Day: July 6, 1983

Categories
Blackadder Season 1

Born To Be King

Blackadder1486. The King is away on a Crusade, but will be home by St. Leonard’s Day, a time of great feasting. While Prince Harry is running the country in his father’s stead, Edmund is in charge of the sheep and getting the frolics together for the feast. When a visiting Scottish Lord calls Prince Harry’s parentage into question, a plan is hatched to remove Harry from the right of succession…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson
with additional dialogue by William Shakespeare
directed by Martin Shardlow
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Alex Norton (McAngus, Duke of Argyll), David Nunn (Messenger), Angus Deayton (Jumping Jew)

Notes: This episode is a re-writing of the original Black Adder pilot, which took place about a hundred years later in history. Born To Be King was originally transmitted out of order, switching places with The Queen Of Spain’s Beard; it was intended to be the second episode.

Alex Norton re-creates his portrayal of McAngus from the original Black Adder pilot. He is considerably more savage (and filthy) here.

David Nunn appeared in several episodes of The Black Adder as the somewhat dim messenger seen in this episode. He returned to Blackadder for a small appearance in Blackadder’s Christmas Carol.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Star Cops TV Series

An Instinct For Murder

Star CopsDetective Nathan Spring is frustrated when a suspicious drowning is declared to be free of foul play by the police department’s computers. In the highly automated future, computer investigation helps to separate cases which need direct police intervention from those that don’t, but despite the computer’s analysis that there was no sign of foul play, Spring pursues the investigation anyway, devoting the manpower of his underbudgeted, understaffed department to it. When he’s called on the carpet by his superior, Spring is advised to take the opportunity to apply for the vacant job of the chief of the Internaitonal Space Police – or the Star Cops, as they’re sometimes less than affectionately known. Spring, who has never even been into space, dismisses the idea instantly…until his supervisor informs him that taking the position is Spring’s only hope for career advancement.

Spring interviews for the position and finds himself en route to a European-staffed space station whose crew has experienced a number of recent fatal accidents with faulty spacesuits. Again, the initial investigation is handled by a computer, which fails to detect any kind of pattern or motivation for foul play. Spring follows his instincts instead, befriending Star Cop David Theroux, who has already joined the crew and investigated the incidents himself, to no avail. But even then, Spring hasn’t ruled Theroux out as a suspect. Even though he has only rookie-level astronaut training, Spring decides to put his own life on the line in an attempt to draw the suspects out into the open – something which goes against every standard Star Cop procedure – only to discover that he’s up against an organized criminal operation targeting someone much bigger than the Star Cops.

written by Chris Boucher
directed by Christopher Baker
music by Justin Hayward & Tony Visconti

Cast: David Calder (Nathan Spring), Erick Ray Evans (David Theroux), Moray Watson (Commander), Keith Varnier (Controller), Gennie Nevinson (Lee Jones), Linda Newton (Pal Kenzy), Andrew Secombe (Brian Lincoln), Frederik de Groot (Hans Diter), Luke Hanson (Lars Hendvorrsen), Katja Kersten (Marie Mueller)

Notes: A very short-lived late ’80s attempt at a more adult science fiction series than Doctor Who (which, at the time, had just entered Sylvester McCoy’s tenure), Star Cops was created by former Doctor Who writer and Blake’s 7 script editor Chris Boucher. The series was only watched by a small number of people, thanks to a late-night BBC2 timeslot, very thin promotional efforts, and constant battles being fought behind the scenes between Boucher and producer Evgeny Gridneff. This episode was originally written as a two-parter, and was quickly condensed into a single hour as Gridneff’s insistence; it also made use of stock footage of underwater astronaut buoyancy training provided by McDonnell-Douglas, voiced over by the show’s cast. Though never credited for it on screen, David Calder also provides the voice of Box, Spring’s portable (and, it must be said in light of Boucher’s Blake’s 7 background, Orac-like) computer, throughout the series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 1

Grail

Babylon 5Delenn and Lennier form a welcoming party for arriving human “true seeker” Aldous Gajic, whose announcement that he has come to inquire with the alien ambassadors the whereabouts of the Holy Grail draws incredulity from Sinclair; however, Gajic is allowed to make appointments with the alien representatives to aid in his search. Along the way, he encounters a young thief named Jinxo, a former construction worker who participated in all five Babylon stations’ creation. Jinxo is on the run from Deuce, who is running an extortion ring below decks apparently with the help of Ambassador Kosh. Despite the fact that Jinxo tried to steal from him on their first meeting, Gajic takes him under his wing and tries to instill a sense of worth in him. When Gajic runs afoul of Deuce and his thugs while trying to protect Jinxo, he may have to trust everything to his new protege’, for he will not complete his quest.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by Christy Marx
directed by Richard Compton
music by Christopher Franke

Guest Cast: David Warner (Aldous Gajic), William Sanderson (Deuce), Tom Booker (Jinxo), Jim Norton (Ombuds Wellington), Linda Lodge (Mirriam Runningdeer), Ardwight Chamberlain (Kosh), John Flinn (Mr. Flinn), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Farscape Season 3

Relativity

  • By Dave
  • July 6, 2001

FarscapeTalyn lands on a planet with heavy gravity and vegetation with highly restorative powers in order to speed his recovery. His deep stasis condition makes him vulnerable when the retrieval squad led by Xhalax Sun lands nearby, so Crais, Aeryn and Crichton set out to divert their attention. They are successful, and during the ensuing firefight Aeryn is separated from Crais and Crichton. Aeryn manages to capture Xhalax, while the mercenaries pursue the others. Aeryn decides to bring Xhalax back to Talyn as leverage, but the senior Peacekeeper is able to escape and overcome her captors. She critically wounds Rygel and begins severing Talyn’s higher neural functions in order to bring him back under Peacekeeper control. She also reveals that the Peacekeepers punished her for revealing herself to Aeryn before – by making her kill her lover, Aeryn’s father Talyn. With the help of the Scorpius neural clone, Crichton realizes that the squad isn’t just after Talyn the ship – Crais, now injured, is himself a target, and has been manipulating the situation in order to enlist Moya’s crew as allies. Crichton also realizes that circumstances dictate they continue working together to overcome the mercenaries, but he’s perfectly willing to let Crais sweat that out a little. When Stark’s efforts to revive Rygel prove successful, Aeryn has a chance to force another confrontation with her mother – but can she do what’s necessary to ensure their safety? And can Crichton let her?

Order the DVDswritten by Rockne S. O’Bannon
directed by Peter Andrikidis
music by Guy Gross

Guest Cast: Linda Cropper (Xhalax Sun), Thomas Holesgrove (Vek), Dominique Sweeney (Thek and Kek)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 3 Torchwood

Children Of Earth: Day One

TorchwoodAt 8:40 one morning, every child on Earth stands absolutely still and begins reciting a message, in unison and in English: “We are coming.” Both Torchwood and UNIT try to track down the meaning behind the message, but in Whitehall, a seemingly innocuous civil servant named John Frobisher understands precisely what the message means. Captain Jack tries to contact Frobisher – Torchwood’s point of contact with the government – to offer help, but Frobisher’s new personal assistant, Lois Habiba, has no idea who Jack is and simply takes a message. Lois is nothing if not inquisitive, however, and manages to look up Torchwood in the government’s files, and what she learns there turns her world upside-down. Another civil servant, Mr. Dekker, pays Frobisher a visit with a simple but ominous warning: the 456 are returning, and they have sent a message in an incredibly compressed data stream that will take time to translate. At regular intervals, the world’s children come to a stop, either to deliver another message or to unleash a piercing, blood-curdling scream. Hoping to understand what’s going on, Jack and Ianto each set out to observe a little bit closer to home. Ianto visits his sister, where his niece and nephew are acting decidedly normal, while Jack visits a daughter, Alice Carter, who he’s never mentioned to any of his teammates. Alice, wary of Jack’s apparent immortality, would rather he stayed away from her and from his own grandson, who knows him as “Uncle Jack.” Gwen visits a man named Clement McDonald in a mental institution, learning that he somehow knows of an alien threat; he claims to have escaped the 456 in 1965. McDonald is the only adult in the world to have repeated the same messages as the children due to his close call with the aliens. As more messages are relayed through the children, John Frobisher puts a top-secret plan into action, calling for the elimination of a list of individuals – including one Captain Jack Harkness – and the entire Torchwood organization. Jack’s immortality is about to be put to the test.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Peter Capaldi (John Frobisher), Paul Copley (Clement McDonald), Nicholas Farrell (Brian Green), Susan Brown (Bridget Spears), Lucy Cohu (Alice Carter), Ian Gelder (Mr. Dekker), Cush Jumbo (Lois Habiba), Liz May Brice (Johnson), Charles Abomeli (Colonel Oduya), Rik Makarem (Rupesh Patanjali), Katy Wix (Rhiannon Davies), Rhodri Lewis (Johnny Davies), Hillary Maclean (Anna Frobisher), Anna Lawson (Nurse), Rachel Ferjani (Parliamentary Secretary), Christopher James (Press Officer), Phylip Harries (Water Taxi man), Ben Lloyd-Holmes (Operative), Luke Perry (David Davies), Aimee Davies (Mica Davies), Bear McCausland (Steven Carter), Julia Joyce (Holly Frobisher), Madeleine Rakic-Platt (Lilly Frobisher), Gregory Ferguson (young Clem), Crisian Emmanuel (Mother), Melanie Barker (Mother 2), Scott Bailey (Father)

Notes: Martha is said to be on her honeymoon and out of touch with Torchwood; in reality, actress Freema Agyeman had accepted a job as one of the regular cast of Law & Order: UK, a British adaptation (also starring Battlestar Galactica’s Jamie Bamber) of the popular American crime drama. Though early drafts of the script included Martha, no contract had been drawn up for Agyeman and she took the other job. As Jack is sizing up Rupesh Patanjali as a new medical expert for Torchwood, it would seem that neither Martha nor Mickey Smith joined Torchwood (which was heavily implied at the end of the Doctor Who episode Journey’s End); presumably Martha remains with UNIT.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who Fan Films

Devious (Trailer)

Doctor Who

This is afan-made production whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Somewhere between his second and third incarnations, an “intermediate” Doctor is dispatched by the Time Lords to do battle with the Daleks yet again, attempting to foil their most ambitious scheme yet, but the cost in the lives of innocent bystanders is high. Before his mission is even complete, the Time Lords then catch up with the Doctor yet again and complete his sentence, forcing him to regenerate fully into his third persona and sending him into exile on Earth.

written by Ashley Nealfuller & David Clarke
directed by David Clarke
music by Martin Johnson

Cast: Tony Garner (The Doctor), Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Peter Tuddenham (Voix), Hugh Lloyd (Scribe), David Clarke (Auriga), Anthony Townsend (Callisto), Lynette East (Adreinna), Stephen Cranford (The Covellitor), Ashley Nealfuller (Chancellor Chaldor), Arthur Harrod (Aturo), Heather Cohen (Observer Aquilia), Chris T. Kirk (Observer Vardrah), Ian Edmond (Ralib), Richard Kingshott (Nilan)

Appearing in footage from The War Games: Patrick Troughton (The Doctor)

Notes: Technically, since his scenes were taped after he recorded the BBC radio play The Ghosts Of N-Space, Devious represents Jon Pertwee‘s final performance as the third Doctor before his death in 1996 (Pertwee’s scenes were filmed in April 1995). Other “name” guest stars include the late Peter Tuddenham, famous for voicing most of the sentient computers in the 1970s BBC space opera Blake’s 7. Filming on Devious began before filming began on the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie starring Paul McGann, and work on Devious continues even into the Matt Smith era. A “highlights trailer” was included, with the participation of the filmmakers, on the official BBC DVD of the second Doctor’s final regular story, The War Games (the UK release date for which is used as the premiere date for this trailer). The film’s official web site, including photos of many scenes not included in the War Games DVD trailer, can be found here.

Review: It’s hard to judge Devious on its own merits when all that’s available is a trailer. Devious is a sort of unfinished symphony: an epic work that doesn’t look like it’ll be finished anytime soon. And yet, it’s almost a part of mainstream Doctor Who folklore. It’s been in production for over 15 years, it marks Jon Pertwee’s last appearance as the Doctor, it fills in an intriguing gap in Who mythology, and Pertwee’s filmed scenes provided his surprising posthumous appearance in the 40th anniversary Big Finish audio story Zagreus. Devious is something that everyone’s heard about and, until the extended trailer appeared on The War Games DVD set, no one had seen.

Categories
Season 2 Star Trek Strange New Worlds

Among The Lotus Eaters

Star Trek: Strange New WorldsStardate 1630.1: A joint mission involving the Enterprise and the Cayuga gives Captains Pike and Batel fleeting opportunities for alone time, but the fallout from the recent trial of Pike’s first officer may have permanently damaged their relationship. The Enterprise is called away to Rigel VII, a planet visited by Pike and a landing party five years ago, resulting the deaths of three members of his crew. Recent imagery from an uncrewed probe’s flyby indicates that there may have been some cultural contamination of the warlike local culture, and to put it succinctly, Pike is ordered to clean up his own mess. He hand-picks a small team – La’an and M’Benga – for their ability to handle themselves in close combat without energy weapons, which seems like a good way to blend in until they’re accosted by locals with energy weapons. Pike, La’an and M’Benga are taken to the warriors’ palace, where they find that Pike’s former yeoman – presumed killed in action during that fateful previous mission – is not only alive, but has turned himself into the local warlord. He orders the landing party to be held captive while the planet’s radiation takes effect, robbing them of their inhibitions and eventually their memory.

The same effect is gradually being felt aboard the Enterprise as well, and before long a third of the crew is out of commission, including Uhura and Number One. Spock directs Ortegas to raise the Enterprise‘s orbit to avoid the radiation causing the rampant neurological degradation, unaware that this will only put the ship and crew further into harm’s way. On Rigel VII, a jailbreak leaves La’an critically injured, and while M’Benga can perform basic first aid without thinking, his memory of how to stabilize La’an has left him. With help from one of the locals, Pike sets out to retrieve everyone’s memories at any cost.

Order DVDswritten by Kirsten Beyer & Davy Perez
directed by Eduardo Sanchez
music by Nami Melumad
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds main theme by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: Strange New WorldsCast: Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Ethan Peck (Lt. Spock), Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel), Christina Chong (Lt. La’an Noonien Singh), Celia Rose Gooding (Ensign Uhura), Melissa Navia (Lt. Erica Ortegas), Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M’Benga), Rebecca Romijn (Commander Una Chin-Riley), Reed Birney (Luq), David Huynk (Zac Nguyen), Melanie Scrofano (Captain Batel), Trevor Coll (Afraid Crewmember), Tarek Gader (Shirtless Crewmember), Alex Kapp (USS Enterprise Computer), Noah Lamanna (Chief Jay), Emeka Menakaya (Tiko), Simon Northwood (Rak)

Star Trek: Strange New WorldsNotes: The events on Rigel VII took place shortly before The Cage (1964), and were the cause of a crisis of self-confidence on Captain Pike’s part in that story, leading him to have thoughts of resigning from Starfleet; previously unrevealed until this episode was that Spock was also critically wounded during that mission. The bronze-age outfits and weaponry (other than the phaser rifles accidentally left behind by the previous Enterprise landing party) all tally with the warrior Pike faced during a Talosian-incuded illusion in The Cage.

LogBook entry by Earl Green