During the three-month interim between the Babylon 5 cliffhanger "Movements of Fire and Shadow" and its payoff episode "The Fall of Centauri Prime," the popular TNTnetwork science-fiction series was represented by a two-hour TV "movie", Babylon 5: Thirdspace. Set during the final months of the Shadow war, the film gets under way as B5 officer Ivanova (Claudia Christian discovers a huge artifact in hyperspace. In order to bring the object back to the station for analysis, the B5 crew must accept the assistance of IPX, a corporation specializing in often dangerously experimental technology. The plot thickens when the artifact begins profoundly affecting the subconscious thoughts of the combined crews, producing dreams that threaten to become deadly at any moment. Though Babylon 5 purists complained that this film was more appropriate to the series' fourth season than the continuity of Season 5, the ratings were quite good, especially for a basic-cable telecast. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, and later novelized by Peter David, Babylon 5: Thirdspace premiered on July 19, 1998.
