I don't get BBC America anymore. Now that I live in Sanford, my cable company doesn't carry it. When I lived in Saco, my old cable company did carry it. So I'm not familiar with the British version of Eleventh Hour. However, I am familiar with The X-Files. Eleventh Hour is a British remake of The X-Files. Both shows are similar. The series is about a government scientist who works for the FBI. (In the British version, it's the Home Office,) who has an FBI babysitter. Agent Rachel Young is Dr.Jacob Hood. The pilot, and episodes that followed, dealt with everything from natural gas in the water, to cloning. In the pilot, an unknown fertility doctor with the alias "Gepetto," is cloning babies. Gepetto was revealed to be a doctor who was infertile and wanted to remake herself. Another episode dealt with a Department of Environmental Protection official who was polluting the water supply of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to make a point. Young is Scully, the skeptic, and Hood is Mulder, the believer, who thinks everything's related. There aren't any references to UFOs in this show, unlike The X-Files, but the stories are more mundane and down-to-earth.

Eleventh Hour is a breath of fresh air in the world of prime time TV. You have the brilliant biophysicist Dr. Jacob Hood and his FBI handler Rachel Young, along with the newest edition to the Elventh Hour, Special Agent Felix. It's more realistic than it's prime time predecessor CSI Las Vegas, even though some things are a bit hard to believe and seem sci fi-ish to ordinary people. It contains a bit of a slighty-more-than-friends sort of chemistry between Rachel and Jacob that can be compared to early GSR.It gives a very real perspective of things. Episode 4 of Season 1 was about Savant Syndrome, and there was once a scandal of sorts back in the 80s that happened that was rather similar to such things. To see that expanded upon in these episodes is a nice change from just cold blooded murder you see in all 3 CSI's.

I enjoyed the combination of shows wrapped up into this one. This show is a blend of odd mysteries like House without the harsh character that I find hard to watch too often. It adds in CSI type investigations looking at microscopic details. The amount of science trivia adds interesting information about everyday things. There is puzzle solving similar to Monk or The Psychic where the main character uses his memory to piece together obscure information into the solution. I have not seen the episodes with Patrick Stewart, but the episodes with Rufus Sewell and I like the way he plays the character in a calm and cool, lost in thought manner. I think the time slot the show has is its biggest problem in gaining more popularity. 10:00PM is after many working people have shut off the TV and gone to bed. I think if this show was given the 8:00PM time slot in place of trashy shows like "How I met your mother", it would do much better in the ratings.

I am loving this show. Why? It has a more realistic feel, and research into HOW things could be possible seems to be better done than the flashier "Fringe" Airing On fox. Don't get me wrong, I love both shows, but for COMPLETELY different reasons. "Fringe" is More on the Sci Fi edge of speculative fiction, more flashy, and less believable as happening now instead of in 20 years despite the insertion of terms, agencies, and political conflicts.Eleventh Hour, on the other hand, Seems more as though it could be happening right now. While there are A LOT of things that are not accurate (Like test results coming back quickly, some lax use of contamination procedures) they are ones that are done to make the story fit within a time period, and for much the same reasons as the same flaws popping up in, say, CSI. As for the feel, it feels like it could be happening in the same time as CSI.If you are looking for hoogity-boogity, action movie paced, Jules Verne-esquire Speculation, and the sort of feel found in Supernatural, House and any number of the high special effect shows running right now- this isn't your show and I'd recommend Fringe.However, if you are the sort that likes methodology, thought, and are a fan of CSI- this might be something not to skip. I'd also rec for folks that preferred the more logical/science based episodes of X-files, and for folks that enjoy Bones but like more speculative in their fiction.My best rec thus far as to be season 1 episode 4. I was greatly impressed by the actual research thing on the LIVES OF AUTISTICS that was done, and felt that a lot of positive and accurate information about the reality of living with the disorder was. Both sides- those of the Autistics themselves, as well as VARIED reactions of parents- were demonstrated. My Favorite Quote ***SPOILER*** was Hood's "Who are you to say that they need fixing?" ***END SPOILER*** Over all, Iwas highly impressed and must applaud the writers on a job well and RESPECTFULLY done.