Day: March 21, 1970

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Classic Season 07 Doctor Who

The Ambassadors of Death

Doctor WhoA British manned Mars mission has fallen silent, its crew incommunicado for months. A second manned space vehicle is launched to recover the first, but it too loses contact with Earth. Strange, piercing signals are heard in Space Command on Earth, and the Doctor quickly realizes that they may be messages from whoever took the astronauts – only to hear a similar coded reply being sent from somewhere on Earth moments later. The Brigadier is able to trace the source of the reply and finds that the people who transmitted it are better organized and better armed than anyone suspected, and they even have allies within Space Command who try to sabotage the Doctor’s analysis of the original message. The recovery mission returns to Earth, but when the hatch is opened, the crew is nowhere to be found. Three astronauts did, in fact, arrive safely, but they aren’t from Earth. When Liz is kidnapped and forced to experiment on the alien visitors, and the military suddenly becomes reluctant to aid the Brigadier, the Doctor finds himself racing against time to avert an interplanetary war sparked by one paranoid man.

written by David Whitaker
directed by Michael Ferguson
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Robert Crawdon (Taltalian), Ric Felgate (Van Lyden), Ronald Allen (Ralph Cornish), Michael Wisher (John Wakefield), Cheryl Molineaux (Miss Rutherford), John Abineri (Carrington), Ray Armstrong (Grey), Robert Robertson (Collinson), Juan Moreno (Dobson), James Haswell (Champion), Bernard Martin (Control Room Assistant), Dallas Cavell (Quinlan), Steve Peters, Neville Simons (Astronauts), Gordon Sterne (Heldorf), William Dysart (Reegan), Cyril Shaps (Lennox), John Lord (Masters), Max Faulkner (Soldier), Joanna Ross (First Assistant), Carl Conway (Second Assistant), Ric Felgate (Astronaut), James Clayton (Parker), Peter Noel Cook (Alien), Peter Halliday (Alien voice), Neville Simons (Michaels), Steve Peters (Lefee), Geoffrey Beevers (Johnson), Roy Scammell (Peterson), Tony Harwood (Flynn)

Broadcast from March 21 through May 2, 1970

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Season 01 Star Trek The Next Generation

Heart Of Glory

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 41503.7: Worf’s loyalties are tested to the limits as renegade Klingons who at first seem to be refugees of an unjust system of law are rescued from a doomed freighter by the Enterprise. But the survivors soon turn out to terrorists who favor a return to the Klingon ways of old and see the Enterprise as the ideal weapon with which to begin a new reign of terror.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Maurice Hurley
story by Maurice Hurley, Herbert Wright and D.C. Fontana
directed by Rob Bowman
music by Ron Jones

Guest Cast: Vaughn Armstrong (Korris), Charles H. Hyman (Konmel), David Froman (K’Nera), Robert Bauer (Kunivas), Brad Zerbst (Nurse), Dennis Madalone (Ramos)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 01

Me2

Red DwarfIn Stereo Where Available, Baby: It could only get better, Rimmer decides, by tricking Lister into activating a second hologram which he thinks will be Kochanski, but is instead a backup copy of Rimmer himself. It’s love at first sight for Rimmer, who moves into the next room with his duplicate. But all isn’t well – Rimmer’s ambition gets the best of him, as does Rimmer’s amibiton. In the meantime, Cat leaves a present in Rimmer’s closet for future archaeologists to puzzle over, while Lister watches a video of Rimmer’s death and discovers the deadly secret of gazpacho soup, a mystery Rimmer took with him to the grave. But since Rimmer unfortunately didn’t stay there long, Lister will do anything to find out why his dying words were “gazpacho soup.”

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Mac McDonald (Captain Hollister)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 04

Meltdown

Red DwarfThe Whole Ball Of Wax: Kryten saves Cat and Lister from the potentially lethal boredom of listening to Rimmer’s proud reminiscences of Risk games played in his youth by surprising everyone with the invention of the Matter Paddle, a device found in the ship’s labs which can instantaneously transmit the molecules of anyone holding onto it across vast distances. It can also locate the nearest suitable environment for its users. Rather than facing the deadly threat of listening to Rimmer’s stories anymore, everyone elects to find the nearest hospitable planet and do some exploring. Unfortunately, Kryten and Rimmer wind up in a grassy plain being pursued by terribly fake prehistoric monsters. Lister and Cat wind up in the war room of the Third Reich, but even stranger things begin to happen – the worst figures of human history have somehow combined their talents to make things even worse. In the meantime, Rimmer and Kryten have discovered that the same unusual convergence of good and decent historical personalities is taking place, but they’re being wiped out by history’s most hideous. Rimmer sees this as his calling, his destiny, and his chance to put all those Risk skills to valuable use. Unfortunately, for some reason, his army of wax-droids programmed with such personalities as Father Christmas, the Queen Mother, Ghandi, Elvis, Mother Theresa and Noel Coward doesn’t offer much hope of victory – or even surviving long enough to retreat. Lister and Cat escape the clutches of Hitler, Rasputin, and others, only to find themselves captured by another war-crazed megalomaniac: Rimmer. It’s going to take more than brute force to win the war, get the Matter Paddle back from the bad guys and escape, and whatever that is, Arnie’s army probably doesn’t have it…

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Clayton Mark (Elvis), Kenneth Hadley (Hitler), Martin Friend (Einstein), Stephen Tiller (Pythagoras), Jack Klaff (Abraham Lincoln), Tony Hawks (Caligula), Michael Burrell (Pope Gregory), Forbes Masson (Stan Laurel), Roger Blake (Noel Coward), Pauline Bailey (Marilyn Monroe)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 07 Star Trek The Next Generation

Genesis

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 47653.2: A routine test of Worf’s new photon torpedo guidance system sends a potentially hazardous torpedo astray into deep space, which Picard and Data set off to recover via shuttlecraft. When they return from their mission, they find that every inhabitant of the ship has somehow mutated into more primitive forms of life, some dangerous, others not. The cause of this condition is a virus which has now infected Picard, leaving him and Data very little time to reverse the plight of the crew.

Order the DVDswritten by Brannon Braga
directed by Gates McFadden
music by Dennis McCarthy

Star Trek: The Next GenerationGuest Cast: Dwight Schultz (Lt. Barclay), Patti Yasutake (Nurse Ogawa), Carlos Ferro (Ensign Dern), and Spot

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Deep Space Nine Season 02 Star Trek

Blood Oath

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate not given: Three elderly Klingons whose days of glory passed into history and legend with the conclusion of Federation-Klingon hostilities have arrived at DS9 in search of their old friend Curzon Dax. Decades ago, after the three Klingons led a victorious assault on a ruthless enemy, their first sons were murdered in an act of revenge. The bereaved fathers made a pact, along with their mutual friend Dax, to avenge their sons’ deaths. After years of searching, the murderer has been found – and they wonder if Jadzia Dax will still honor an oath of vengeance made by Curzon Dax.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazontelevision story and teleplay by Peter Allen Fields
based upon material by Andrea Moore Alton
directed by Winrich Kolbe
music by Dennis McCarthy

Cast: Avery Brooks (Commander Benjamin Sisko), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Siddig El Fadil (Dr. Julian Bashir), Terry Farrell (Lt. Jadzia Dax), Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Nana Visitor (Major Kira Nerys), John Colicos (Kor), William Campbell (Koloth), Michael Ansara (Kang), Bill Bolender (The Albino), Christopher Collins (Albino’s Aide)

Star Trek: Deep Space NineNotes: The principal Klingon guest stars each made their debut appearances in episodes of the original Star Trek – John Colicos’ Kor appeared as the first Klingon in Trek history in 1967’s Errand Of Mercy; William Campbell stirred up The Trouble With Tribbles as Koloth later that same year, and Michael Ansara locked horns with Captain Kirk in 1968’s Day Of The Dove.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Marian Conspiracy

Doctor Who: The Marian ConspiracyTracking a disturbance in the fabric of time, the Doctor interrupts a college class being conducted by history professor Dr. Evelyn Smythe – only to discover that she is the disturbance he has been seeking. Evelyn initially wants nothing to do with the garishly dressed stranger until physical evidence of her family history begins to vanish from her home. The Doctor deduces that something in the past is unraveling, erased Evelyn’s ancestors from the timeline – and taking her along with it. He rigs up a stasis device to prevent Evelyn from disappearing altogether, but rather than staying put, the intrepid teacher decides to visit Earth’s history along with the Doctor. The TARDIS tracks the disturbance to a point roughly three years before the end of Queen Mary’s reign, where events – including a conspiracy to remove Mary from the throne by any means necessary – are converging with one inevitable effect unless the Doctor can stop them: Evelyn Smythe’s family will be wiped out in the process.

Order this CDwritten by Jacqueline Rayner
directed by Gary Russell
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Maggie Stables (Dr. Evelyn Smythe), Anah Ruddin (The Queen), Jo Castleton (Lady Sarah), Sean Jackson (George Crow), Gary Russell (John Wilson), Jez Fielder (William Leaf), Nicholas Pegg (Reverend Thomas), Barnaby Edwards (Francois de Noailles), Alistair Lock (Royal guard)

Timeline: after The Trial Of A Time Lord and before The Spectre Of Lanyon Moor

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Clone Wars Star Wars Tartakovsky Series, Vol. 2

Chapter 21

  • By Dave
  • March 21, 2005

Star Wars: Clone WarsClone troopers lead a rescue mission to Hypori, where only Ki-Adi-Mundi still stands against General Grievous. The reinforcements’ heavy firepower turns the tide of the battle, but despite Ki’s urgings, they are unable to pursue Grievous – the wounded need medical care too badly. Yoda has a vision of Qui-Gon Jinn and a boy Anakin preparing to face a psychological trial. Anakin and Padme continue to hide their marriage, much to Anakin’s frustration. Months later, the war continues, and the Council faces a shortage of Knights to lead the battles. Obi-Wan suggests that Anakin be knighted despite not having faced the formal Jedi trials, arguing that the events of the war have tested him enough. Mace Windu has reservations, but eventually Obi-Wan’s suggestion is accepted. Anakin Skywalker becomes a Jedi Knight.

Volume 2 Cast: Mat Lucas (Anakin Skywalker), James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi/Agen Kolar/Turnstile Computer/Techno Union Scientist #2/Mutated Warrior #1), Tom Kane (Yoda), Grey DeLisle (Padme Amidala/Shaak Ti/Stass Allie/Nevanian Boy/Nelvaanian Woman/ Nelvaanian Child), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), T. C. Carson (Mace Windu/Saesee Tinn/Alien General), Andre Sogliuzzo (ARC Trooper/ARC Captain/Battle Droid/Clone Commander Cody/Clone Trooper/Captain Typho/Clone Pilot/Captain Fordo), Daran Norris (Ki-Adi-Mundi/Even Piell), Richard McGonagle (General Grievous/Kit Fisto/Nelvaanian Shaman/Nelvaanian Warrior), Frankie Ryan Manriquez (Young Anakin Skywalker), Fred Tatasciore (Qui-Gon Jinn/Oppo Rancisis), Corey Burton (Count Dooku), Nick Jameson (Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious/Main Techno Union Scientist)

Order the DVDsstory by Bryan Andrew, Darrick Bachman, Paul Rudish and Genndy Tartakovsky
directed by Genndy Tartakovsky
original music by John Williams
new music by James L. Venable and Paul Dinletir

Note: The episodes in Volume 2 of Clone Wars were roughly 12 minutes in length.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 3

The Man from Tallahassee

  • By Dave
  • March 21, 2007

LostFlashback: Suffering from depression, Locke lives alone in a small apartment. A young man named Peter knocks on his door and asks about the man to whom he gave his kidney. His mother is about to marry a man that Peter doesn’t trust – and when he dug into the man’s past, he discovered that his mother’s future husband had once gone by the name of Anthony Cooper and received a kidney from Locke. Peter wants to know if Locke will vouch for Cooper, but Locke claims the donation was anonymous and sends Peter away.

Soon after, Locke tracks down Cooper himself, and insists that he break off the engagement. He won’t let Cooper fool anyone else into thinking he’s family. Cooper says he’ll end the relationship, but a few days later Locke learns that Peter is dead. Once again, Locke chooses not to tell the truth to investigators, but confronts Cooper himself. When he does, Cooper’s desperation has permanent consequences for Locke.

The Island: Kate, Sayid and Locke are surprised to see Jack cooperating with the Others. Rousseau sneaks away from the group to observe things on her own, while Locke suggests that the others wait for nightfall to talk to Jack alone. Kate enters the house where he’s staying, and Jack begs her to leave while she can – the house is being watched. Guards storm the room and capture Kate, along with Sayid standing guard outside. But Locke slips away and finds Ben. He demands that Ben tell him the location of their submarine and sends Alex to retrieve Sayid’s bag – and the explosives Locke took from the Flame station. Ben and the Others don’t understand the island, he says, and that’s why Ben is stuck in a wheelchair. But Locke is going to make sure that the Others stop cheating, and that no one leaves the island. He’s going to blow up the submarine, even though Jack and Juliet are supposed to leave in just an hour. As it turns out, Ben may not be so unhappy with this turn of events. And he thinks that Locke might be able to help him some more – and as an inducement, Ben shows Locke one more of the island’s miracles . . . a face from his past.

Order the DVDswritten by Drew Goddard & Jeff Pinkner
directed by Jack Bender
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: M.C. Gainey (Mr. Friendly/Tom), Tania Raymonde (Alex), Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert), Mira Furlan (Danielle Rousseau), Kevin Tighe (Anthony Cooper), Patrick J. Adams (Peter Talbot), Barbara Baehler (Mrs. Talbot), Don Nahaku (Detective Reed), Marlene Forte (Detective Mason), Stephen Bishop (William Kincaid), Cleo King (Government Worker), Brian Goodman (Ryan Pryce)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Orville, The Season 2

Lasting Impressions

The OrvilleThanks to a visiting archaeologist, the Orville crew gets a rare glimpse of a recently unearthed time capsule of items left untouched since the year 2015. As Bortus and Klyden revive a long-lost addiction thanks to Moclans’ susceptibility to nicotine, Gordon becomes fixated on reviving a cell phone and examining its contents. Once the property of a woman named Laura, the phone is a repository of early 21st century life on an intimate level. Gordon is fascinated enough to have the computer synthesize a holographic simulation of Laura’s life based on the contents of her phone – every text, e-mail, video, photo – and when he meets what the computer extrapolates to be the real Laura, he’s smitten, almost to the point of neglecting his duties. Meanwhile, as Dr. Finn races to concoct an antidote to Moclan nicotine addiction, she has ordered Bortus and Klyden to stop smoking…and among Moclans, withdrawal symptoms may include bursts of extreme violence.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Seth MacFarlane
directed by Kelly Cronin
music by John Debney

The OrvilleCast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Jessica Szohr (Lt. Talla Keyali), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Chad L. Coleman (Klyden), Leighton Meester (Laura Huggins), Tim Russ (Dr. Sherman), Norm MacDonald (Yaphit), Darri Ingolfsson (Greg), Sarah Scott (Trisha), Ajay Vidure (Karl), Stacy Highsmith (Melissa), Rachael MacFarlane (Computer voice), Chris Muto (Male guest)

Notes: Tim Russ is the latest Star Trek alumnus to appear on The Orville; he starred as Tuvok for all seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, and has more recently been seen in Supergirl and the fan-funded Star Trek: Renegades project.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

The Red Angel

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: A post-mortem scan of Lt. Commander Airiam’s cybernetic implants allows Tilly to sift through the information uploaded into Airiam by Control, which includes detailed information on the Red Angel’s spacesuit apparatus – an abandoned Section 31 time travel project – and its wearer, a perfect DNA match for one Michael Burnham. An artificial intelligence, the Control system used by Section 31, has also been following through the micro-wormholes allowing the suit to time travel. But even as Burnham reels from the news that the Red Angel’s actions are apparently actions that she will take at some point in the future, she learns that her parents were Section 31 operatives using a time crystal stolen from Klingon space to build and power the suit…and that a younger Leland’s irresponsibility is directly responsible for their deaths. But Spock, in studying the movements of the Red Angel to date and the appearance of the seven signals, has discovered that the signals do not necessarily correlate to appearances of the Angel. The Angel has, instead, responded only to situations when Burnham’s life was in immediate danger, which makes sense: a future Burnham acting as the Red Angel can’t allow younger Burnham to die. A trap is set on the inhospitable plant Essof IV, using Burnham as the bait to catch her older self. But once captured, the Red Angel is someone no one – especially not Michael Burnham – ever expected to see again.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Chris Silvestri & Anthony Maranville
directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Sonja Sohn (Dr. Gabrielle Burnham), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Hannah Cheesman (Lt. Cmdr. Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Sarah Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Jason Anthony (Control Computer)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: Stamets echoes the 23rd century belief that wormholes are “inherently unstable”, though the 24th century will see the discovery of a wormhole stabilized by an advanced alien species (Deep Space Nine: Emissary). Saru mentions Discovery‘s away team, a term more commonly associated with Star Trek: The Next Generation; as it’s more or less interchangeable with “landing party”, away team is probably a piece of Starfleet lingo that predates the 24th century, but just wasn’t one we heard used by Captains Archer or Kirk. Spock’s instant recall of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” persists even into his next life (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). Airiam’s bridge station is now occupied by Lt. Nilsson – played by Sara Mitich, who played Airiam in the first season of Discovery.

LogBook entry by Earl Green