Dollhouse pleases and offers great promise - as well as being a hit on iTunes

The first episode of Dollhouse, titled Ghost, proved to be a gripping new series from Joss Whedon, again returning to his science fiction roots.

Photo 01: Echo gets reprogrammed, ready for the next "mission".

Whedon's successful TV series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the spin-off Angel, and also Firefly, has brought lots of attention to this new series.

The power of Apple in the whole range of media - music, film, tv - has been increasing year on year. From Toy Story (via Pixar) to digital downloads (iTunes) and mobile phones (iPod), the creators of the wonderful Apple Mac have dominated new channels. They also helped Dollhouse. The premier episode shot to No. 2 slot on iTunes sales, a huge boost.

Photo 02: Dollhouse is very up-to-date, with the soundtrack including Lady Gaga's Just Dance. Just as many other modern tv shows have gained large fan followings from being aware of the latest styles in music and fashion, it looks like Dollhouse will follow the trend

As well as the film of Buffy (he won an Emmy Award), Whedon also boasts co-writing credits on Toy Story (he won an Academy Award), Titan A.E. and also Alien: Resurrection. He has won many sci-fi awards as well.

Eliza Dushku had a great role in Buffy and Angel as Faith, and was the main star of Tru Calling. In all cases she is a strong and independent character, and has great appeal. She often played various personas in those roles, so Dollhouse may benefit a lot from her presence.

Photo 03: one basic premise of Dollhouse is: what if actions had no consequences

Dushku plays Echo, one of the Actives or Dolls. Sort of a cross between Alias and Dark Angel, the Dolls can become powerful contractors for various missions, good and bad, or even fantasies.

Photo 04: we learn some of the background to Echo through flashbacks, although at this stage we are not sure if any are real memories or just the programmed versions.

Although the Dolls have their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with new personas, Echo starts to become self-aware. The acquired talents, muscle memory, skills and language from different assignments can be a benefit or a curse.

In the "wiped clean" state, the "Actives" seem to live in a rather fantastic, futuristic dormitory with plenty of implied nudity and total lack of personal embarrasment so far, all off-camera.

Photo 05: Echo in a passive, care-free "wiped" state

The early indications are that Echo may have a particular brain function, or even gene, which allows her to retain some memories from the missions, and also some understanding that the processes used may not be entirely benign.


Photo 06: We see some early signs of Echo's differences from the rest of the Actives when she goes wandering out-of-bounds and sees another Active being wiped. She realises there is more than just a "pleasant" experience going on

Looking after our "heroes" are the Handlers, with all sorts of clever technology and, so far, clever justifications for what they do. Given the recent progress in the science with gene therapy, it is perhaps not too big a leap to believe the genetic "memory" can be tweaked to enable special talents.

A sophisticated, cold-as-ice woman is the highest authority at the Dollhouse, answering only to its owners. Adelle DeWitt (played by Olivia Williams) is both ruthless and protective, but prefers to keep the Dollhouse a smooth running business. She is a visionary who firmly believes that all involved benefit from the service they provide.

Photo 07: the instruction is to "facilitate the exchange and nothing more" and we just know that is going to play out differently.

To help free the kidnapped daughter of a businessman, Echo becomes a hostage negotiator to keep the police out of the case.

In the background - so far - an FBI Agent has been chasing "Project Dollhouse" for 14 months with little result and so his career is in jeopardy. It seems his story will get involved with one of the missions before too long.

One large clue to the potential drama in the storylines comes from one geek, who explains that their imprinting is "not just the greatest hits but the whole person" and so there could be weaknesses as well as strengths.

Photo 08: "... so who does she think she is?"

The "clean" and the "dirty" parts of Echo's persona come into play when she tries to rescue the kidnapped girl. At first they appear to create a doomed mission, until her acquired memories also help provide a clue to the current problems.

Photo 09: "you can't find a ghost" is a great line from the script

Although fast-moving and deliberately obscure at times, the scripts will probably follow Whedon's pattern of keeping us in the dark a lot of the time, and letting our own thoughts flesh out the characters and the situations.

The baddies don't come out well, although in this case there are shades of grey of the baddies. And, perhaps, we are starting to see varying shades for the goodies also. Perhaps those same blurred edges will apply to the Actives, which could make for intriguing viewing.

Photo 10: "you can't fight a ghost" follows up the earlier line

So a successful mission - if you don't count the dead and dying - brings episode one to a close, with plenty of potential for fireworks between the characters, and spectacular stunts as the missions become more physical rather than psychological (we hope).

Photo 11: will the dreams be untroubled?