Twice burned, JMS has since shied away from creating another Babylon 5 series, but in 2007 he instead offered a new innovation: a series of direct-to-DVD short stories, Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, the first of which was "Voices in the Dark".

The original concept of The Lost Tales was for each DVD to contain three 30-minute stories, plus another 30 minutes or so of DVD extras. However due to production costs this first DVD got cut back to just two stories, which are arranged concurrently on the DVD since they happen one after the other. The balance of the originally intended two hour total has been made up with loads of extras.

Short stories is a very good description of these new tales. They're not full episodes, and definitely not the more epic B5 movies. Instead they're short, personal "A" plots about some of the main characters from the TV show. In this first DVD, both episodes are set in 2271, halfway between the 2261 season 4 finale of the B5 series and the 2281 series finale.

The Tales

The first short is called "Over Here", and it's a story of Elizabeth Lochley, still commander of the Babylon 5 station. She's encountered what she believes to be a demonic possession and calls in a priest to assist.

This is a tight and largely minor story. It's very minimalistic, and reminds me a lot of a three-actor, one-act play. Though I enjoyed the characterization, some of the backstory feels alien to the B5 universe, as sometimes happens when a creator comes back to a much loved setting ten years' later. Individually, I give it just a "5" out of "10": it's strictly average.

The second short is called "Over There", and it's about President John Sheridan, who in returning to the B5 station for the 10th anniversary of the Interstellar Alliance, is faced with an awful vision by the technomage Galen, and an awful choice as well.

This one feels a lot more like the old B5, with its prophetic visions and its moral choices. It also offers us one of our few views of the B5 universe following the 2281 series finale. Individually I give it a "7" out of "10": it was quite good, especially for its short length.

Overall, I find these shows hampered both by their length and their budget. I understand why JMS choose to create short stories, but I'd dearly love to see longer arcs again. As for the budget, that's surely a question of what WB was willing to allow for a direct-to-DVD movie. However, the scarcity of actors, the minimalization of sets, and the heavy use of green screens, were all very obvious, with Lochley's story feeling particularly claustrophobic as a result.

On the other hand, it's obvious how much technology has improved since B5 was originally shot. The CGI has never looked better, with Babylon 5, the Star Furies, and other elements all looking much more detailed than ever before. This helps take the sting out of the green-screen sets, which are sometimes good enough to be indistinguishable from the real things.

The Extras

There are about an hour of extras on the DVD, including interviews with the main actors, memorials of Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs (who both tragically died since the last time a B5 project was produced), a set of short production bits, and a set of Q&A.

Generally, they're forgettable, and I skipped through most of them, finding the interviews particularly boring and the product bits kind of dumb. (They had a running joke about using sock puppets in the new shows, which I apparently didn't get.)

However, the memorials are moving and informative, generally telling us about these two actors who helped to create B5. Those two extras are worth watching, even if you skip the rest.

Conclusion

Overall, I've given this first Lost Tales DVD the averaged rating of its two stories: a "6" out of "10". It's above average, and I'd be pretty thrilled if both of the stories were as good as the Sheridan one was. The extras aren't generally that great, but I don't tend to watch DVDs for the extras, so I have no real complaints there.

Word is that sales on this first DVD were good, and that Warner Brothers is interested in more, so we should see a new one in 2008 if the writer's strike clears soon enough.