Day: April 4, 1985

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Max Headroom Specials

Max Headroom

Max HeadroomInvestigative journalist Edison Carter, trying to uncover the truth of whether or not nearly-subliminal “blipverts” are causing television-addicted viewers to spontaneously combust, discovers that the trail of evidence leads to his own employer: television mega-corporation Network 23. Edison’s producers and backup team support his investigation, but Network 23 boss Ned Grossman all but orders a hit on his own newsman. Suffering a severe head injury, Edison is left to the care of amoral boy genius Bryce, who scans Edison’s brain and uses the resulting fragmented data to create a computerized avatar of Edison, Max Headroom, hoping to discover through Max exactly how much Edison knew about the effects of blipverts. But if Network 23 was worried about Edison’s headstrong independent streak, Max’s unhinged personality and ability to hack their systems from the inside – as well is a tenacious stubborn streak inherited from Edison – may spell an even bigger threat, especially once Max teams up with a pirate broadcaster known as Blank Reg.

screenplay by Steve Roberts
from an original idea by George Stone, Rocky Morton & Annabel Jankel
directed by Rocky Morton & Annabel Jankel
music by Midge Ure & Chris Cross

Max HeadroomCast: Matt Frewer (Edison Carter / Max Headroom), Nickolas Grace (Grossman), Hilary Tindall (Dominique), William Morgan Sheppard (Blank Reg), Amanda Pays (Theora Jones), Paul Spurrier (Bryce Lynch), Hilton McRae (Breugal), George Rossi (Mahler), Roger Sloman (Murray), Anthony Dutton (Gorrister), Constantine Gregory (Ben Cheviot), Lloyd McGuire (Edwards), Elizabeth Richardson (Ms. Formby), Gary Hope (Ashwell), Joane Hall (Body Bank Receptionist), Howard Samuels (ENG Reporter), Roger Tebb (Helipad Reporter), Val McLane (Eyewitness), Michael Cule (Exploding Man)

Max HeadroomNotes: This one-off movie was virtually remade – right down to using the UK-shot miniature landscapes of the Network 23 tower and its surrounding cityscape – as the first episode of the American-made Max Headroom series, which ran from 1986 to 1987. Changes were very minimal: Grossman became Grossberg, and Amanda Pays and W. Morgan Sheppard joined Matt Frewer in the American show’s cast. Recast and rewritten for American audiences, Bryce became less of the stereotypical “pimply faced youth” character, and more of a sympathetic ally to Max/Edison, whereas in this movie, he’s very much the prototypical unhygienic computer nerd who operates out of a cluttered computer room. W. Morgan Sheppard (1932-2019) is credited here as “Morgan Shepherd”.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Red Dwarf Season 08

Only The Good…

Red DwarfRed Dwarf rescues a life pod with a sole survivor and an unwelcome visitor – a shapeshifting, corrosive microscopic life form which begins eating away at the ship, though no one realizes this just yet. After Lister tricks him into embarassing Kochanski, Kryten vows revenge, planting a fellow prisoner’s secret stash of home-brewed booze in Lister and Rimmer’s cell. But that prisoner’s response – basically a death threat – requires a new escape attempt. En route to steal a ship, they see the corroded life pod, and Lister decides that Captain Hollister must be informed of the imminent danger. Hollister rewards the prisoners by thanking them for giving Red Dwarf’s officers and crew time to escape…and then announces that all prisoners will be left behind to die.

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

Guest Cast: Mac MacDonald (Captain Hollister), Graham McTavish (Ackerman), Heidi Monsen (Talia), Tony Slattery (Dispensing Machine), Ricky Glover (Baxter), David Verrey (Big Meat)

Original title: Every Dog…

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost Season 3

Left Behind

  • By Dave
  • April 4, 2007

LostFlashback: Kate returns to Iowa in order to ask her mother why she told the authorities that Kate had murdered her father. On the way, she runs into car trouble, and when the tow truck drops her off at a local gas station, she bumps into Cassidy trying to run a small con. Kate helps Cassidy escape trouble from the station attendant, and in return Cassidy offers to help Kate slip past the feds and set up a meeting with her mom. The meeting does not go well, but Diane agrees not to tell the marshals. On her way out of town, Kate offers to help Cassidy get even with the man who conned her, but Cassidy seems to have taken a different lesson from Kate’s experience.

The Island: Hurley warns Sawyer that the inhabitants of the beach are preparing a vote to banish Sawyer from the camp. He suggests that Sawyer work to make amends with the rest of the group, but Sawyer shrugs off the advice – until he realizes that he won’t be able to make it on his own. So he begins to reach out to the others, with Hurley as an unofficial campaign manager.

Locke tells Kate that he is going to be leaving soon with the Others. Soon after, the Others throw a canister of gas into her room and she falls unconscious. When she wakes up, she is handcuffed to Juliet, who seems just as bewildered as she is. Kate insists on following the trail back to the Others’ village. When Juliet blames Kate for ruining his (and Juliet’s) chance to leave the island, Kate strikes her and eventually dislocates her shoulder. Soon after, they hear the monster approach them, and frantically look for a place to hide. Juliet forces Kate to confront how little she really knows about Jack, and shows she knows more than she let on about both their handcuffs and the monster. That knowledge helps them return to the village safely, where they find Sayid and Jack. As the three survivors prepare to return to their camp, they must settle one question between themselves: will Juliet be left behind?

Order the DVDswritten by Damon Lindelof & Elizabeth Sarnoff
directed by Karen Gaviola
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Kim Dickens (Cassidy), Beth Broderick (Diane), Fredric Lane (the Marshall), Andrew Meader (Johnny), Bill Ogilvie (Man), Shawn Lathrop (Federal Agent)

Notes: Cassidy was conned by Sawyer in season 2’s The Long Con. Kate murdered her biological father in season 2’s What Kate Did. Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro do not appear in the opening credits or guest star listings of this episode.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

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Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Season 4

He That Believeth In Me

Battlestar GalacticaGalactica’s entire command crew is stunned into silence at the sound of Starbuck’s voice. Even though they’re still reeling from the realization that they are among the Cylons’ fabled final five, Tigh, Tyrol, Anders and Tory are shocked by the return of Starbuck. Starbuck helps Galactica in the fight against the Cylon base ships, but after a Cylon fighter scans Anders at close range, the fight is over and the Cylons inexplicably retreat. Aboard Galactica, Starbuck’s triumphant return is met with a very muted response. She claims that she’s only been gone for six hours, and can’t explain why two months have passed for the rest of the fleet. She also can’t explain, except in the vaguest of terms, how she got to Earth and then returned to the fleet. Roslin orders Starbuck locked up and kept under guard, certain that this isn’t the real Kara Thrace, but a Cylon trick. Below decks, in the aftermath of his trial, Baltar is whisked away to the safety of a commune of people who consider him to be their messiah, and he begins to falteringly pass on the Cylons’ monotheistic belief system to his new followers, urging them to turn their backs on the pantheon of gods worshipped by the Colonials. But even among friends (and at least a few fanatics), Baltar discovers that he isn’t completely safe. Starbuck tries to convince Adama that she does know the way to Earth, but can’t give him a concrete reason to trust her. She then sets out to convince Roslin instead – with a gun in her hand.

Season 4 Regular Cast: Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), Katie Sackhoff (Lt. Starbuck), Jamie Bamber (Captain Apollo), James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar), Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Grace Park (Lt. Boomer)

written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson
directed by Michael Rymer
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 2 Torchwood

Exit Wounds

TorchwoodAfter escaping the bomb blast, Torchwood is helpless in the face of a promise of revenge from Captain John Hart. And Captain John has another ace up his sleeve: he’s found Jack’s brother Grey, alive and grown up. When Jack returns to the Torchwood hub, John kidnaps him and forces him to watch as he sets off a devastating series of huge explosions throughout Cardiff…and then John takes Jack back in time through the rift to Cardiff in 27 A.D., where Grey is waiting. Driven mad by the torment he endured after his older brother lost track of him, Grey is now seeking revenge, and buries Jack alive. Gwen mobilizes the rest of Torchwood and finds herself having to tell the city’s police what to do – as best she can. One of the explosions has cut off external power to the Turnmill nuclear power station, and Owen races to prevent a meltdown as the rest of the team returns to the hub. They find Captain John there, who explains that he was forced to do Grey’s bidding, and claims that he can locate Jack for them. But Grey isn’t finished with the rest of the team: he shoots Toshiko at point blank range and traps Gwen, Ianto and John in the underground cells normally reserved for Weevils. Without Toshiko’s technical advice, Owen finds himself trapped at the nuclear station with a radioactive disaster imminent. Whether or not Jack can be found and can save the day, his team will never be the same – nor will his relationship with his brother.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by Ashley Way
music by Murray Gold and Ben Foster

Guest Cast: Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), James Marsters (Captain John Hart), Tom Price (PC Andy), Lachlan Nieboer (Gray), Paul Kasey (Weevil), Golda Rosheuvel (Dr. Angela Connolly), Syreeta Kumar (Nira Docherty), Cornelius Macarthy (Charles Gaskell), Amy Manson (Alice Guppy)

Notes: At last, Toshiko’s presence alongside the ninth Doctor in Aliens Of London is explained – apparently, Owen was to have been sent to investigate the “space pig,” but was hungover and didn’t answer his phone. Toshiko was sent to pose as a medic instead – not exactly her forte – which explains her jumpiness when the Doctor arrived on the scene.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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K-9 Season 1

The Bounty Hunter

K-9After spending a long day trying to retrieve some of K-9’s lost memories, Professor Gryffen grudgingly gives in to Starkey’s idea of taking K-9 for a walk to jog those memories. While out, the two pass an out-of-control ferris wheel surrounded by Department guards – and Inspector Drake is standing by, claiming that a dissident bomb well go off if the ferris wheel is slowed down. But Starkey and K-9 suspect that Drake is stalling until more news cameras arrive before he disarms the device, and they do it themselves and win the dissident movement a little bit of positive publicity in the process. The time portal in Gryffen’s lab is activated remotely, and a bounty hunter emerges from the year 50,000, hot on K-9’s trail. When he spots K-9 and Starkey in the news coverage of the ferris wheel incident, the hunter decides to make the Department an offer that it can’t refuse: if the Department will make its manpower and technology available, the bounty hunter can rein in a robot dog who’s wanted for murder in the future.

written by Ian McFadyen
directed by James Bogle
music by Christopher Elves

Guest Cast: Robyn Moore (Inspector June Turner), Connor Van Vuuren (Drake), Brad McMurray (Bounty Hunter)

Notes: There’s no indication of where in K-9’s timeline the incident with Zanthus Pia falls, but since the heads-up display from K-9’s point of view shows the post-regeneration K-9, it may – paradoxically – be from K-9’s future – either that, or it’s a memory recorded by the pre-regeneration K-9 and the HUD is merely showing K-9’s current form as a default. The “news ticker” at the bottom of the Department-approved TV news broadcast includes a reference to “NX-2000” making its first test flight; this may or may not be an in-joke for SF fans of a certain age, who would know that NX-2000 was the original registry number of the brand-new U.S.S. Excelsior in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. Maybe K-9 has slipped into more of an alternate universe than we imagined – one in which a ferris wheel is controlled by an early 1980s-model television production switcher.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Through The Valley Of Shadows

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1048.66: A new signal appears over the planet Boreth, home to a secretive Klingon monastery. Tyler contacts Chancellor L’Rell, and she warps to meet Discovery at Boreth to discuss Discovery‘s mission. She reveals that the monks of Boreth also act as protectors of a rare commodity – raw time crystals – but if Tyler shows his face, or identifies their son, her relatively peaceful reign over the Klingon Empire could come to a quick and bloody end, along with any hope of peace with the Federation. This convinces Pike that he must to negotiate for a time crystal, but to gain one, he will have to endure a rite of passage – seeing his own future – that has driven others insane in the past. When a Section 31 ship fails to check in on time, Saru assigns Burnham and Spock to investigate, and they find a drifting ship surrounded by the dead, frozen bodies of its crew…with the exception of one survivor, a former Shenzhou crewman recognized by Burnham. But the ship’s computer awakens, under the thrall of Control, and it wants one thing: to take over Michael Burnham so it can gain access to the alien sphere data.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt
directed by Doug Aarniokoski
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), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Ethan Peck (Spock), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Kenneth Mitchell (Tenavik), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), 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), Ali Momen (Specialist Kamran Gant), Julianne Grossman (Discovery computer), Ian James Corlett (Section 31 computer), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus), Byron Abalos (Trainee #1), Olivia Croft (Trainee #2)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Captain Pike’s future had been described in some detail in part one of The Menagerie (1966), and though some fan films have shown their own versions of the events described, this is the first time in studio-produced Star Trek that we have seen those events play out. (His eventual return to Talos IV in The Menagerie Part 2 is not shown, so Pike is deliberately choosing a future which he believes has no hope.) Tenavik says that the time crystals’ name in the Klingon language is the namesake of their home planet, Qo’nos, which provides a handy explanation for humans’ tendency to refer to Qo’nos as “Chronos” (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). Boreth was first seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation (Rightful Heir, 1993), though in the 24th century, the monks had turned their attention to manipulating both genetics and politics to create a clone of Kahless, with no mention made of time crystals, so it is unknown if the crystals are still under the watchful eye of the monks by the time of Worf’s visit a century later. (Tenavik’s rapid aging, on the other hand, puts Alexander’s to shame.) L’Rell has apparently succeeded in shepherding the familiar D-7 battlecruiser design from the drawing board into production within a year. The stardate for this episode is not given in the episode itself, but in the season finale, Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2.

LogBook entry by Earl Green