Day: April 5, 2020

Honor Blackman, actress, dies

Honor Blackman in The AvengersHonor Blackman, who rose to fame portraying Cathy Gale in the second and third seasons of The Avengers, dies at the age of 94. Despite her success in The Avengers, she left her starmaking role behind to graduate to big screen spy antics in the James Bond film Goldfinger. Other movie roles included Jason And The Argonauts and Bridget Jones’s Diary, with TV roles in Danger Man, The Saint, Columbo, The Upper Hand, and a guest starring role in parts 9-12 of the 1986 Doctor Who story The Trial Of A Time Lord.

Arrow: Brothers In Arms

ArrowThe 132nd episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW.

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The Expanse: Here There Be Dragons

The ExpanseThe 21st episode of the science fiction series The Expanse, based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pseudonym for writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), is broadcast on cable channel Syfy. Terry Chen (Continuum) guest stars.

The Expanse now streaming on Amazon Prime

Project Yellow Sphere

The enigmatically titled internet short film Project Yellow Sphere debuts, revealed to be a semi-serious, six-minute live-action-plus-CGI proof-of-concept trailer for a potential Pac-Man movie. Shot and produced entirely at commercial production house Steelehouse Productions in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it’s the closest anyone has gotten to mounting a long-talked about Pac-Man film.

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Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

STS-131

Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Discovery is launched on the 131st shuttle flight, a 15-day resupply mission to the International Space Station. Equipment and experiment packages are transferred to the station from a logistics module in the shuttle cargo bay. The joint portion of the flight features the largest female astronaut contingent in orbit at any one time to date, with three of Discovery’s six crewmembers plus station astronaut Tracy Dyson. Aboard Discovery for her 38th flight are Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James Dutton, and mission specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Naoko Yamazaki, Clayton Anderson and Stephanie Wilson.

Charlton Heston, actor, dies

Charlton Heston in Planet Of The ApesOscar-winning actor Charlton Heston dies at the age of 84. Renowned for a string of tough-guy roles in major big-screen epics that earned him an Academy Award for best actor in 1959’s Ben-Hur, Heston appeared in other blockbusters such as El Cid and The Ten Commandments; genre fans may know him best for two SF films, Soylent Green and the 1968 smash hit Planet Of The Apes. His outspoken political views were on display as much as his acting skills, ranging from marching to Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to serving as president of the National Rifle Association. He had also served as a past president of the Screen Actors’ Guild.

Doctor Who: Partners In Crime

Doctor WhoThe 741st episode of Doctor Who (the 43rd since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Kicking off the fourth season of the revived series, this episode brings back Catherine Tate’s character from The Runaway Bride (2006’s Christmas special episode) as the Doctor’s new companion. The season’s running theme – the return of Rose – is also introduced in this episode with a cameo appearance by Billie Piper, though fan sites have already reported her presence at location filming.

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The Clone Wars: Chapter 17

Clone WarsBridging the gap between Star Wars Episode II and Episode III, Cartoon Network premieres the 17th mini-episode of Genndy Tartakovsky’s The Clone Wars animated shorts.

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Dark Angel: Hello, Goodbye

Dark AngelThe 38th episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, airs on Fox. Ashley Scott (Birds Of Prey, Jericho) and Rekha Sharma (Battlestar Galactica) guest star.

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The Omega Man soundtrack

The Omega ManFilm Score Monthly releases a limited edition CD of the soundtrack from the 1971 Charlton Heston science fiction movie The Omega Man, whose music was composed by Ron Grainer (best known for his UK TV themes, such as Doctor Who and The Prisoner). The limited pressing of 3,000 copies sells out in record time; an unlimited pressing with slightly different content will be re-released by FSM’s Retrograde Records label in 2008.

More about Movie Soundtracks in Music Reviews

Highlander: The Raven: The Frame

Highlander: The RavenThe 16th episode of Highlander: The Raven, starring Amanda Gracen and Paul Johannson, airs in syndication; the series is a spinoff from Highlander: The Series.

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Highlander: The Raven now streaming on Amazon Prime

Star Trek: DS9: Penumbra

Star Trek: Deep Space NineThe week-long national syndication window opens for the 165th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This is the beginning of a tightly-serialized eight-episode run-up to the series finale, an unprecedented story arc in Star Trek terms.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine now streaming on Paramount Plus

From The Earth To The Moon: Night 1

From The Earth To The MoonPay cable channel HBO premieres its heavily-promoted docudrama miniseries From The Earth To The Moon, executive produced by actor Tom Hanks (Apollo 13) through Ron Howard’s Imagine Films. The series chronicles NASA’s quest to reach the moon, and two episodes debut each Sunday of the show’s run. The first night covers Sputnik through the Gemini program in the episode Can We Do This?, and then devotes a full hour to the Apollo One fire and its aftermath. Nick Searcy stars as Deke Slayton, with Mark Rolston as Gus Grissom, musician/actor Chris Isaak as Ed White, and David Andrews as Frank Borman. Kevin Spacey, Mason Adams and John Slattery (Mad Men) guest star.

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From The Earth To The Moon now streaming on HBO Max

Crime Traveller: Death Minister

Crime TravellerThe sixth episode of the time-travel/crime series Crime Traveller is broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War), starring Michael French (Casualty) and Chloe Annett (Red Dwarf). Ken Bones (Doctor Who) guest stars.

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Sliders: Time Again And World

SlidersFox airs the 15th episode of Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, John Rhys Davies, Sabrina Lloyd, and Cleavant Derricks. Rebecca Gayheart (Earth 2) guest stars.

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Sliders now streaming on Amazon Prime
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The Outer Limits: The Refuge

The Outer LimitsPremium cable channel Showtime airs the 32nd episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Jessica Steen (Captain Power) guest stars in an episode written by Alan Brennert.

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Mann & Machine: Prototype

Mann & MachineThe first episode of the science fiction police series Mann & Machine, co-created by Dick Wolf and Robert de Laurentiis, is broadcast on NBC, starring David Andrews and Yancy Butler. Samantha Eggar guest stars.

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STS-37

Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on a mission to deploy the orbiting Gamma Ray Observatory satellite. When the high-gain antenna fails to deploy on GRO, the first unplanned spacewalk since 1985 is conducted, with two of the astronauts manually releasing the antenna. Manning Atlantis for nearly six days are Commander Steven Nagel, Pilot Kenneth Cameron, and mission specialists Jerry Ross, Jay Apt and Linda Godwin.

The Flash: Captain Cold

The FlashThe 17th episode of the superhero series The Flash, based on the DC Comics character, airs on CBS, starring John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays. Michael Champion and Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest star.

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Robin Of Sherwood: Herne’s Son, Part 1

Robin Of SherwoodThe 14th episode of Richard Carpenter’s fanciful retelling of the Robin Hood legend, Robin Of Sherwood, airs on ITV, starring Jason Connery, Mark Ryan, Judi Trott, and Nickolas Grace. Richard O’Brien (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) guest stars in the third season premiere, which also introduces Jason Connery (son of James Bond actor Sean Connery) as Robert of Huntingdon, who takes on the mantle of Robin Hood for the remainder of the series following Michael Praed’s departure.

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Robin Of Sherwood now streaming on Amazon Prime

Tube Panic

Tube PanicMixing video highway hypnosis and a strangely hummable theme song, Japanese video game Tube Panic, from the makers of Crazy Climber and Moon Cresta, first appears in American arcades. Players have to fight motion sickness to keep blasting away at bad guys. The game achieves minor cult status but fails to become a smash hit at a time when arcade manufacturers desperately need one.

More about Tube Panic in Phosphor Dot Fossils

Tales Of The Unexpected: Would You Believe It?

Tales Of The UnexpectedITV airs the 35th episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Nigel Havers guest stars in the fourth season premiere.

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Tales Of The Unexpected now streaming on Amazon Prime

Star Wars Radio: Black Knight, White Princess…

Star Wars RadioThe third episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Ann Sachs stars as Princess Leia and Brock Peters (To Kill A Mockingbird) stars as Darth Vader.

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Tales Of The Unexpected: Fat Chance

Tales Of The UnexpectedITV airs the 15th episode of Roald Dahl’s anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected, hosted by the author himself and adapted from his short stories. Miriam Margolyes guest stars in the first episode not based on a Dahl short story.

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Tales Of The Unexpected now streaming on Amazon Prime

Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy: Episode 5

Hitchhiker's Guide To The GalaxyThe fifth episode of Douglas Adams’ breakthrough radio science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is first broadcast on BBC Radio. Roy Hudd guest stars. This is the first of two episodes co-written by John Lloyd, though his contributions are frequently downplayed by Adams in later years.

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Amazing Spider-Man: The Deadly Dust Part 1

Amazing Spider-ManThe first weekly episode of The Amazing Spider-Man airs on CBS, starring Nicholas Hammond and Robert F. Simon. Joanna Cameron (The Secrets Of Isis) and Robert Alda guest star. This is part one of a two-part story.

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