Chapter Text
The series takes place in the present (1980 more or less) and concerns intrusions into the present by other times, past or future. (But note for Sapphire and Steel's assignment before story 1 to be the Mary Celeste, either "the present" only means the time they are supposed to be in, or the ship appeared in 1980.)
When humans experience manipulation of time--e.g. Sapphire's "taking back" time--they remember the events that transpired, but most are inclined to dismiss it as a weird sort of déjà vu. (In fact Rob [story 1] is the only person we know for sure accepts that history initially went a different way. The policeman [story 1] and Tully [story 2] don't.)
The episodes always have many red herrings that appear to be problems themselves but are actually just distractions. In story 1 the historic people, while dangerous enough while inhabited, served only as tools to perform physical actions for the intruder. In story 2 the ghosts' agenda was irrelevant: they were only there for the darkness to feed off their emotions. In story 3 the time manipulations were meant to frighten the capsule residents into breaking quarantine. In story 4 the children were just parodies of the living, unable to affect anything themselves, and the found property room full of "triggers" had nothing to do with what was happening, was just tools to harass Sapphire and Steel. In story 5 the murders were nothing more than a sensational way to ensure only the original people were present at the critical moment [and probably to make the survivors retreat into their roles]. In story 6 the time lurches turned out to be merely a side effect of the device used to gather the Transient Beings who were occupying the attention of Sapphire and Steel.
Notice Sapphire, Steel, Lead, and Silver are easily distracted. This is a significant character flaw. When used properly by a writer it draws out the stories and generates audience interest; used badly it can make the audience impatient or even contemptuous. Examples: In story 1 Steel asks for two minutes (to take down his temperature) then gets distracted by rewiring the freezer. In story 3 Steel is distracted by Silver's bright construct for getting into the capsule, and Silver is always getting distracted by opportunities to examine technology. In story 5 Sapphire so enjoys the card game that she ignores Steel for several minutes. And all the elements' conversations and debates are frequently disjointed, getting caught up in some ir/relevant point and only on occasion dodging back again. (Steel even recognizes it in story 5: They are "innately bound" to investigate even obvious red herrings.)
Trivia: Sapphire wears a necklace and earrings in story 1. [I haven't checked if there are other times.]
Vocabulary: It's called an "elevator" in story 2 episode 8, but a "lift" in story 3 episode 2.
Vocabulary: A "visual refraction" (story 1 episode 3) seems to be an image from the past, a thing seen now but based in the past. Steel calls them ghosts, but he means it in the perceptual sense, not the spiritual.
Vocabulary: A "manifestation" (story 4 episode 2) seems to be any sort of physical existence ("alive in a different sort of way"). A "likeness" seems to be a physical existence using as a template a lifeform that existed once. [So I guess the story 4 children are likenesses.]