KOOL TV BABE OF THE WEEK: 'DALLAS' STAR LEONOR VARELA

Bedroom eyes! The enchanting actress/model Leonor Varela. Image: via www.leonor-varela.com

Her run as Bipolar bunny boiler-to-be manipulator Marta Del Sol may have come to a sudden end in Wednesday's seventh episode screening of the re-imagined/next generation DALLAS series (on the UK's FIVE channel), literally thrown out of a hotel window to her death by the Goon Squad of oil king wannabe Carlos Bernard, but the lovely Chilean born actress/model Leonor Varela has lots more interesting acting work on the horizon beyond the cattle ranches and oil drums of SouthFork, including a film starring role in a promising new mystery from writer/director Stephen Sommers (best known for his work in resurrecting THE MUMMY and VAN HELSING for Universal Studios), ODD THOMAS, based on the Dean Koontz novel, co-starring Willem DaFoe and STAR TREK's Anton Yelchin.

The Queen of the Nile. In the starring role of CLEOPATRA. Image: ABC TV/HALLMARK.

In deep mire with Wesley Snipes in BLADE II. Image: NEW LINE.

In action with Mark Valley (centre) in HUMAN TARGET. Image: FOX.

Rising to fame in the 1999 ABC TV mini-series of Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor's legendary sixties portrayal would prove a hard act to follow, but Varela's exotic beauty and mystery helped her along just fine, with great co-star support from ex-James Bond Timothy Dalton. She also proved a worthy female foil/love interest, and kick-ass sword wielding heroine, to Wesley Snipes in Guillermo Del Toro's gorefest BLADE II, and to chiselled hero Christopher Chance in two memorable episodes of Mark Valley's much-missed HUMAN TARGET series. Other noteworthy appearances well worth checking out include the Pierce Brosnan adaptation of John Le Carre's THE TAILOR OF PANAMA, a critically acclaimed performance in Lawrence Bender's drama INNOCENT VOICES-about a brave mother caught in the Salavadoran civil war, and the popular sci-fi series STARGATE: ATLANTIS.

Continuing her career as a model, a humanist and animal rights supporter, check out her official website here: Leonor Varela ~ Official Website

HIGH DEFINITION HEROISM! 'HUMAN TARGET' AND 'ALPHAS' RETURN!

Motorway madness! Mark Valley returns in HUMAN TARGET. Image: FOX

Good action heroes never go out of style, and especially not Christopher Chance, played with dependable charm and physicality by the likable Mark Valley in the popular US adventure/light comedy hybrid HUMAN TARGET. The shows unnecessary second season revamp may have ultimately killed it off with viewers, but this first season, back in HD reruns on the UK SYFY Channel from tonight, was a promising debut that's often great fun.

A new breed of heroes: Season One of ALPHAS. Image: SYFY.

Finally being shown in HD after some very iffy picture quality in its premiere digital run on the FIVE USA channel last year, tonight SYFY also welcomes its first season screening of the humans with superpowers series, ALPHAS, an intriguing new variant on the kind of ideas seen in the X-MEN films (if a little more realistic, and without the leathers), which will be a nice primer for the upcoming second season later in the year.

If anyone out there reading this hasn't seen either of these shows, they're well worth a look-in...