Day: October 12, 2007

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Season 4 Stargate Stargate Atlantis

Reunion

Stargate AtlantisAtlantis is still in hiding, the crew making cautious explorations into their new surroundings but keeping their point of origin a secret. In the absence of Dr. Weir, Rodney puts in for her job, but is both disappointed and alarmed when the SGC promotes Samantha Carter to full colonel and gives her command of the Atlantis expedition. When Ronon runs into some old friends from Sateda on a nearby world, Colonel Carter has to remind him sternly not to reveal where or with whom he is affiliated. But it seems his friends already know – in fact, they know much more than they should. But have they just done their homework to track Ronon down to ask for his help on one last adventure…or are they trying to trap him for someone else?

Order the DVDswritten by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
directed by William Waring
music by Joel Goldsmith and Neil Acree

Guest Cast: Christopher Judge (Teal’c), David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka), Scott Heindl (Wraith), Aleks Paunovic (Rakai), Kyra Zagorsky (Ara), Mark Dacascos (Tyre)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Sarah Jane Adventures Season 4

The Nightmare Man – Part 2

The Sarah Jane AdventuresLuke is trapped in the clutches of the Nightmare Man, unable to wake up and unable to keep the being from also trapping Clyde and Rani in their nightmares. Sarah Jane discovers evidence that the Nightmare Man is real, and calls on all of her resources to help Luke and the others wake up. But when Luke, Rani and Clyde throw off the shackles of the Nightmare Man, he decides to stalk a victim whose nightmares must surely be even worse: Sarah Jane herself.

Get the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Joseph Lidster
directed by Joss Agnew
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Julian Bleach (The Nightmare Man), Doon Mackichan (Louise Marlowe), John Leeson (voice of K-9)

Notes: Luke and K-9 take their leave as series regulars in this episode, with K-9 going to look after Luke at Oxford in the story. Behind the scenes, K-9’s departure was probably necessitated by the fact that, since the last series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the long-delayed, Australian-produced K-9 spinoff (also featuring the voice of John Leeson) had finally gotten off the ground after many false starts and pre-production roadblocks.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Eleven

Doctor WhoThe Eleven, a Time Lord criminal who still hears all ten of his murderous prior incarnations as voices in his head, is brought to justice and returned to Gallifrey by the Doctor (in his seventh incarnation). Too dangerous for any normal imprisonment, the Eleven is confined to cold stasis.

The eighth Doctor and Liv Chenka, freshly escaped from their latest crisis, find that the TARDIS is out of their control, recalled to Gallifrey. The Doctor is tersely greeted by both an appointee of the High Council and the head of the Celestial Intervention Agency, reluctantly working together. Their goal: to recapture the Eleven, who escaped from confinement while being interviewed by a student from the Time Lord academy. Liv Chenka is able to spot the Eleven, thanks to his cloaking abilities being keyed to fool the senses of other Time Lords, but not humans. The Eleven tries to install himself as Gallifrey’s ruler in the absence of the President, but what he really wants is the President’s access to Gallifreyan relics of considerable power. His primary interest is in something called the Regeneration Codex, about which little is known, even by other Time Lords. Leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake across Gallifrey’s Capitol, the Eleven steals a TARDIS and leaves for Earth. All too familiar with this course of action, the Doctor is deputized by the Time Lords to retrieve the Eleven at any cost.

Order this CD written by Matt Fitton
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Ramon Tikaram (Castellan), Caroline Langrishe (Lady Farina), Bethan Walker (Kiani), Robert Bathurst (Cardinal Padrac), John Banks (Captain), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor)

Notes: The Omega Vault is mentioned, first cited in The Day Of The Doctor (2013) as the storehouse of the Time Lords’ most powerful weapons, though the Eleven seems to be particularly partial to the Sash and Rod of Rassilon, which are relics invested upon the sitting President of Gallifrey (The Deadly Assassin, 1976, and The Invasion Of Time, 1978). Flavia’s tenure as President is mentioned as well; she took office following the Doctor’s hasty retreat from being elected to that office in The Five Doctors (1983). Also mentioned are the current President, Romana, and her policy of allowing students from other time-sensitive species attend the Academy on Gallifrey; these events play out in the spin-off audio series Gallifrey.

Timeline: after Eye Of Darkness and before The Red Lady; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Red Lady

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Liv arrive in London in the 1960s, expecting to find the Eleven or some sign of him. The Doctor pays a visit to the National Gallery, where he finds that a mysterious stone tablet dating back to ancient Greece, and a mysterious collection of artwork bequeathed to the Gallery after the death of its reclusive owner, has the experts stymied. One of those experts, Helen Sinclair, is none too pleased to find that the Doctor and Liv Chenka have broken into her office, but she’s even more shocked when a colleague – who has been obsessing over the collection of paintings – is killed. When the Doctor examines those pictures, he notices something that Helen’s unfortunate colleague reported: there’s a woman with red hair in each one, and she seems to be moving, as if to summon him. Liv notices something similar about another of the paintings, but sees nothing unusual about the one the Doctor is examining. The Red Lady is calling to each of them…and if they keep looking at her, she can escape from the paintings and dominate their minds forever.

Order this CD written by John Dorney
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair), Caroline Langrishe (Red Lady / Rachel), David Yelland (Walter Pritchett), John Voce (Albert Kennedy / Professor)

Timeline: after The Eleven and before The Galileo Trap; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Galileo Trap

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Liv, with Helen in tow, follow the distress signal from Galileo back to the 1600s. Helen has much to learn about blending in to Earth’s history as a time traveler, but someone else there is being even less quiet about it: she meets a man who knows what watches and photographs are. A local noble is killed during what seems to be a hunt for a creature that doesn’t belong on Earth. Finally, the Doctor locates Galileo in exile with his daughter, seemingly losing his mind…until, in a moment along, Galileo reveals that he does recognize the Doctor, and he is being held captive. The Eleven has engineered this trap, leaving assassins to deal with the Doctor while he moves on to his next goal.

Order this CD written by Marc Platt
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair), John Woodvine (Galileo Galilei), Esther Hall (Virginia), Gunnar Cauthery (Cavalli), Ewan Bailey (Count Licori), Harry Myers (Cleaver), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Lizzie Mounter (Beggar Woman), John Banks (Monk / Youth)

Notes: The Doctor says that Galileo’s daughter gave him recorder lessons, which could be interpreted to mean that he last visited during his first or second incarnations (though the second Doctor’s variable ability to play the recorder may well indicate that a later incarnation felt the need for a refresher course).

Timeline: after The Red Lady and before The Satanic Mill; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Satanic Mill

Doctor WhoThe Doctor, Liv, and Helen find themselves on another world where labor is forced to the point that workers die for not meeting quota. The Doctor goes to get to the bottom of this system, while Liv and Helen become trapped within it. But since they haven’t been brainwashed into total submission like this planet’s other residents, they quickly draw attention to themselves, at which Helen decides more overt interference is in order. The Doctor finds the Eleven at the reins, driving workers until they die in order to complete a device he needs to detonate a sun and create a black hole, replicating the sequence of events from which the Time Lords derived their power. The Eleven also wants to execute the Doctor, as slowly and painfully as possible, in the process. Even two companions may be unable to save him this time.

Order this CD written by Marc Platt
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Matthew Cottle (Paine), Ewan Bailey (Father Locke / Orbs), Robert Bathurst (Padrac), John Woodvine (Galileo Galilei)

Timeline: after The Galileo Trap and before Beachhead; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 12

Cured

Red DwarfCat’s critical misunderstanding of the game of poker is interrupted by the discovery of a centuries-old American base on a nearby moon, one which Kryten believes was the last outpost of a project to genetically breed the roots of evil out of human beings. Cryogenic tubes are labeled with the names of some of humanity’s worst offenders – Hitler, Vlad, Stalin, Messalina – brought back to life through genetic manipulation, as well as Professor Telford, presumably the scientist conducting the experiment. He claims these pillars of human evil are cured, and over dinner they do seem friendly enough, but aware of the Starbug crew’s suspicions. When those suspicions appear to be justified, how much evil will the Boys from the Dwarf have to employ to save their own skins?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Doug Naylor
directed by Doug Naylor
music by Howard Goodall

Red DwarfCast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), Adrian Lukis (Professor Telford), Ryan Gage (Hitler), Chloe Hawkins (Messalina), Callum Coates (Stalin), Philippe Spall (Vlad the Impaler)

Notes: The Dwarfers are better qualified than most to know whether or not they’re dealing with the real Hitler. After all, Lister stepped through Timeslides Red Dwarf(1989) to rumble with the Fuhrer, and a waxwork droid of Hitler led his unlikely troops into a Meltdown (1990) against Rimmer’s forces.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Orville, The Season 1

Krill

The OrvilleFor the third time in a month, a far-flung Union colony is under Krill attack, and the Orville answers the distress call despite being badly outgunned by the Krill cruiser it finds itself facing. But thanks to a desperate last-ditch maneuver ordered by Captain Mercer, not only does the Orville emerge victorious, but it retrieves an intact Krill shuttle from the resulting wreckage, giving Union engineers a unique chance to analyze Krill technology. But a Union admiral has other plans for the shuttle: Mercer and helmsman Gordon Malloy will assume Krill disguise and infiltrate the nearest Krill cruiser, trying to obtain a copy of the Krill’s holy book, as their religion dictates their drive for war. The infiltration goes smoothly enough, but when Mercer and Malloy discover that this cruiser is on a mission to finish the job left undone by the ship destroyed by the Orville, things become much deadlier.

Order season 1 on DVD and Blu-RayDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by David A. Goodman
directed by Jon Cassar
music by Joel McNeely

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), Halston Sage (Lt. Alara Kitan), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Kelly Hu (Admiral Ozawa), Michaela McManus (Teleya), Dylan Kenin (Captain Haros), James Horan (Sazeron), Michael Dempsey (Mining Chief Harry Leidecker), Makabe Ganey (Coja), Gabriella Graves (Krill Girl Student), Caleb Brown (Krill Boy Student), Tim Neff (Krill Soldier), Brandon Melendy (Krill Guard), Jordan Lane Shappell (Krill Helmsman), Fred Tatasciore (Krill Voice)

The OrvilleNotes: James Horan is the latest Star Trek veteran drafted back into the service of The Orville, having appeared in TNG (Suspicions, Descent Part II), DS9 (In Purgatory’s Shadow), Voyager (Fair Trade), and throughout the run of Enterprise as the “Humanoid Figure” issuing orders from the future to Silik from the pilot episode forward.

LogBook entry by Earl Green