Day: April 11, 1964

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Classic Season 01 Doctor Who

The Keys Of Marinus

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS lands on the planet Marinus, a world whose seas are filled with acid and whose beaches are sand fused into glass. They investigate a fantastic building, but at the same time something else is investigating the TARDIS – a tall creature in what appears to be a black skinsuit. Inside the building, more of these creatures are encountered, and Ian saves a man who’s being threatened by one of the beings. The man, Arbitan, tells the Doctor and his friends the story of the Conscience, a machine that was built to be the perfect impartial judge and evolved into a device that eliminated crime from Arbitan’s society by controlling the thoughts of the population. But when a rebel group aided by the Voords arrived, four of the Conscience’s five keys were hidden to prevent the Voord from ruling over Marinus with its mind control. Arbitan enlists the Doctor’s help to search for the missing keys, and to make sure he has the time travelers’ help, he prevents them from reaching the TARDIS. They undertake a lengthy quest across Marinus, through lawless frozen wastelands, enduring moving vegetation, and visiting a ruined city whose inhabitants use hypnotic means to trick visitors into seeing an opulent palace. They even find a counterfeit Conscience key. But when they return with the four keys, they find Arbitan dead and the Voords in control.

written by Terry Nation
directed by John Gorrie
music by Norman Kay

Guest Cast: George Couloris (Arbitan), Martin Cort, Peter Stenson, Gordon Wales (Voords), Robin Phillips (Altos), Katharine Schofield (Sabetha), Heron Carvic (voice of Morpho), Edmund Warwick (Darrius), Francis de Wolff (Vasor), Michael Allaby (Larn), Alan James, Anthony Verner, Peter Stenson, Michael Allaby (Ice Soldiers), Henley Thomas (Tarron), Raf de la Torre (Senior Judge), Alan James, Peter Stenson (Judges), Fiona Walker (Kala), Martin Cort (Aydan), Donald Pickering (Eyesen), Stephen Dartnell (Yartek), Dougie Dean (Eprin)

Notes: This episode marks the first time that the TARDIS is actually seen materializing on screen. William Hartnell was absent from episodes 3 and 4 to take a brief vacation, so those episodes focus instead on Ian and Barbara’s adventures.

Broadcast from April 11 through May 16, 1964

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Season 01 Star Trek The Next Generation

The Arsenal Of Freedom

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 41798.2: An Away Team consisting of Riker, Data and Yar runs headlong into danger when Riker is put in suspended animation by an intelligent robot weapon which proved to be too powerful for its creators – and it looks as if it may eliminate the away team, joined by Picard and Dr. Crusher, while its counterpart attacks the Enterprise, where Geordi fears his experience may not be enough to help the crew survive.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Richard Manning and Hans Beimler
story by Maurice Hurley and Robert Lewin
directed by Les Landau
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Vincent Schiavelli (Salesman), Marco Rodriguez (Captain Rice), Vyto Ruginis (Logan), Julia Nickson (Ensign Tsu), George De La Pena (Lt. Solis)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 07 Star Trek Voyager

Q2

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 54704.5: Q returns to Voyager, not having been encountered by Janeway and her crew since he begged Captain Janeway to be the mother of his child. Q managed to conceive a child without Janeway, and now that child is running into trouble with the Q Continuum. Q brings his son to Voyager in the hopes that the crew can teach the boy the qualities of humanity that Q has learned from Starfleet officers past. But the junior Q is undisciplined, bored, and has the same degree of boundless power as his father – and the resemblance of his antics to those of the Q of old are striking. But the younger Q’s impetuous nature may turn deadly for Voyager if neither Janeway nor the elder Q can reign him in.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Robert Doherty
story by Kenneth Biller
directed by LeVar Burton
music by Paul Baillargeon

Guest Cast: John de Lancie (Q), Keegan de Lancie (Q2), Manu Intiraymi (Icheb), Michael Kagan (Alien Commander), Lorna Raver (Q Judge), Anthony Holiday (Nausicaan), Scott Davidson (Bolian)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Season 4

Six Of One

Battlestar GalacticaStarbuck, after getting President Roslin’s attention by holding her at gunpoint, hands the president that gun and tells her to fire if she truly thinks that Starbuck is a Cylon. Roslin does indeed fire, but she misses; Starbuck is arrested and thrown in the brig, where Adama makes it clear that even his trust in her has now been broken. But Roslin can’t help but feel that Adama’s belief in her absolute certainty that she alone knows the way to Earth is eroding. Among the Cylons, concern is growing about the recent attack on the Colonial fleet, and the abrupt, unplanned end to it. Number Six theorizes that some of the final five Cylon models could be among the fleet, which would prompt the Cylon Raider vehicles to avoid firing on them. Dissention breaks out among the ranks of the Cylons, especially when one of the Boomer models votes against the rest of her type – a first in Cylon history. This proves to be too much for Six to bear, and she gives the signal to fire what may be the first shots in a Cylon civil war.

written by Michael Angeli
directed by Anthony Hemingway
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), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Rick Worthy (The Doctor), Matthew Bennett (Doral), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Sebastian Spence (Narcho), Dean Stockwell (Brother Cavel), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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2008-2009 Specials Doctor Who New Series Season 04

Planet Of The Dead

Doctor WhoThe Doctor boards a double-decker bus in London, on the trail of a space-time disturbance somewhere nearby. But to his dismay, the bus drives straight through the disturbance: a wormhole that deposits the bus to a rough landing on a barren desert world. Among the assortment of passengers on the bus are a slightly psychic woman whose abilities have been enhanced by the trip through the wormhole, and a mysterious and surprisingly well-equipped woman named Lady Christina de Souza, who quickly teams up with the Doctor, if only because he seems to be the only one who knows what’s going on – and she wants to know why. When a group of insectoid bipeds called Tritivores find the travelers, it becomes apparent that the double-decker isn’t the only recent arrival on this distant world. There’s another race on this planet as well – one which created the wormhole, and intends to widen the wormhole leading to London. Their objective is to feed on everything and everyone on whatever planet they swarm to; their only obstacle is a Time Lord and a resourceful woman who’s almost as mysterious as he is.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies & Gareth Roberts
directed by James Strong
music by Murray Gold

Cast: David Tennant (The Doctor), Michelle Ryan (Christina), Lee Evans (Malcolm), Noma Dumezweni (Capt. Magambo), Adam James (D.I. McMillan), Glenn Doherty (Sgt. Dennison), Victoria Alcock (Angela), David Ames (Nathan), Ellen Thomas (Carmen), Reginald Tsiboe (Lou), Daniel Kaluuya (Barclay), Keith Parry (Bus Driver), James Layton (Sgt. Ian Jenner), Paul Kasey (Sorvin), Ruari Mears (Praygat)

Planet Of The DeadNotes: Michelle Ryan may be best known on both sides of the Atlantic for starring as Jamie Sommers in the short-lived NBC remake of The Bionic Woman. This marks the second appearance of Noma Dumezweni as UNIT’s Capt. Erisa Magambo, first seen – albeit in an alternate timeline – in season four’s Turn Left; this is the first time we’ve met her in the Doctor’s “home” timeline. The Doctor’s reference to an incident involving a giant robot was, in fact, the first adventure of the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) in Robot (1974/75), which also involved UNIT. The desert scenes were filmed in Dubai, though the plot point of the bus being heavily damaged was helped along a little bit by damage incurred during shipping of a real double-decker to the location. In some respects, the character of Lady Christina vaguely resembles the character outline for Kat (sometimes referred to as Kate in the sparse documentation of that character’s development) Tollinger, a feisty female burglar who would have been introduced in the never-made fourth season of Sylvester McCoy‘s era, had it gone into production in 1990. Planet Of The Dead was also the first Doctor Who adventure to be shot on high-definition video, though the first Doctor Who-related HD production was actually the first season of Torchwood.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Red Dwarf Season 09: Back To Earth

Back To Earth – Part 2

Red DwarfKaterina, the hologram who is not only slated to replace Rimmer but seems insufferably pleased about it, opens a dimensional portal through which she intends to retrieve a suitable human female to help Lister repopulate the now-extinct human race. But her instruments briefly register that Red Dwarf’s own dimension is invalid. One by one, everyone but Katerina is sucked through the wormhole, landing in London in 2009. As they browse the video aisle of a store, they’re extremely disturbed to discover that their adventures have been chronicled on television: Red Dwarf, and its entire crew, are a fictional construct. As if that’s not enough to rock them back on their heels, the back-of-the-box blurb on a new DVD release, Red Dwarf: Back To Earth, reveals that they’re fated to die in the next episode.

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

Cast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), Sophie Winkleman (Katerina), Tom Andrews (Salesman), Karen Admiral (Woman), Jon Glover (Man), Jeremy Swift (Noddy), Julian Ryder (Bus Driver), Charlie Kenyon (Boy on the bus), Nina Southworth (Girl on the bus), Richard Woo (Swallow)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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K-9 Season 1

Fear Itself

K-9Fear and panic grip London, as rioting and fires break out across the city. At the heart of it all is a battered old wardrobe hidden away in a warehouse, guarded by CCPCs and Inspector Drake. Darius is shoved into the wardrobe, and discovers that it’s bigger inside than out, with a seemingly bottomless pit where its floor should be. He escapes, and brings his friends back with K-9 – and they quickly find that Drake is as terrified of what’s in the wardrobe as they are. Drake is certain that there’s an alien inside the wardrobe, something causing irrational fear to ripple through the city. K-9 is determined to discover what’s hiding inside, but his investigation may only prove Drake right.

written by Everett DeRoche & Graeme Farmer
directed by Daniel Zwicky
music by Christopher Elves

Guest Cast: Robyn Moore (Inspector June Turner), Connor Van Vuuren (Drake), Brian Vaughan (Tramp #1), Nick Neilo (Tramp #2)

Notes: The new K-9 has apparently added a tractor beam to his capabilities, and it sounds remarkably like a long phaser blast from the original Star Trek. Professor Gryffen mentions the Great Plague of 1665, an event which history says culminated in the Great Fire of London – but history seems to be unaware of the Doctor’s role in events. The wardrobe – bigger inside than out (though seemingly only in a vertical sense) – might be a TARDIS; Discuss it in our forumgiven the wardrobe’s resemblance to a certain sinister grandfather clock, could this be an experiment of the Master’s gone horribly wrong?

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Such Sweet Sorrow Part 1

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1051.8: Discovery’s crew evacuated to the Enterprise as Saru and Pike set the ship to auto-destruct…but the attempt to scuttle Discovery proves unsuccessful, as the alien sphere data has now integrated itself fully into the ship’s computer, allowing it to once again protect itself from deletion or destruction. Burnham proposes a new course of action: a new time suit will be built, which she will pilot, with Discovery programmed to follow her into the far future. A new signal appears near the planet Xahea, home of Tilly’s friend Po (who happens to be the planet’s queen), who shares some of her planet’s technology to help arm Discovery for the fight ahead and prepare the time crystal for use in a new time suit. Several members of Discovery‘s crew, as well as Nhan and Spock from the Enterprise crew, volunteer to stay aboard to ensure that the ship survives long enough to reach the future. Ash Tyler, however, readies himself for another mission – making sure that Control is eradicated from Section 31 forever.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
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), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), James Frain (Sarek), Yadira Guevara-Prip (Po), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Ethan Peck (Spock), Rebecca Romjin (Number One), Sonja Sohn (Dr. Gabrielle Burnham), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), 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), Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Julianne Grossman (Discovery computer), Samora Smallwood (Lt. Amin), Hanneke Talbot (Lt. Mann), Chai Valladares (Lt. Nicola), Nicole Dickinson (Yeoman Colt)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Scenes from the Short Treks episode Runaway are shown as part of the recap. This is the first glimpse of the Enterprise bridge in Star Trek: Discovery, complete with tactile controls cast from the replicas created by James Cawley and company for the bridge set of the Star Trek: New Voyages fan series (which, following the release of a stricter set of fan film guidelines, ceased to be a working set and became the CBS-licensed Star Trek Original Set Tour attraction). Yeoman Colt makes a fleeting appearance, having evidently stayed aboard the Enterprise and stayed at the same rank since The Cage.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Orville, The Season 2

Sanctuary

The OrvilleWith the potential for another Kaylon invasion attempt still looming, the Moclans upgrade the weaponry of the Union’s Explorer-class ships, including the Orville. Two visiting Moclan engineers draw Bortus’ attention with an unusual power drain in their quarters, and Bortus discovers that they are powering a stasis unit with an infant Moclan female, trying to smuggle the child away from Moclus, where she would likely undergo mandatory corrective gender-change surgery. Bortus agrees to keep their secret as they transfer to another ship, but also wants to show Topa that it is possible for Moclans of more than one gender to coexist. Topa, however, tells Klyden, who reports Bortus’ secret to Captain Mercer. Following the ship to which the Moclans transferred, the Orville plunges into a dense nebula and finds a solar system that is home to an entire colony of Moclan females. The scope of the problem is bigger than any command decision Mercer can make, and he takes the leader of the colony to Earth to plead the case for sovereignty. In response, the Moclans threaten to secede from the Union, taking their weapons technology with them and leaving Earth open to Kaylon conquest.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Joe Menosky
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Andrew Cottee

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), Victor Garber (Admiral Halsey), F. Murray Abraham (Chairman), Ted Danson (Admiral Perry), Rena Owen (Heveena), Ron Canada (Admiral Tucker), Kelly Hu (Admiral Ozawa), Tony Todd (Moclan Delegate), Regi Davis (Korick), Shawn T. Andrew (Toren), Marina Sirtis (Teacher), Emerson Brooks (Moclan), Cameron Knight (Moclan), Blesson Yates (Topa), Madelyn Grace (Olivia), Bo Kane (Alien Delegate), Kathrin Middleton (Retepsian Delegate), Mark McClain Wilson (Xalayan Delegate), Yvonne Senat (Osaia), Hanani Taylor (Moclan Girl), M.C. Sanders (Moclan Soldier #1), Jerrell Pippens (Moclan Soldier #2)

The OrvilleNotes: For those still keeping track, it’s Star Trek guest star overload, with none other than Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Counselor Troi) replacing Cassius as the Orville’s schoolteacher. Tony Todd, who played the role of Worf’s brother Kurn on both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, appears as a Moclan here, while F. Murray Abraham (Star Trek: Insurrection) is the Xelayan president of the Planetary Union. All of the show’s admirals to date appear together here. Heveena was first seen living in exile on Moclus in season 1’s About A Girl, but was apparently already running a kind of underground railroad for unaltered Moclan females at that time (and long before). The episode is directed by Sirtis’ Next Generation co-star Jonathan Frakes. Sirtis reportedly had to shoot her scenes within 24 hours of being hired for the part due to a scheduling crunch with other projects to which she was already contractually obligated.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
2010s Season 1 Twilight Zone

Replay

The Twilight ZoneAttorney Nina Harrison is on her last road trip with her son Dorian, en route to take him to his first day at college. She intends to document everything with a somewhat outdated camcorder she inherited from her late father. But en route to the school, the Harrisons are pulled over by a white police officer who seems determined to give them a ticket for something – and he becomes particularly agitated at the sight of the camcorder recording him, reaching for it. In the struggle, Nina hits the “rewind” button by accident, but it’s not the videotape but time itself that rewinds. Determined to avoid letting the same sequence of events replay itself, Nina tries to do things differently – repeatedly – but despite taking different routes, or even getting off the road altogether, the policeman is always there, and with each successive attempt to change the course of events, he becomes more aggressive and violent toward Dorian. Nina has it in her power to rewind through the past, but can she ever change Dorian’s future?

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds
directed by Gerard McMurray
music by Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts
original Twilight Zone theme by Marius Constant

The Twilight ZoneCast: Sanaa Lathan (Nina Harrison), Damson Idris (Dorian Harrison), Steve Harris (Uncle Neil), Glenn Fleshler (Officer Lasky), Candus Churchill (Mabel), Zari Diango (Dorian’s Daughter / Dream Daughter), Keon Boateng (Dream Son), Henry Mah (Medical Examiner), Samantha Spatari (Morgue Assistant), Jocelyn Panton (Lottery Announcer), Blake Stadel (Police Officer), Jordan Peele (The Narrator)

LogBook entry by Earl Green