The cat and I have now watched the entire first season (13 episodes) of Blake's 7.B7 is an inspiration to me. It looks like the show's special effects budget was ... maybe $3.79 per effect? But that didn't stop them raising big issues, like free will and telepathy and where do you get your hair permed in outer space?
And there are lots of lovely explosions of things that seem to be put together from the kind of bits and pieces you have in your junk drawer that you were saving in case you needed just such a thing but now you've forgotten what purpose they ever could have possibly served.
So, while I'm waiting for my Orestes to be available so I can finish shooting that film, I'm inspired to try my hand at Special Effects on a Budget; or, How to Blow Up Stuff with Household Items You Never Knew Exploded.
I missed that chapter of childhood, being busy reading books while other more physically oriented children were figuring out that when you set little green army men on fire, they drip flaming plastic.
But it's never too late for a happy childhood. I have found a site Science Toys with instructions for "A simple rocket engine you can build in your kitchen."
A box of matches, a little tin foil, a can of hair spray, and a slight grasp of physics and I too could create a science fiction show.
Not, of course, when I'm housesitting someone else's pets though.
