Humans - Tonight (Sun) @ 9pm on Ch 4

[Valsoldknickers]

OK, after freaking the bejaysus out of me with the weird trailer / advert I am intrigued and looking forward to giving this programme a viewing.

(I will have to record and watch later as I will be watching Messrs Strange and Norrell.)

Anyone else looking forward to it and hoping it lives up to the hype?

I am also still v puzzled about Anita taking Sophie out that night - was it rain, or did she take her to a lake like her memories? Did she fail to save someone and was trying to practice saving Sophie, though surely she would wake... She didn't try to hide it when she was drying her wet shoes off.

You'd have thought she'd have woken at being taken out of bed, or getting wet. My DC are younger & would wake if I tried to carry them out to the car, let alone wander the streets with them in the rain!

Maybe Anita's touch is much more gentle than ours . She did point it out that other than loving the children, she is a way better mother than Laura.

I was thinking about SoupDragon's suggestion that all the synth we know represent a certain type. If that is the case Mia must be the caring mother type. She may not even be hiding, she may just enjoy being a housewife and looking after children and not having to hide in the forest for years... Maybe this is her, but Leo does not want to see it. When she first said "My name is Anita Hawkins", she sounded properly creepy and aggressive to a wife like myself, but Anita did look quite chuffed.

Interesting theory gingercat. There's a touch of Stepford about it.

I must say I'm really liking the series as it is raising so many valid questions about society and our roles in it.

When Leo's dreaming there's a glimpse of Mia in a glittery evening dress. I wonder how they all lived in the past life, before David Elster died, if they were locked away or if they had contact with the outside world?

Niska's reaction after she puts on the stolen clothes and contact lenses and is treated like a human suggests this was all unknown to her and she very much wants freedom now. Max says that no-one seems to like him and Leo much, suggesting they haven't had much contact before with other people.

I love TV shows that leaves you thinking for days and this is definitely one of them.

I agree Ulysses. I cannot stop thinking about it. The prospect of Vera caring for me properly freaks me out. And so many questions. The next book I am going to read is The Ghost in the Machine.

When did David Elster die? My understanding is that he died a while ago and they were hiding in the forest for quite a while.

Word of advice: DO NOT LOOK AT CHANNEL 4'S HUMANS WEBPAGE, BECAUSE THERE ARE SPOILERS THERE. I did unfortunately.

Loving the interaction between George and Niska in the trailer.

I had a light-bulb moment just before I went to sleep tonight & had a really good theory... Can't remember it at all now!

I'm even more excited for Sunday now!

AGnu

I had a light-bulb moment just now. Those Persona Synthetics adverts confused me completely on Channel 4, although eventually I worked it out that they advertised a tv programme (genius, me!). However they faintly reminded me of something and could not place them. Now I know! Here is a quote from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams:

"The Encyclopedia Galactica defines a robot as a mechanical apparatus designed to do the work of a man. The marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as "Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun to Be With."

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy defines the marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes," with a footnote to the effect that the editors would welcome applications from anyone interested in taking over the post of robotics correspondent.

Curiously enough, an edition of the Encyclopedia Galactica that had the good fortune to fall through a time warp from a thousand years in the future defined the marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who were the first against the wall when the revolution came."

Omg. Amazing theory's you all have. Good thing I read this thread so actually understand the programme. Hope there is a s2

A friend has just linked to this on Facebook. Eek!

And after a quick google, I've found this Daily Mail link which is thoroughly disturbing. Humans might not be so far off...

disturbing.

Gosh! Men wanting to take her on a date! Clones of dearly departed!

Very disturbing

In the opening credits they are talking about the development of humanoid robots and they show one of the Japanese scientists and his creation. It is disturbing that they see them only as sex toys but what do we expect from a tabloid?

Tweebee Have you seen Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror series? There is one about digital afterlife. Humans seems like a cheerful version of Black Mirror. After seeing the episode about popular justice I did not dare to watch the Christmas episode. It was too disturbing and familiar.

I think Max was the earliest "success" at making conscious robots - and he is conscious but doesn't have enough of the self-preservation instinct that a conscious thing should have in order to survive.

It's a bit like required secondary powers

Trills That is very interesting, thanks.

Happy Humans-day everyone!

I like the theory that all the conscious synths are an element of humanity. That would make Max the vulnerable one - that's one thing Niska certainly doesn't have! Niska must be the brave one, Anita the carer & I guess maybe Fred could be the intelligent/creative one? Unless Leo's included - he's already demonstrated his techy skills. It would explain why they need all of them together to make another, possibly even more "human", sentient synth. Maybe Elstoy started off with creating his 4-5 building blocks & continued making synths that combine an element from each of them, hence the detective. He would've kept his 4-5 necessary synths close & tasked Leo with looking after them all because they were all needed to continue his work.

I still can't figure out who Tom is. Has there been any mention of Laura's parents yet? Has anyone hypothesised that the supposedly Fred-murdering scientist could be her dad & could've put her off synths?

The actual RL robots are well creepy.

Hi AGnu! I can't wait till tonight's episode and according to Twitter, there's a lot of revelations going on and I think one of them is about Tom. I really like the theory of all the different synths having individual elements of humanity and need to come together to make a whole.

Niska did say to Dr Millican though, that she was shaped through her experience as well, and working in the brothel (and being forced to work in the brothel) seems to be a crux of how she is reacting to others, so she wasn't necessarily coded this way. She plaintively asked Leo, if he would have asked a human woman to have worked there (he told Niska she needed to stay there longer in Ep1, before he could help her escape, because of what happened to Fred). In essence, I think she's been hardened by experiences, and that's much of a factor of humanity as anything else.

Roll on 9pm.

Ginger cat, was black mirror the series with an episode about the PM and a pig??? I haven't recovered from watching that. Shuddering now just thinking about it.
Really looking forward to tonight and hoping we find out more about Tom. I can't even remember what my theory was now (sleep deprivation!) so will look back here...
X

Another week has sped by.

I'm fannying about on the internet to make the next half hour fly faster!

No idea what is going on. I'm not clever enough for this