{{short description|American science fiction television series}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = Cleopatra2525logo.jpg | genre = [[Science fiction]] | creator = R.J. Stewart <br />[[Robert G. Tapert]] | starring = {{Plain list| * [[Gina Torres]] * [[Victoria Pratt]] * [[Jennifer Sky]] }} | composer = [[Joseph LoDuca]] | open_theme = "[[In the Year 2525]]", performed by Gina Torres | end_theme = | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = 2 | num_episodes = 28 | list_episodes = | producer = | executive_producer = [[Sam Raimi]] <br />R.J. Stewart <br />Robert G. Tapert | location = [[Auckland]], New Zealand | camera = [[Single-camera setup|Single-camera]] | runtime = 22&ndash;24 minutes (2000) <br />45&ndash;48 minutes (2001) | company = Renaissance Pictures | network = [[Broadcast syndication|Syndication]] | first_aired = {{Start date|2000|1|17}} | last_aired = {{End date|2001|3|5}} }} '''''Cleopatra 2525''''' is an [[Americans|American]] [[science fiction]] television series that aired in [[Broadcast syndication|syndication]] for two seasons, from January 2000 to March 2001. Produced by Renaissance Pictures and distributed by [[NBCUniversal Syndication Studios|Studios USA Television Distribution]], many stations aired it as part of the ''[[Action Pack (television)|Back2Back Action Hour]]'', along with ''[[Jack of All Trades (TV series)|Jack of All Trades]]''.

==Plot== {{Blockquote|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!| opening narration}}

When complications arise during 20th-century exotic dancer, Cleo's [[breast augmentation]] surgery, she 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 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, 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 Helen "Hel" *[[Victoria Pratt]] as Rose "Sarge" *[[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 (actor)|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|In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)]]", albeit with altered lyrics.

==Episodes== ===Season 1 (2000)=== {{Episode table |background=#264e12 |overall=4 |title=20 |writer=19 |director=16 |airdate=14 |episodes=

{{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title = Quest For Firepower |DirectedBy = [[Greg Yaitanes]] |WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s= Rob Tapert & R.J. Stewart|t= R.J. Stewart}} |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|1|17}} |ShortSummary = Hel, Sarge, and Horst venture to the surface to test new shields against the Baileys. Upon their successful return, it is revealed that Horst is, in fact, a Betrayer. Although they escape, Sarge ([[Victoria Pratt]]) is injured, and thus they seek medical attention – and it is there that they meet Cleopatra, an exotic dancer from the 21st century who was [[cryogenic suspension|cryogenically frozen]] after a [[cosmetic surgery]] operation went wrong. When the Betrayer catches up to them, Hel and Sarge flee the scene, bringing Cleo with them. Eventually, they face the Betrayer one last time, but with Cleo's help, and through the use of technology stolen from the Bailey at the beginning of the episode, it is defeated. |LineColor = 265e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title = Creegan |DirectedBy = Greg Yaitanes |WrittenBy = [[Carl Ellsworth]] |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|1|24}} |ShortSummary = Mauser is kidnapped (in pieces) by the villain Creegan, who was responsible for the death of Hel's family. It is up to the team to get Mauser back in one piece before Creegan learns all of their secrets. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title = Flying Lessons |DirectedBy = [[Rick Jacobson]] |WrittenBy = Hilary J. Bader |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|1|31}} |ShortSummary = While teaching Cleo to fly in the shafts, Hel and Sarge reluctantly get dragooned into rescuing a kidnapped girl. The three go to a slave-trader bar and join a high-stakes game to win her back for her father, but to join the game, they have to ante up their own freedom! |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |Title = Mind Games |DirectedBy = Andrew Merrifield |WrittenBy = Adam Armus & Nora Kay Foster |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|2|7}} |ShortSummary = A telepathic criminal and former Voice team member named Raina escapes prison to wreak havoc by turning the team against each other. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |RTitle = "Home" (Part 1) |DirectedBy = Rick Jacobson |WrittenBy = R.J. Stewart |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|2|14}} |ShortSummary = To discover the whereabouts of a Betrayer factory, the trio stakes out a village of humans who give themselves to the Baileys willingly. Unfortunately, the next human in line to be taken is Lily, Sarge's sister. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |RTitle = "Rescue" (Part 2) |DirectedBy = Rick Jacobson |WrittenBy = [[Chris Black (screenwriter)|Chris Black]] |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|2|21}} |ShortSummary = Cleo and Lily are taken to a Betrayer factory. It is up to Hel and Sarge to rescue them. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 7 |Title = Run Cleo Run |DirectedBy = [[T.J. Scott]] |WrittenBy = T.J. Scott & Kevin Lund |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|2|28}} |ShortSummary = It is up to Cleo to save Sarge from a certain death via an explosive collar locked around her neck. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 8 |Title = Choices |DirectedBy = Rick Jacobson |WrittenBy = Carl Ellsworth |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|3|6}} |ShortSummary = The trio is sent on a rescue mission to aid another of Voice's teams trapped in a Christmas-themed Underground level. Hel, Sarge, and Cleo must discover which of the innocent-seeming villagers is the Betrayer before it is too late. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 9 |Title = Perceptions |DirectedBy = Wayne Rose |WrittenBy = Carl Ellsworth |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|4|10}} |ShortSummary = Hel sees her father's ghost, but following him leads to a trap set by Creegan. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 10 |Title = Trial And Error |DirectedBy = Andrew Merrifield |WrittenBy = Tom O'Neill & George Strayton |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|4|17}} |ShortSummary = When it is discovered that Raina can control Betrayers, it is decided to try Raina on the Baileys. While Hel and Sarge take Raina to the surface, Cleo remains behind, in case Raina attempts to betray them. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 11 |Title = Double |DirectedBy = Wayne Rose |WrittenBy = Chris Black |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|4|24}} |ShortSummary = A second Cleo arrives and claims to have escaped from the Baileys. One of the two Cleos must be a Betrayer – but which one? |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 12 |Title = The Last Stand |DirectedBy = T.J. Scott |WrittenBy = [[Jessica Scott]] & Mike Wollaeger |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|5|1}} |ShortSummary = One of Sarge's heroes, Jake Lawson, calls for help, and Sarge, Hel, and Cleo are dispatched to assist. He is discovered protecting a batch of plutonium from the mutants. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 13 |Title = Hel And High Water (Part 1) |DirectedBy = Andrew Merrifield |WrittenBy = Chris Black |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|5|8}} |ShortSummary = Following a distress signal, the team journey underwater and find a hidden society. |LineColor = 264e12 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 14 |Title = Hel And High Water (Part 2) |DirectedBy = Andrew Merrifield |WrittenBy = Carl Ellsworth |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|5|15}} |ShortSummary = Sarge's life is threatened, and the team discover a captured Bailey. Cleo performs CPR on Sarge, compressing her chest and gives mouth-to mouth-resuscitation. |LineColor = 264e12 }} }}

===Season 2 (2000–01)=== {{Episode table |background=#A91955 |overall=4 |title=20 |writer=19 |director=16 |airdate=14 |episodes=

{{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 15 |Title = The Watch |DirectedBy = [[Rick Jacobson]] |WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|s=Zoe I. Finkel & Rich Fox|t= Carl Ellsworth & Chris Black}} |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|10|2}} |ShortSummary = Sarge is forced to choose between the life of her little sister Lily and that of a reformed petty criminal who is now a leader of the Underground. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 16 |Title = Baby Boom |DirectedBy = [[John Laing (director)|John Laing]] |WrittenBy = Melissa Blake |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|10|9}} |ShortSummary = Hel, Sarge, and Cleopatra race against time to save an infant who has been programmed by the Baileys to detonate in the Underworld. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 17 |Title = Brain Drain |DirectedBy = [[T.J. Scott]] |WrittenBy = T.J. Scott & Kevin Lund |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|10|16}} |ShortSummary = The team must deal with a parasitic bio-mech device sent by the Baileys, which steals information from the host's mind and then kills its host. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 18 |Title = Mauser's Day Out |DirectedBy = Rick Jacobson |WrittenBy = [[Chris Black (screenwriter)|Chris Black]] |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|10|30}} |ShortSummary = Mauser goes ballistic and reverts to his old Betrayer form when Sarge attempts to reprogram him to meet her needs. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 19 |Title = Reality Check |DirectedBy = John Laing |WrittenBy = [[Carl Ellsworth]] |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|11|6}} |ShortSummary = Cleo is back in the year 2001 with her boyfriend Johnny, who tells her that her futuristic life with Hel and Sarge was all a dream. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 20 |Title = Pod Whisperer |DirectedBy = T.J. Scott |WrittenBy = Chris Black |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|11|13}} |ShortSummary = The team tries to negotiate peace with the Baileys, with predictable results. They escape from danger, however, using an unexpected new twist - a hovercraft powered by the Bailey pod that Cleo bonded with in the underwater city. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 21 |Title = Out Of Body |DirectedBy = Chris Graves |WrittenBy = Joel Metzger |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|11|20}} |ShortSummary = Raina returns without her telepathic powers, but she wants them back. Cleo, however, has bigger problems - she is a ghost and she wants her body back! |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 22 |Title = Juggernaut Down |DirectedBy = Mark Beesley |WrittenBy = Keith Damron |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|11|27}} |ShortSummary = The team tests a device to capture Baileys. When it fails, the Bailey follows the Team into the Underground! |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 23 |Title = Truth Be Told |DirectedBy = Chris Graves |WrittenBy = ''Part One'': Carl Ellsworth<br/>''Part Two'': Melissa Blake |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|1|29}} |ShortSummary = Hel goes AWOL in order to find her father, but can she trust Creegan to help her? |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 24 |Title = In Your Boots |DirectedBy = Mark Beesley |WrittenBy = [[Jeff Vlaming]] & Chris Black |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|2|5}} |ShortSummary = Creegan is on trial for his crimes, but he pulls a fast one on Hel by switching bodies with her. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 25 |Title = The Soldier Who Fell From Grace |DirectedBy = T.J. Scott |WrittenBy = Chris Black |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|2|12}} |ShortSummary = The team does not know how to react when Voice sends a new team leader to take over, especially when Hel leaves. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 26 |Title = No Thanks For The Memories |DirectedBy = Chris Graves |WrittenBy = Carl Ellsworth |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|2|19}} |ShortSummary = Sarge is accused of murdering several of Marla's guards on her way to killing an important informer from the Black Watch, but she just does not remember what happened. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 27 |Title = Noir Or Never |DirectedBy = [[Garth Maxwell]] |WrittenBy = Jeff Vlaming |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|2|26}} |ShortSummary = An agent from the sinister Bureau of Health is assigned to track down a "thaw" named Cleopatra. |LineColor = A91955 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 28 |Title = The Voice |DirectedBy = Chris Graves |WrittenBy = Carl Ellsworth |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|3|5}} |ShortSummary = Hel's Team is sent by Voice to take out another Team gone rogue - unfortunately, the other Team has the same instructions about them! They discover that they have been tricked by Creegan, and recapture him. Creegan is slated to die for his crimes, so a Confessor asks him to confess his sins, which he does with astonishing results. Voice orders an all-out attack on the Baileys in a final effort to retake the surface. As this was the last episode, the series ended on a permanent [[cliffhanger]]. |LineColor = A91955 }} }}

==Reception== Don Houston of ''DVD Talk'' describes the show as fun, with interesting elements and themes, and a kind of sly sense of [[Camp (style)|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".<ref>{{cite web |date= July 12, 2005 |author= Don Houston |title= Cleopatra 2525:Complete Series |url= https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/16748/cleopatra-2525complete-series/ |website= [[DVD Talk]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.currentfilm.com/dvdreviews7/cleopatra2525dvd.html|title=DVD Review: Cleopatra 2525 - Complete Series|website=currentfilm.com|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021053050/http://www.currentfilm.com/dvdreviews7/cleopatra2525dvd.html|archive-date=2006-10-21|access-date=2006-10-21}}</ref>

==Home media== The series was released on Region 1 [[DVD]] by [[Universal Pictures Home Entertainment]] in the United States on July 19, 2005.<ref name="DVD_release_date">{{cite web |title= ''Cleopatra 2525 – Complete Series'' (2000) |url= https://www.amazon.com/Cleopatra-2525-Complete-Gina-Torres/dp/B0009JE6FM |work= [[Amazon.com]] |date= 19 July 2005 |access-date= January 7, 2010 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20000530223923/http://www.studiosusa.com/cleopatra2525/home.html Official Website] *{{IMDb title|0206476}}

[[Category:2000 American television series debuts]] [[Category:2001 American television series endings]] [[Category:2000s American science fiction television series]] [[Category:Action Pack (TV programming block)]] [[Category:English-language American television shows]] [[Category:American post-apocalyptic television series]] [[Category:Television series by Universal Television]] [[Category:Television series about robots]] [[Category:Television shows filmed in New Zealand]] [[Category:Television series set in the future]] [[Category:Television series set in the 26th century]] [[Category:Television series created by Rob Tapert]]