Day: March 13, 1971

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Classic Season 08 Doctor Who

The Claws of Axos

Doctor WhoFreak weather conditions mark the arrival of an unidentified flying object which lands near a power station. The Doctor, Jo and UNIT enter the ship, with an officious bureaucrat named Chinn in tow, finding that the ship’s organic nature is closely tied to its inhabitants, the Axons. Though they can appear in humanoid form, the Axons’ true shape is an amorphous blob of tentacles – and they have a passenger on board: the Master. The Axons strike up a bargain with Chinn for Britain to serve as the worldwide distribution hub for Axonite, a miraculous substance the Axons are only too happy to provide freely as a gift of peace in all good faith. The Doctor discovers, only too late, that Axonite is a Trojan horse from space – and it will allow the Axons to feed on Earth’s resources until the planet is drained.

written by Bob Baker & Dave Martin
directed by Michael Ferguson
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Richard Franklin (Captain Yates), Peter Bathurst (Chinn), Michael Walker, David G. March (Radar Operators), Paul Grist (Bill Filer), Fernanda Marlowe (Corporal Bell), Derek Ware (Pigbin Josh), Donald Hewlett (Sir George Hardiman), David Saville (Winser), Bernard Holley (Axon man / voice of Axos), Kenneth Benda (Minister), Tim Piggott-Smith (Harker), Nick Hobbs (Driver), Royston Farrell (Technician), Patricia Gordino (Axon woman), Debbie Lee London (Axon girl), Roger Minnice, Geoff Righty, Steve King, David Aldridge (Humanoid Axons), Gloria Walker (Secretary/Nurse), Clinton Morris (Corporal), Peter Holmes, Steve Smart, Marc Boyle (Axon monsters)

Original title: The Vampire From Space

Broadcast from March 13 through April 3, 1971

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 1

Bounty

Blake's 7Blake and Cally contact Sarkoff, former president of planet Lindor, who has been relegated to a Federation world where, after losing a fixed election on Lindor, he has been kept prisoner under light security. His daughter Tyce is also there with him, disgusted with her father’s broken spirit. Blake talks them in returning to Lindor, but on returning on the Liberator, which had broken orbit to investigate a derelict space vessel, Blake and the others find a band of space pirates in control – and Jenna has apparently switched sides to aid Tarvin, the pirates’ leader.

written by Terry Nation
directed by Pennant Roberts
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), David Jackson (Gan), Peter Tuddenham (Zen), T.P. McKenna (Sarkoff), Carinthia West (Tyce), Marc Zuber (Tarvin), Mark York (Cheney), Derrick Branche (Amagon Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 2

A Voice From The Past

Blake's 7Blake is summoned telepathically to a rebel base where he meets the former Arbiter General of the Federation and rebel leader Shivan, who was rumored killed but appears bandaged head to toe. They are going to take Blake to a meeting of outer world governors to depose Federation rule and install Blake, Shivan and Governor Le Grand as a civilian triumvirate. But Servalan and Travis have known of the scheme all along, and Travis, who has been disguised as Shivan from the outset of the plot, uses the telepathic homing device used on Blake to slow down the crew’s escape from the meeting.

written by Roger Parkes
directed by George Spenton-Foster
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Brian Croucher (Travis), Frieda Knorr (Governor Le Grand), Richard Bebb (Glynd), Martin Read (Nagu)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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National Public Radio Star Wars

The Millennium Falcon Pursuit

The Empire Strikes Back NPR Radio DramaThanks to the valor of Rogue Squadron, most of the Rebel forces are able to escape Hoth. Luke and Wedge are among the last Rebels to evacuate, but instead of following Wedge to the rendezvous point, Luke instead follows Ben Kenobi’s call to the Dagobah system. In the meantime, Leia’s escape is cut off by an Imperial attack, and Han manages to get her out of harm’s way aboard the Falcon, with Threepio in tow. But escape is no easy task: the Imperial forces seem to be paying special attention to the Falcon. Han plunges his ship through an asteroid field to evade Imperial TIE fighters, briefly setting down in a cavern inside one particularly large asteroid to make hasty repairs. As it turns out, the cavern isn’t a cavern at all, but the gaping – and now rapidly closing – maw of a gigantic space slug. And aboard the flagship of the Imperial fleet, Darth Vader orders his men to continue hunting for the Falcon, despite the danger of the asteroid field. Vader is now acting under new orders from the Emperor – capture Luke Skywalker and turn his growing prowess with the Force to the dark side…or kill him.

Order this CDwritten by Brian Daley
based on the screenplay Star Wars by George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John Williams

See the first episode for cast information.

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Voyagers!

Destiny’s Choice

VoyagersBogg and Jeffrey appear in a courtroom in 1928, where Bogg heroically stops two armed men from assaulting a woman on the witness stand…only to realize that the courtroom is a movie set for the first “talking picture” in Hollywood. The actress playing the witness, Veronica Bliss, is amused by the incident; the studio security guards aren’t, since a persistent string of threats and other disruptions have threatened to put the movie’s production off schedule. Veronica is less amused when her persistent lisp gets her fired from the movie by its director, who everyone simply calls “Wild Frank”. When Bogg leans that “Wild Frank” is actually Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he immediately knows why the Omni isn’t letting the time travelers continue their travels. Someone is trying to prevent Roosevelt from completing his picture, and their attempts to do so are becoming more dangerous. But Bogg and Jeffrey are more concerned with an even bigger historical dilemma: what happened in Roosevelt’s history to take him out of politics, and how can his path to becoming one of the most important Presidents of the United States be restored?

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Jill Sherman
directed by Paul Stanley
music by Jerrold Immel

Voyagers!Cast: Jon-Erik Hexum (Phineas Bogg), Meeno Peluce (Jeffrey Jones), Oliver Clark (Sam Winthrop), Angela Clarke (Sara Delano Roosevelt), Ellen Geer (Eleanor Roosevelt), Nicholas Pryor (Franklin Delano Roosevelt), Bonnie Urseth (Veronica Bliss), Robert Carnegie (Guard), Robert Dunlap (Monroe Jones), Bill McLean (Mailman), Buddy Farmer (Stagehand #1), Karl Johnson (Stagehand #2), Joseph Leader (Franz Lubin), Roger Duffy (Child)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 01 Star Trek Voyager

Emanations

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 48623.5: Investigating the possibility of a new element detected in the rocky bodies comprising a planet’s ring system, an away team beams down to one of the asteroids and finds the ground littered with dead bodies encased in a residual shell. As the away team conducts a visual survey – at Chakotay’s request to avoid desecrating the ritually-disposed-of deceased – a subspace phenomenon occurs, prompting an emergency beam-out. But when the away team transports back to Voyager, Kim doesn’t return, his place taken by a newly-arrived body. Harry finds himself among a race of ritualistic people who believe he has returned from their afterlife, and is constantly besieged with questions about “the next emanation.” An alien named Patera, in the meantime, is revived aboard Voyager. She finds herself losing faith in the possibility of the next life, while Harry is the subject of intense curiosity and study by Patera’s people.

Order the DVDswritten by Brannon Braga
directed by David Livingston
music by Jay Chattaway

Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Roxann Biggs-Dawson (B’Elanna Torres), Jennifer Lien (Kes), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), Jerry Hardin (Dr. Neria), Jefrey Alan Chandler (Hatia), Cecile Callan (Patera), Martha Hackett (Seska), Robin Groves (Hatia’s Wife)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 02 Star Trek Voyager

Investigations

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: The crew sees the first episode of “A Briefing With Neelix”, an internal broadcast which Neelix hopes will improve morale. But after speaking with Harry Kim, former editor of the StarFleet Academy newspaper, he is inspired to investigate the departure of Tom Paris. Tom’s departure and his previous bad behavior were all a ruse to flush out the person who was passing information to Seska and the Kazon. But Neelix doesn’t know this and jeopardizes the whole scheme.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Jeri Taylor
story by Jeff Schnaufer & Ed Bond
directed by Les Landau
music by Dennis McCarthy

Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Roxann Biggs-Dawson (B’Elanna Torres), Jennifer Lien (Kes), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), Raphael Sbarge (Ensign Michael Jonas), Martha Hackett (Seska), Jerry Sroka (Laxeth), Simon Billig (Ensign Hogan), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

LogBook entry by Paul Campbell

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Season 5 Xena: Warrior Princess

Lifeblood

Xena: Warrior PrincessXena and Gabrielle travel to the village of the northern Amazons so that Gabrielle can give Eve her right of caste. When they arrive, they learn that Yakut and Amarice were killed when Samite nomads raided the village. Gabrielle decides that they should still have the right of caste ceremony, but since Xena isn’t an Amazon she isn’t allowed to take part. While the others are busy with the ceremony, Yakut appears to Xena. She says her mission in life wasn’t completed and asks Xena to stop the Amazons from seeking revenge.

Order the DVDsteleplay by R.J. Stewart and George Strayton and Tom O’Neill
story by Robert Tapert and R.J. Stewart
directed by Paul Grinder
Amazon High sequences directed by Michael Hurst
music by Joseph LoDuca

Guest Cast: Danielle Cormack (Samsara), Kate Elliot (Yakut), Claudia Black (Karina), Shelley Edwards (Cyane), Selma Blair (Utma/Cyane), Karl Urban (Kor), Monica Mcswain (Olan), Morgan Reese Fairhead (Eris)

Notes: Some sequences in this episode were filmed by Michael “Iolaus” Hurst for the pilot episode of an aborted Young Hercules-style Xena spinoff called Amazon High. The series never made it beyond the pilot, and so the footage was reused here.

LogBook entry by Mary Terrell

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Sarah Jane Adventures Season 3

(Red Nose Day Special 2009)

The Sarah Jane AdventuresA fairly routine day for Sarah and the kids is turned upside-down with the sudden arrival of a dapper little man claiming to be a representative of the Galactic Alliance. Sarah is skeptical but at least offers him some hospitality – at least until the first signs that the man is not who he says he is. When K-9 appears to warn of the man’s true identity, the trap is sprung – and it appears that the intruder is pursuing his prey with a dogged determination.

Get the DVDwritten by Gareth Roberts & Clayton Hickman
directed by
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Ronnie Corbett (Ronnie), Tommy Knight (Luke), Daniel Anthony (Clyde), Anjli Mohindra (Rani), John Leeson (voice of K-9), Jimmy Vee (Ronnie Slitheen)

Notes: Comedian Ronnie Corbett is best known as half of The Two Ronnies, a beloved comedy duo whose television specials were a high point of the BBC’s schedule between 1971 and 1987; Corbett starred with the late Ronnie Barker throughout the show’s run, and The Two Ronnies is even referenced as a gag in this short special. The Comic Relief “Red Nose Day” telethon and the Doctor Who universe have had one other collision, in 1999 with the broadcast of the two-part Doctor Who spoof The Curse Of Fatal Death, starring Rowan Atkinson (and a number of others) as the Doctor, and written by future Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat. While writer Gareth Roberts has penned several adventures for Sarah Jane and Doctor Who, this is his first televised collaboration with Doctor Who Magazine editor-in-chief Clayton Hickman; the two wrote two comedy-themed Doctor Who audio adventures for Big Finish, The One Doctor and Bang-Bang-a-Boom! Hickman may be best known to fandom as the cover artist in residence for most of 2|entertain’s Doctor Who classic series DVD releases in the UK; he served in that capacity for the early years of Big Finish as well.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Season 4

Daybreak – Part One

Battlestar GalacticaCaprica City, before the fall: As Dr. Gaius Baltar falls under the spell of an enticing blond woman who seems to want nothing more than a quick tour of Caprica’s defense mainframe, Bill Adama angles for a sensitive government job whose interview process will include a strenuous test of his loyalties – something that, after his illustrious military career, he finds more than just offensive. Laura Roslin celebrates her sister’s impending motherhood, and later goes numb when her entire family is ripped away from her in a tragic accident.

Now: With Galactica’s dismantling underway, Admiral Adama decides that the ship should fly one last mission – into the heart of Cylon territory to rescue Hera. With some hints gleaned from Sam Anders’ hybrid-like ramblings, a recon mission finds the elusive Cylon colony, but it’s sitting in a very precarious position near a black hole: Galactica may be able to jump in, but the strain of jumping out again may be more than the ship can bear. Raptors might be able to jump out, but it’s likely a one-way trip for Galactica; Adamas asks volunteers for the mission to step forward for Galactica’s final flight.

written by Ronald D. Moore
directed by Michael Rymer
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Tigh), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Sam Anders), Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh), Rick Worthy (Simon), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Matthew Bennett (Aaron Doral), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Kerry Norton (Nurse Ishay), Dean Stockwell (Brother Cavel)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Clone Wars Season 1 Star Wars

Liberty on Ryloth

The Clone WarsThe final push to free Ryloth comes from a campaign against the capital city by Jedi General Mace Windu. With his clone troopers depleted by battle, he must seek out the help of resistance leader Cham Syndulla. However, political tensions between Syndulla and Republic Senator Orn Free Taa threaten to sabotage Windu’s efforts. But a slash-and-burn campaign by the retreating Separatist army may prove to be the catalyst that brings the opposing forces together.

written by Henry Gilroy
directed by Rob Coleman
music by Kevin Kiner / original Star Wars themes by John Williams

Cast: Terrence “TC” Carson (Mace Windu), Matthew Wood (Battle Droids / Wat Tambor), Dee Bradley Baker (Commander Ponds / Razor / Stak), Gary Scheppke (TA-175), Ian Abercrombie (Chancellor Palpatine), Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker), Phil LaMarr (Orn Free Taa), Tom Kane (Yoda / Admiral Yularen / Narrator), Corey Burton (Count Dooku), Robin Atkin Downes (Cham Syndulla), James Arnold Taylor (Tae Boon), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano)

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey