The fourth series of Babylon 5 begins on a high point with Centauri Prime in the grip of the insane Emperor Cartagia (Wortham Krimmer) and a run of six shows leading to the climax of the war against the Shadows in "Into the Fire". If this colossal narrative is resolved a little too easily and the ultimate aim of the Shadows turns out to be a tad disappointing, it's still one of the most powerful slices of space opera ever to grace the small screen.

In the aftermath the sheer scale drops back a little but the pace never slows as the rest of the year plays out in one relentless cycle of conspiracy, betrayal and conflict, Babylon 5 siding with the rebel Mars colony against the totalitarian Earth regime. Meanwhile, Delenn finds herself increasingly in conflict with her own people and, paralleling her relationship with Sheridan, Garibaldi becomes involved with his ex-fiancée Lise Hampton (Denise Gentile); in addition, an intense platonic love grows between Ivanova and Marcus Cole. On an unstoppable wave fuelled by roller-coaster plot twists and spectacular action shows from "No Surrender, No Retreat"--when Sheridan avows to overthrow EarthGov--to "Rising Star"--when the aim is realised--this series of Babylon 5 achieved a consistent excellence rare in television.

Yet within that run "Intersections in Real Time" stands out as a bold experiment; essentially a two-hand drama taking place entirely within one dimly lit room. Then in "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars", a descendant of humanity one million years hence reviews excerpts from the history of Babylon 5. In one sequence set in 2762 a Brother is devoted to the preservation of history some time after the "Big Burn". In a homage to Walter M Miller's SF classic A Canticle for Leibowitz, Sheridan and Delenn have themselves become the stuff of legend. --Gary S Dalkin

Is a story of the commanding officer who is accused of the attempted murder of a diplomat in the opening of a crucial space station.

The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra are a class act, and their performances here of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos is indisputably high quality. Though the formal concert garb of the players (even the intricately decorated harpsichord conforms to the black-and-white dress code) might suggest otherwise, these are not live performances but offer a kind of private concert for us, the home viewer. The setting is suitably impressive--a magnificently marbled and parquet-floored room in Cöthen Castle (Bach was in the employ of the court of Cöthen when he wrote these concertos). And the virtuosity of the setting is matched by the playing, though sometimes the speed suggests that the players are anxious to catch the last train home.

So much for the audio; how about the visuals? Well, options are admittedly limited but the cameraman seems to have something of a fixation with the (male) first horn-player's earring throughout the First Concerto. And close-ups of oboists as they tackle taxing solos rarely show them to their best advantage. That's a small gripe, though, as an introduction to one of the masterpieces of the Baroque repertoire, and as a demonstration of virtuoso playing of period instruments, this certainly has strong appeal. Best, however, to avoid the additional brief video clips tagged onto the end. The second reduces a movement from Bach's Coffee Cantata to badly sung kitsch, while the third features a Pythonesque cut-out Bach (complete with pink wig) prancing round Cöthen Castle.

On the DVD: there are little in the way of extras. Subtitles are provided in English, German, Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese and of course you can pick and choose tracks. The booklet provides some basic but useful information about the works. The picture is anamorphic widescreen (16:9). --Harriet Smith