All the greatest elements of each of the previous 18 Bond films compressed into two hours seem to have been lifted and put into one of the very best of the Bond series. Forget doubts about Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Don’t worry about reports that the film-makers want to put more emphasis on character. From the first frame you will be glued to your seat.

Director Apted has distilled the essence of Bond and, what could have become Bond by numbers, created one of the most dynamic in the series. Bond’s recovery of a wodge of ransom money leads to a big hole in the side of the MI6 building and the death of oil magnate King. Thinking King’s daughter, Elektra (Marceau) is next on the list, Bond becomes her unofficial bodyguard while he also hunts down terrorist Renard (Carlyle), a man immune to pain due to a bullet lodged in his brain.

The plot constantly twists and surprises as no one is who he or she seems. The stunts are amazing, the dialogue occasionally too cheesy but the performances are perfect, although Carlyle often seems to have been tacked on to the plot and feels underused. Very minor quibbles for what will be a classic in the series.

Terry Richards

When Jacob Carter is captured by a Goa’uld named Sokar who has modeled himself after the Devil, SG-1 goes to a recreation of Hell in an attempt to break him out.

Definitely an episode for those viewers who’ve been paying attention, especially to the Tok’ra storylines, Jolinar’s Memories is a truly epic space adventure with some amazing special effects. The producers have obviously pumped a hell of a lot of money (pun intended) into making this first part of a two-part story with some astonishingly realistic planetscapes and well-choreographed space battles.

Although much of what happens here is set-up and no pay-off, it moves along quickly enough to hold the attention of the viewer despite the fact that there is a lot of dialogue and little action for much of the first half of the episode.

JR Bourne is finally given some action in his usually background role of Martouf, but this is Amanda Tapping’s show as she is put through the unpleasantness of Jolinar’s past experiences and takes the lead in trying to save the team from their prison. Finally, although the cliffhanger is not actually a total shock, it certainly opens up some questions to be answered in part two, the first of which is: whose side is the person in question on now?

Paul Spragg