomlinson says he hopes James White never sees MH as he doesn't think White would approve of the gore and violence!

      These "seems familiar" posts are tongue in cheek and shouldn't be misconstrued as criticism; 2000ad in particular has made a business of ripping off other IP!

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