Day: June 25, 1966

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Classic Season 03 Doctor Who

The War Machines

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Dodo arrive in 1966 London, finding that the city has undergone some changes since they were last there. The Post Office Tower has been completed, and something about it makes the Doctor suspicious. He and Dodo visit the Tower and find that an immense computer called WOTAN has been constructed, and its designers intend for it to take over functions that normally occupy the time of human beings. But WOTAN’s vast artificial intelligence has already decided that it can take over all of humanity’s functions – and those who refuse to follow its orders will be eliminated. But WOTAN also realizes that it requires the Doctor’s expertise – and so it takes control of Dodo and and a secretary named Polly to lure him into a trap.

written by Ian Stuart Black
directed by Michael Ferguson
music not credited

Guest Cast: Alan Curtis (Major Green), John Harvey (Professor Brett), Sandra Bryant (Kitty), Ewan Proctor (Flash), William Mervyn (Sir Charles Summer), John Cater (Professor Krimpton), Ric Felgate (American journalist), John Doye (Interviewer), Desmond Callum-Jones (Worker), Roy Godfrey (Tramp), Gerald Taylor (War Machine operator/voice of WOTAN), John Rolfe (Captain), John Boyd-Brent (Sergeant), Frank Jarvis (Corporal), Robin Dawson (Soldier), Kenneth Kendall (Himself), George Cross (Minister), Edward Colliver (Mechanic), John Slavid (Man in phone box), Dwight Whylie (Announcer), Carl Conway (U.S. Correspondent), Michael Rathbone (Taxi Driver), Eddie David (Worker)

Broadcast from June 25 through July 16, 1966

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 1 Tomorrow People

The Medusa Strain – Part 3

Tomorrow PeopleJedikiah once again forces Carol and Peter, the boy from the future, to wear silencer bands that rob them of their abilities as Tomorrow People. Jedikiah then threatens to kill Carol unless Peter programs the time travel device to allow Jedikiah to prevent the Tomorrow People from becoming a dominant force in history. The raid on the secret base in 1973 goes awry, though, thanks to Ginge, who has stuck around to help John and the others. John and Stephen prepare to rescue Carol, but only put themselves in further danger.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Brian Finch and Roger Price
directed by Roger Price
music by Dudley Simpson

Tomorrow PeopleCast: Sammie Winmill (Carol), Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Stephen), Stephen Salmon (Kenny), Roger Bizley (Jedikiah), Michael Standing (Ginge), Philip Gilbert (TIM), Roger Booth (Robowski), Richard Speight (Peter), Dave Prowse (Android), Norman McGlen (The Medusa)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Original Series 1 Survivors

The Future Hour

Survivors (1970s series)Abby’s commune isn’t the only organized pocket of civilization trying to rebuild. Greg and Paul discover a convoy of vehicles under the command of Bernard Huxley, who has hoarded various consumables into trailers with the hope that currency will make a comeback – and make him a rich man. As strange as Huxley’s ideas are, he and his men are determined to protect his property, and he counts among that his pregnant wife, who’s actually trying to escape from him. When she comes to Abby to seek a place to hide, it puts Abby’s group of survivors in Huxley’s line of fire, and he’ll stop at nothing to recover what he firmly believes is his.

written by Terry Nation
directed by Terence Williams
music by Anthony Isaac

Cast: Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant), Ian McCulloch (Greg Preston), Lucy Fleming (Jenny Richards), Glyn Owen (Bernard Huxley), Talfryn Thomas (Tom Price), Hana-Maria Pravda (Emma Cohen), Chris Tranchell (Paul Pitman), Terry Scully (Vic Thatcher), Eileen Helsby (Charmian Wentworth), Michael Gover (Arthur Russell), Caroline Burt (Laura Foster), James Hayes (Phil), Denis Lawson (Norman), Tanya Ronder (Lizzie), Stephen Dudley (John)

Notes: This episode sees the demise of series regular Talfryn Thomas as Tom Price, tying off the loose ends from the previous episode, though it’s surprising that Price was allowed to remain with Abby’s group, and even more surprising that anyone was willing to allow him to be armed. Guest star Denis Lawson would later find cult fame as Wedge Antilles, the luckiest X-Wing pilot in the history of the Star Wars franchise.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 03 SG-1 Stargate

Into The Fire

Stargate SG-1One of the other SG teams returns to General Hammond with news from the Tok’ra about SG-1’s capture. The General finds no shortage of volunteers willing to mount a rescue mission. On his own after taking his leave of the SGC, Teal’c tries to go home to Chu’lak through the gate and finds Master Bra’tac of the Jaffa resistance, tortured and starved; Bra’tac tells Teal’c that even without Apophis, the Free Jaffa movement has faltered. Aboard Hathor’s ship, Hathor decides O’Neill will become a Goa’uld host, and Daniel and Carter are powerless to do anything but watch. Moments after the symbiote burrows into the Colonel’s neck, SG teams arrive on the ship and begin taking out Hathor’s mixed force of Serpent and Horus guards. Hathor leaves to personally take command of her guards, and one of O’Neill’s caotirs reveals herself to be a Tok’ra operative – and promptly subjects him to the cryogenic freezing process again, claiming it will prevent the symbiote from integrating itself into his consciousness. But O’Neill is on his own – when Colonel Makepeace loses contact with his men at the planetside stargate, he orders Carter and Daniel to join his team and leave O’Neill behind. On the planet, they find themselves overwhelmed by Goa’uld forces. When General Hammond is able to briefly make contact with the team before the MALP relaying his transmission is destroyed, he discovers his people are in trouble – but when he tries to follow Teal’c to Chu’lak to ask for help from the Free Jaffa, he finds that Teal’c is struggling to keep the resistance alive, let alone organized as a fighting force.

Season 3 Regular Cast: Richard Dean Anderson (Colonel Jack O’Neill), Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson), Amanda Tapping (Major Samantha Carter), Christopher Judge (Teal’c), Don S. Davis (General Hammond)

Order the DVDswritten by Brad Wright
directed by Martin Wood
music by Joel Goldsmith
main theme adapted from music by David Arnold

Guest Cast: Tony Amendola (Bra’tac), Suanne Braun (Hathor), Tom Butler (Trofsky), Colin Cunningham (Major Davis), Samantha Ferris (Raully), Gary Jones (Technician), Steve Makaj (Colonel Makepeace), Kelly Dean Sereda (Lieutenant), Oliver Svensson-Tan (Marine), Alicia Thorgrimsson (Jaffa)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Farscape Season 1

They’ve Got a Secret

  • By Dave
  • June 25, 1999

FarscapeIn the midst of another search for hidden Peacekeeper devices, D’Argo triggers an explosion that hurls him outside Moya. Aeryn retrieves him in her Prowler and Zhaan revives him, but the injured Luxan suffers from hallucinations, believing his shipmates to be his family. Moya also seems to recover poorly from the accident, as life support and other systems begin to fail, the DRDs begin to attack the crew and Pilot himself loses consciousness. While the crew tries to unravel the mystery of Moya’s behavior, D’Argo’s delusions gradually reveal his own secrets, including the true nature of his crimes.

Order the DVDswritten by Sally Lapiduss
directed by Ian Watson
music by Subvision

Guest Cast: Alison Fox (Lo’Laan), Grant Magee (Jothee)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Spectre Of Lanyon Moor

Doctor Who: The Spectre Of Lanyon MoorThe Doctor and Evelyn arrive at a Cornish moor where an archaeological dig seems to be stirring up more trouble than it’s worth. Professor Morgan’s attempts to unearth an ancient landmark have begun to awaken an equally ancient evil which has been trapped on Earth for thousands of years. Nearby, the wealthy eccentric Sir Archibald Flint has barely guessed at the nature of this hidden power, hoping to tap into it for his own ends. To the Doctor’s delight, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is at the dig site, quietly monitoring the proceedings at UNIT’s behest – but even UNIT’s firepower and the Time Lord’s cunning may not be enough to save Earth from a creature hell-bent on revenge.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Pegg
directed by Nicholas Pegg
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Maggie Stables (Dr. Evelyn Smythe), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Toby Longworth (Professor Morgan), Barnaby Edwards (Philip Ludgate), James Bolam (Sir Archibald Flint), Susan Jameson (Mrs. Moynihan), Helen Goldwyn (Nikki Hunter), Nicholas Pegg (Captain Ashforde), Helen Goldwyn (Pelagia Stamatis), Helen Goldwyn (Corporal Croft)

Timeline: after The Marian Conspiracy and before The Apocalypse Element

Logbook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Dalek Empire Doctor Who

Invasion Of The Daleks

Dalek Empire: Invasion Of The DaleksSusan “Suz” Mendes’ peaceful life of conducting mineralogical surveys on the planet Vega VI is shattered abruptly when a Dalek invasion fleet blasts its way through the Vega system, enslaving or exterminating millions of humans. Heartier members of the population are robotized, receiving cybernetic implants that give the Daleks direct control over them, while the other survives are forced to work in mines – often until they die. Alby Brook, a friend of Suz, ran when the fleet appeared, and although he escaped to safety, he now wants nothing more than to return to Vega VI and rescue her. However, with the prospect of a new human-Dalek war looming, Brook – who was actually there on a covert mission to find a rogue Knight of Velyshaa named Kalendorf – is called to full-time service…and told to forget a woman who is, in all likelihood, dead. He befriends an overenthusiastic reporter, Gordon Pellan, who relishes broadcasting live from the war zone. When Suz attracts the attention of the Emperor Dalek by defying the Daleks’ death threats if she doesn’t stop campaigning for the slave workers’ basic human rights, she finds herself in a position to help others and save lives. She’s more than a little surprised to learn that the first life she has saved is Kalendorf. When the tide of battle cuts Alby off from his superiors and their orders, he throws caution to the wind and embarks on a mission to save Suz, dragging Pellan into the fray with him.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Sarah Mowat (Susan Mendes), Mark McDonnell (Alby Brook), Gareth Thomas (Kalendorf), John Wadmore (Gordon Pellan), Joyce Gibbs (Narrator), Ian Brooker (Admiral Cheviat/Ed Byers/Roboman), David Sax (Tanlee), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices), Alistair Lock (Dalek voices)