Cleopatra 2525

Cleopatra 2525 is an American science fiction television series that aired in syndication for two seasons, from January 2000 to March 2001. Produced by Renaissance Pictures and distributed by Studios USA, many stations aired it as part of the Back2Back Action Hour, along with Jack of All Trades.

Plot
"Five hundred years into the future, she will enter a world where machines rule the earth. Mankind has been driven underground. And Cleopatra is about to discover - there's no place like home!"

When complications arise during her breast augmentation surgery, 20th-century exotic dancer Cleo (Jennifer Sky) is put into suspended animation. Waking 525 years in the future, Cleo joins two women in their fight against the Baileys, armed flying machines that now control Earth's surface. Her team leader, Hel (Gina Torres), is commanded by a mysterious female entity called "Voice", who relays orders via a communications implant under Hel's right ear. Voice controls many other teams and gives them their orders in a similar fashion, in effect, forming a resistance to the Baileys, with their ultimate goal to retake the Earth's surface. Their final team member is Sarge (Victoria Pratt), whose sister belongs to a cult that regards the Baileys with reverence and willingly sacrifices themselves to them.

Humanity has moved underground and built a complex of elaborate shafts and tunnels, created by the "shaft builders" to survive the Bailey menace. Cleo wows the 26th-century denizens with her philosophical sayings, many of which come from 20th-century popular culture.

Cast

 * Jennifer Sky as Cleo, Cleopatra
 * Gina Torres as Hel, Helen
 * Victoria Pratt as Sarge, Rose
 * Patrick Kake as Mauser
 * Elizabeth Hawthorne as The Voice
 * Danielle Cormack as Raina
 * Joel Tobeck as Creegan
 * Stacey Edgar as Lara
 * Stephen Lovatt as Schrager
 * Mark Ferguson as Confessor
 * Colin Moy as Quint
 * Paolo Rotondo as Porter

Production
The series' theme song is based on Zager and Evans' 1969 hit "In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)", albeit with altered lyrics.

Reception
Don Houston of DVD Talk describes the show as fun, with interesting elements and themes, and a kind of sly sense of camp so often missing in syndicated television shows. He said the DVD release gave good value for money, and that the show was, despite its limitations, "a worthwhile bit of entertainment".

Home media
The series was released on Region 1 DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in the United States on July 19, 2005.