Day: October 8, 1966

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Classic Season 04 Doctor Who

The Tenth Planet Part 1

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS arrives at a military base on the South Pole in 1986. The base is routinely tracking a spacecraft in orbit when odd things begin to occur. The base guards discover a trio of oddly-dressed people outside, emerging from a police box, and then observatories (and the orbiting capsule) spot the approach of a planet which is identical in mass and geography to Earth. The planet, previously hidden on the other side of the sun, is speculated to be Mondas, Earth’s identical twin, though the planet’s existence was previously only the stuff of legend; the Doctor confirms this, almost as if he has been expecting its arrival. Undetected by the base personnel, a spacecraft from Mondas lands at the polar base, and its occupants stun the guards outside before advancing on the base itself…

written by Kit Pedler (credited onscreen as “Kitt Pedler”)
and Pat Dunlap and Gerry Davis (not credited onscreen)
directed by Derek Martinus
music not credited

Doctor WhoCast: William Hartnell (The Doctor), Robert Beatty (General Cutler), Dudley Jones (Dyson), David Dodimead (Barclay), Alan White (Schultz), Earl Cameron (Williams), Shane Shelton (Tito), John Brandon (American Sergeant), Anneke Wills (Polly), Michael Craze (Ben), Steve Plytas (Wigner), Christopher Matthews (Radar technician)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Series Prisoner, The

The Chimes of Big Ben

The PrisonerNumber Six watches with curiosity and suspicion as the Village welcomes a new resident whose background is almost too conveniently similar to his own. But Number Six finally admits to compassion when he steps forward to cooperate with Number Two to put a stop to his new neighbor’s torturous interrogation. When the two prisoners begin hatching an escape plan, can either of them truly trust the other – or are each of them testing the other?

written by Vincent Tilsley
directed by Don Chaffey
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Leo McKern (Number Two), Nadia Gray (Nadia), Finlay Currie (General), Richard Wattis (Fotheringay), Kevin Stoney (Colonel J), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Christopher Benjamin (Number Two’s assistant), David Arlen (Karel), Hilda Barry (Number 38), Jack Le-White (Judge), John Maxim (Judge), Lucy Griffiths (Judge)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Gatchaman Gatchaman I

The Monstrous Aircraft Carrier Appears

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanA space mission returning with orbital surveys of the world’s uranium and other precious minerals is snagged by a Galactor submarine moments after it splashes down in the Pacific. The Science Ninja Team is summoned by Dr. Nambu to battle Galactor’s latest scheme and rescue the two astronauts. Taking the God Phoenix underwater, the team discovers a huge undersea base of operations. Ken goes for a solo swim to infiltrate the Galactor base, discovering that the secret orbital mineral surveys have already been accessed – and the astronaut hostages have already been murdered by the same commander who piloted the Turtle King. Outnumbered and outgunned, Ken is captured by Galactor forces, and his only hope may be that one of his crew has disobeyed his strict orders to remain aboard the God Phoenix.

written by Jinzo Toriumi
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Bob Sakuma

Voice Cast: Katsuji Mori (Ken Washio), Isao Sasaki (Joe Asakura), Kazuko Sugiyama (Jun), Yoku Shioya (Jinpei), Shingo Kanemoto (Ryu), Toru Ohira (Kozaburo Nambu), Mikio Terashima (Berg Katse), Nobuo Tanaka (Sosai X)

GatchamanNote: With the last of the Apollo moon shots only two months away, this episode’s depictions of space travel circa 1972 is startlingly accurate from a visual standpoint – with the possible exception of the space capsule’s impossibly large interior (perhaps it doubles as a TARDIS). This synopsis is for the original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman episode, and appears under its original Japanese premiere date. For the corresponding episode of Battle Of The Planets, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space Academy

There’s No Place Like Home

Space AcademySpace Academy is put on high alert when an alien presence is detected trying to get inside. Unknown to Commander Gampu and his students, the alien is capable of changing its shape, and ultimately assumes the guise of a man who claims to be from Loki’s home planet. He claims to know of Loki’s purpose and his destiny, but won’t divulge that information unless Loki obtains a container of a highly volatile chemical for him. Loki remembers his Space Academy training and refuses to steal, but then the stranger who promises to tell the boy where he comes from turns his demands into threats.

written by Martin Roth
directed by George Tyne
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Space AcademyCast: Jonathan Harris (Commander Gampu), Pamelyn Ferdin (Laura), Ric Carrott (Chris), Ty Henderson (Paul), Maggie Cooper (Adrian), Brian Tochi (Tee Gar), Eric Greene (Loki), Larry Dobkin (Vicron), Peepo (himself)

Notes: Martin Roth created the previous Filmaction live-action SF-for-kids effort, Ark II, and wrote many of its episodes. Guest star Larry Dobkin (1919-2002) – whose character is named Kane in dialogue but Vicron on screen – appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation as a Klingon, and directed the much-loved Charlie X episode of the original series. He also had an uncredited part in the seminal SF film The Day The Earth Stood Still, and played numerous roles in one of TV’s first-ever science fiction series, Space Patrol.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battlestar Galactica (Classic Series) Season 1

The Lost Warrior

Battlestar Galactica (original)Fighting a losing battle in a Cylon ambush, Apollo is forced down on an isolated, sparsely-populated human colony, where lawlessness has set in, forcing the pilot to hide with a widow and her son. The settlement is held in the thrall of an extortionist named Lacerta, who demands tributes from the townsfolk – or else they’ll face a fatal confrontation with “Red-Eye.” Apollo discovers that Red-Eye is, in fact, a malfunctioning Cylon which Lacerta has learned to control. He also discovers that the late husband of the woman sheltering him was also a Colonial Viper pilot…who died trying to rid the colony of the lone Cylon. Apollo’s only hope for escape is to engage in an old-fashioned shootout with the alien.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodeteleplay by Donald P. Bellisario
story by Donald P. Bellisario and Herman Groves
directed by Rod Holcomb
music by Stu Phillips

Guest Cast: Johnny Timko (Puppis), Kathy Cannon (Vella), Lance Le Gault (Bootes), Claude Earl Jones (Lacerta), Red West (Marco), Larry Manetti (Corporal Giles), Jason Donahue (Jason), Carol Baxter (Macy), Mary Kaye (Mars Vi), Rex Cutter (Red-Eye)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blackadder Season 3

Sense and Senility

BlackadderThe Prince is suffering from poor public relations, which coincides with an outbreak of anarchistic attacks. He decides to have two actors, Mossop & Keanrick, teach him how to effectively deliver a speech that Edmund has written. The palpable disdain that Edmund shows the actors drives a wedge between him and the Prince. Pushed too far, Edmund decides to leave for Sardinia, but the actors have plans that may change things…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Notes: Mossop and Keanrick’s anti-Macbeth “hex” chant goes: “Hot Potato / Orchestra Stalls / Puck Will Make Amends,” followed by the squeezing of the other’s nose. (“Ahhh!”)

Kenneth Connor is best known for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and the France-set sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo.

Ben Elton, co-writer of all Blackadder except the first series, makes his only acting appearance in Blackadder here, despite being an experienced performer in his own right.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

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Season 04 Star Trek The Next Generation

Brothers

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 44085.7: While rushing a young boy to a Starbase medical facility after his older brother played a cruel practical joke on him, the Enterprise is suddenly diverted from her course and headed for an unknown, out-of-the-way planet. What no one realizes until it’s too late is that Data is responsible for this, having been taken over by a homing signal that leads him to his creator, Dr. Soong, who had been thought dead for many years. Data has been called home to be given an upgrade – emotions – but the unexpected arrival of his jealous android “brother” Lore at Soong’s hiding place puts Data’s upgrade and his creator in jeopardy…

Order the DVDswritten by Rick Berman
directed by Rob Bowman
music by Ron Jones

Guest Cast: Brent Spiner (Dr. Noonian Soong), Cory Danziger (Jake Potts), Colm Meaney (O’Brien), Adam Ryen (Willie Potts), James Lashly (Ensign Kopf), Brent Spiner (Lore)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space: Above And Beyond

The Dark Side of the Sun

Space: Above And BeyondThe 58th is sent on a no-frills patrol assignment to a mining colony called Bunuel, which has been beset in the past by conflict between humans and AIs – the same kind of conflict that cost Shane Vansen both of her parents. When a sneak attack on the Bunuel installation wreaks havoc, the routine mission becomes much more dangerous, and Vansen finds herself reliving her worst real-life nightmare.

Order the DVDwritten by Glen Morgan & James Wong
directed by Charles Martin Smith
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Kimberly Patton (Feliciti OH 519), Paul Keeley (Justin EB 774), Susan Priver (Lt. Nelson), Iva Franks (Sabrine EW 117)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 04 Star Trek Voyager

The Raven

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: Seven of Nine has been experiencing vague visions about the Borg, including the rather incongruous image of a shrieking raven inside a Borg ship. While Seven tries to deal with these disturbing episodes, Janeway opens negotiations with the somewhat paranoid Bomar race, who only offer the Voyager crew a long, convoluted path through their territory. The talks with the Bomar are made even more difficult when Seven of Nine’s Borg nature resurfaces and, after threatening to assimilate Neelix and forcing her way into a shuttle, she escapes and flies right into Bomar space. The Bomar consider Seven’s unplanned journey – and Janeway’s plans for a rescue mission – to be hostile actions, but nothing can stop a Borg drone when it is receiving a homing signal to rejoin the Borg collective.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Bryan Fuller
story by Bryan Fuller and Harry “Doc” Kloor
directed by LeVar Burton
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Richard J. Zobel Jr. (Chancellor Gorman), Mickey Cottrell (Dumah), David Anthony Marshall (Father), Nikki Tyler (Mother), Erica Lynne Bryan (Little Girl), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Impulse

Star Trek: EnterpriseDeep in the Delphic Expanse, the Enterprise encounters a drifting Vulcan science vessel – a ship that was T’Pol’s last assignment before serving at the Vulcan consulate on Earth. It has managed to drift through a chaotic asteroid field too dense and dangerous for the Enterprise to navigate, so Archer takes a small team in via shuttlepod to search for survivors. As it turns out, the Vulcan ship’s entire crew has survived – but they have become infected with a condition that breaks down their emotional control and leaves them in a zombie-like state, attacking anyone who comes near them. Archer and his boarding party are eventually beseiged in a closed-off part of the ship, and T’Pol is infected with this disease during a skirmish with the Vulcan crew, growing increasingly paranoid and violent toward her crewmates.

Order DVDsteleplay by Jonathan Fernandez
story by Jonathan Fernandez & Terry Matalas
directed by David Livingston
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Sean McGowan (Corporal Hawkins)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Phase II / New Voyages Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films

In Harm’s Way

Star Trek: Phase II

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

The Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, is destroyed with all hands by a Doomsday Machine, which has somehow found its way into the past.

Stardate not given: The starship Farragut, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, is summoned to the planet of the Guardian of Forever, where Spock, a Vulcan (a species thought to have been rendered extinct in the 16-year war with the Doomsday Machines) in Starfleet uniform, tries to convince Kirk, Dr. McCoy and their Klingon science officer Kargh that history has been altered. Kirk and his officers are extremely skeptical of Spock’s explanation of how he alone escaped the effects of the changes to the timeline, but he is able to back up his claims with purely scientific evidence. Kirk, Spock and McCoy track the disturbance in history back to Earth on the early 21st century, traveling there via the Guardian and discovering that Commodore Decker – presumed to have been killed in action against the Doomsday Machines – was in fact thrown back in time in his shuttlecraft. He lived out his life in the late 20th century and died of old age, but not before videotaping a message for Kirk and his crew, trying to explain what went wrong.

Watch Itstory by Max Rem (a.k.a. Doug Drexler) and Erik Korngold
screenplay by Erik Korngold
with respectful acknolwedgement to Norman Spinrad and Harlan Ellison
directed by Jack Marshall
music tracked from original episodes / movies

Cast: James Cawley (Kirk), Jeffery Quinn (Spock), John Kelley (McCoy), Charles Root (Scott), Julienne Irons (Uhura), Meghan King Johnson (Rand), Ron Boyd (DeSalle), Shannon Quinlan (Number One / Chapel), Jay Storey (Kyle), William Windom (Commodore Decker), BarBara Luna (Veronica), Malachi Throne (Korogh), Becky Bonar (MacGregor), John Carrigan (Kargh), Simon Judas Raye (Guardian’s Voice), Kurt Carley (Captain Pike), James Larson (Jose Tyler), Charles Holloway (Dr. Boyce), Rose Montessano (Com Officer), Tim Giles (Engineer), Leslie Hoffman, Pearl Marshall, Jeff Mailhotte, Robert Mills, Randy Davis, Mike Magin, Jessica Mailhotte, Ed Abbate, Brian Hudon, Doug Hutchings, Patrick Bell, John Lim, Timothy Sheffield, Chris Lunderman, Jerry Yuen (Starfleet Personnel)

Review: The second outing for New Voyages, In Harm’s Way is entertaining enough if you’re a fan, but even then it seems like an exercise in throwing in Everything Plus Two Kitchen Sinks. As much as I enjoy the output of the New Voyages cast and crew, it’s always mystified me why Come What May was relegated to “pilot” status and withdrawn from the official site as a download – because in some ways, I regard this as the most extraneous New Voyage that has seen the light of day so far.

Categories
Enterprise Season 04 Star Trek

Storm Front Part I

Star Trek: EnterpriseArcher awakens in a primitive 20th century battlefield hospital on Earth, apparently in the 1940s. But he hasn’t gone back to become a part of history. He discovers that the timeline has been altered, leading to a Nazi invasion of the east coast of the United States – and the Nazis seem to have advanced alien help. Aboard the Enterprise, T’Pol and the crew are coming to grips with the unlikely fact that they seem to have traveled into an alternate timeline of Earth’s past, but as far as they know, Archer died about the Xindi sphere. Archer escapes his captors and is found and helped by a member of an underground resistance movement fighting to retake America from the Nazis. Aboard the Enterprise, the enigmatic Crewman Daniels appears suddenly in Dr. Phlox’s sick bay, but this time the time traveler is near death, barely able to warn the crew about what has happened: the temporal cold war has heated up and erupted into open conflict, and all of history – Earth’s and otherwise – is the battleground. When Silik appears in the shuttlebay and steals a shuttlepod after stunning Trip, it appears that Daniels is telling the truth. On Earth, Archer’s captors discover that he’s from the future, despite his escape, and Archer himself is having trouble convincing the resistance fighters that aliens are influencing their history…until he’s able to show them the evidence in person.

Season 4 Regular Cast: Scott Bakula (Captain Jonathan Archer), Jolene Blalock (Subcommander T’Pol), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), Dominic Keating (Lt. Malcolm Reed), Anthony Montgomery (Ensign Travis Mayweather), Linda Park (Ensign Hoshi Sato), Connor Trinneer (Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker III)

Order DVDswritten by Manny Coto
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Golden Brooks (Alicia Silvers), Joe Maruzzo (Sal), Jack Gwaltney (Vosk), Tom Wright (Ghrath), John Harnagel (Joe Prazki), Steven R. Schirripa (Carmine), John Fleck (Silik), Matt Winston (Daniels), Christopher Neame (German Guard), Sonny Surowiec (Nazi Soldier #1)

Notes: This episode marks the beginning of executive producer Manny Coto’s tenure as “showrunner,” the producer primarily responsible for the creative content of a show, following a last-minute pickup by UPN. It also marked the first full-time use of widescreen digital video as the primary means of shooting a Star Trek series; prior to this season of Enterprise, while video was occasionally used for inserts, pick-up footage and monitor shots, the primary means of shooting the series was on film. With this season, the series also moved to a Friday night time slot, a move which made many fans apprehensive since the final season of the original Star Trek failed to achieve high enough ratings for a fourth-season pickup on Friday nights in 1968-69. It would turn out that the comparison wasn’t entirely unfounded.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Sarah Jane Adventures Season 1

Eye Of The Gorgon – Part 2

The Sarah Jane AdventuresWith Maria’s dad turned to stone by the Gorgon, Sarah and Maria race to find a way to reverse the process. At the abbey, Luke and Clyde are horrified to see that the Gorgon’s nuns have gotten the talisman from Sarah. As the nuns use the talisman to open a portal to the Gorgon homeworld, the Gorgon-possessed Abbess continues to weaken, and the nuns prepare to search for a new host body. They choose Sarah for this deadly honor, and then reveal the truth: the talisman will connect Earth and the planet of the Gorgon, but only to allow the Gorgon to invade and conquer the human race.

Get the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Phil Ford
directed by Alice Troughton
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Joseph Millson (Alan Jackson), Juliet Cowan (Chrissie Jackson), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Phyllida Law (Bea Nelson-Stanley), Sarah Crowden (Mrs. Gribbins), Doreen Mantle (Mrs. Randall), Beth Goddard (Sister Helena), Audrey Ardington (The Abbess)

Notes: Bea claims to have known a sultan who had seen a Yeti. One wonders…

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films Star Trek: Intrepid

Turning Point

Star Trek: Intrepid

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate not given: Shortly after the capture of a group of Orion Syndicate raiders aboard a Federation merchant navy ship, Lt. Cole is interrogating the Orion leader. As it turns out, the only information the Orion cares to divulge has to do with Cole’s own checkered past. It’s an encounter that puts Cole’s past in a new light – and his future in doubt.

Watch Itwritten by Nick Cook
directed by Alan Christison, Stephen Pasqua & Nick Cook
music by Bodo Hartwig / Intrepid theme by Dylan Feeney

Cast: Alan Christison (Commander Navar), Steven Pasqua (Lt. Cole), Gordon Dickson (Kashid-Zar), Jay Clark (PO Jaden Antos), Chris Cassell (Security Guard)

Review: Following on directly from the previous short, Where There’s A Sea…, Turning Point delivers another compact, economic piece of drama that moves the plot – both political and character-oriented – of Intrepid forward significantly. In six minutes and change.

Categories
4th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Hornets’ Nest Part 2: The Dead Shoes

Doctor Who and the Dead ShoesThe Doctor tells Mike Yates that his encounter with possessed taxidermist Percy Noggins wasn’t his final encounter with the Noggins family tree; after some investigation, the Doctor discovered that Noggins’ grandmother, dancer Ernestina Stott, has herself suffered unusual effects after being stung by a hornet in 1932. Traveling to meet her in the TARDIS, the Doctor witnesses Ernestina’s unusual behavior, including the smash-and-grab theft of a mysterious pair of ballet slippers in broad daylight and an astounding one-woman presentation of The Nutcracker ballet, wearing the aforementioned slippers. But it soon becomes apparent that the slippers are another means for the alien hornets to possess a human host. The Doctor confronts the hornets again in his attempt to free Ernestina from their grasp, and discovers that he and the hornets are moving in opposite directions through time… something which may work to the Doctor’s advantage when the hornets reveal something that he will do in the future.

Order this CDwritten by Paul Magrs
directed by Kate Thomas
music by Simon Power

Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Susan Jameson (Mrs. Wibbsey), Clare Corbett (Ernestina), Christian Rodska (Reverend Small)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green