Categories
Classic Season 04 Doctor Who

Power of the Daleks

Doctor WhoThe Doctor recovers from his first regeneration quickly, only to find himself trying to reassure Ben and Polly that the diminutive person who now shares the TARDIS with them is, in fact, their time-traveling companion. The TARDIS takes them from the South Pole to the planet Vulcan in the distant future, where an Earth expedition has made a disturbing discovery in the planet’s mercury pools – deactivated, but perfectly preserved, Daleks. The chief scientist of the human colony on Vulcan reactivates the Daleks, who promptly vow obedience and subservience…but even after a traumatic regeneration, the Doctor doesn’t believe this for a second. But someone in the colony may know the Daleks’ true colors – and may be using them to achieve a sinister objective anyway.

written by David Whitaker
directed by Christopher Barry
music by Tristram Cary

Guest Cast: Martin King (Examiner), Nicholas Hawtrey (Quinn), Bernard Archard (Bragen), Robert James (Lesterson), Pamela Ann Davy (Janley), Peter Bathurst (Hensell), Edward Kelsey (Resno), Richard Kane (Valmar), Peter Forbes-Robertson (Guard), Steven Scott (Kebble), Robert Russell (Guard), Robert Luckham (Guard), Gerald Taylor (Dalek), Kevin Manser (Dalek), Robert Jewell (Dalek), John Scott Martin (Dalek), Peter Hawkins (Dalek voice)

Note: The master tapes of this episode were destroyed by the BBC in the early 1970’s, and no video copies exist.

Broadcast from November 5 through December 10, 1966

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Series Prisoner, The

The General

The PrisonerWhen a new speed-learning lecture series takes the Village by storm, Number Six is immediately suspicious, and finds a like-minded ally in Number 12. Their skepticism is quickly proven to be correct when they learn that the speed-learning device uses subliminal messages – and that the hidden masterminds of the Village, not the Professor, control what information is subliminally fed to the population. Number Six discovers that the enigmatic General is behind the whole endeavour…but it may cost him dearly to find out any more than that.

written by Joshua Adam
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Colin Gordon (Number Two), John Castle (Number 12), Betty McDowall (Professor’s wife), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Conrad Phillips (Doctor), Michael Miller (Man in buggy), Keith Pyott (Waiter), Ian Fleming (Man at cafe), Normal Mitchell (Mechanic), Peter Bourne (Projection operator), George Leech (Guard), Jackie Cooper (Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Gatchaman Gatchaman I

The Great Mini-Robot Operation

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanAn underground drill bursts through the floor of the World Bank, unleashing a deadly payload: Micros, knee-high robots armed to the teeth with lasers, sent by Galactor to steal every bar of gold and destabilize the world economy. Team Gatchaman is dispatched to retrieve the stolen gold from an unknown base somewhere in the Barelli Islands. The base is soon found, and Ken, Jun and, Jinpei visit the base’s island out of uniform to ensure that they’re captured and taken inside. Joe is left in charge of retrieving the gold, with strict orders from Dr. Nambu not to exceed those orders. But as he often does, Joe manages to do just that, leaving Ryu in the God Phoenix to doze off at the wheel. Joe’s intent is to rid the world of Galactor once and for all, and retrieve the gold. Again, his overzealous refusal to disobey his exact orders put the rest of the team in danger.

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

GatchamanVoice 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), Teiji Omiya (Director Anderson)

Note: It’s implied that Sosai X himself designed the Micros; they do seem a bit more reliable than most Galactor gadgets. 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

Categories
Space Academy

Planet Of Fire

Space AcademyTee Gar shows off his new invention, the cryotron, which will reduce the temperature of hot, uninhabitable worlds to make them safe for colonization. A small-scale laboratory test yields encouraging results – encouraging enough for Tee Gar to take a break and go on vacation with Loki and Peepo in tow. But Tee Gar also takes the cryotron, intending to perform an unannounced test on a world where no life is known to exist. At the same time, Commander Gampu and the others discover that Tee Gar unwittingly used an unstable element in the cryotron: anything frozen with it will, given time, explode.

written by Susan Dworski and Peter Packer
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
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), Peepo (himself), Don Pedro Colley (Dramon)

Notes: Don Pedro Colley appeared in THX-1138, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes and the 1993 direct-to-video feature (and future MST3K fodder) Quest Of The Delta Knights.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 04 Star Trek The Next Generation

Reunion

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 44246.3: The Enterprise is intercepted in deep space by a Klingon battlecruiser occupied by K’mpec, leader of the High Council of the Klingon Empire. With him is K’ehleyr, Worf’s former lover, who has visited the Enterprise before. This time she acts as Picard’s aide in a role K’mpec has chosen for him – the neutral arbiter to oversee the handover of the dying K’mpec’s powerful position to one of two contenders: Duras, whose cover-up of his father’s actions cost Worf his honor; or Gowron, a Klingon “outsider” about whom little is known. But sabotage, including the assassination of K’mpec, begins to point toward evidence of Romulan involvement…and Worf must deal with the possibility that his son (by K’ehleyr) may lose his honor if Worf reveals his relationship to him.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Thomas Perry & Jo Perry and Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga
story by Drew Deighan and Thomas Perry & Jo Perry
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Ron Jones

Guest Cast: Suzie Plakson (K’ehleyr), Robert O’Reilly (Gowron), Patrick Massett (Duras), Charles Cooper (K’mpec), Jon Steuer (Alexander), Michael Rider (Security Guard), April Grace (Transporter Technician), Basil Wallace (Klingon Guard #1), Mirron E. Willis (Klingon Guard #2)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Space: Above And Beyond

Eyes

Space: Above And BeyondThe Saratoga makes its way back to Earth, but before the troops can spend much time fantasizing about a week’s liberty on their home planet, a new bulletin announces that U.N. Secretary General Chartwell has been assassinated – and the killer is an in vitro. A number of world leaders on both sides of the in vitro rights movement hold a summit aboard the Saratoga, resulting in a declaration that all in vitros in the military must submit themselves to a degrading series of tests which supposedly will determine their loyalty to the human race. McQueen flatly refuses to undergo these tests, jeopardizing his military career. What no one seems to realize at first as that the tests could be legitimized racism under the guise of national security.

Order the DVDwritten by Glen Morgan & James Wong
directed by Felix Alcala
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Harriet Sansom Harris (Diane Hayden), Josie DiVincenzo (Lt. Susan Posarick), George Delhoyo (Nicholas Chaput), James Leisure (Lt. Charlie Stone), John Verea (Cwirko), Ken Takemoto (Kurosawa), Kimberly Patton (Feliciti OH 483), Mark Lentry (Man), Michael Harney (Questioner), Daniel Stewart (Thompson), John L. Bennett (Master of Arms), Robin Curtis (Andrea Wilkins)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 04 Star Trek Voyager

The Year Of Hell – Part I

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 51268.4: Annorax, a Krenim temporal scientist, has accidentally destroyed his home as he knows it through the use of a temporal weapon which removes his enemies from history. A temporal shock wave – the physical sphere of the temporal weapon’s influence – hits a wayward Federation starship called Voyager, of which Annorax has no knowledge. Somehow, the inhabitants of the anomalous ship have discovered a way to protect themselves from the effects of the temporal weapon – and Annorax must find a way to erase them from the timeline before they jeopardize his plan.

Order the DVDswritten by Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Kurtwood Smith (Annorax), John Loprieno (Obrist), Peter Slutsker (Krenim Commandant), Rick Fitts (Zahl), Deborah Levin (Ensign Lang), Sue Henley (Ensign Brooks), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 03 SG-1 Stargate

Foothold

Stargate SG-1After SG-1 receives a rather cool reception from General Hammond upon returning to the SGC from their latest mission, they’re sent into quarantine and hear about a chemical spill affecting the entire Cheyenne Mountain complex. In the infirmary, all four are drugged, though it wears off early for Teal’c because of his Goa’uld symbiont. Teal’c discovers that an alien species has taken over the SGC, and quickly escapes from his guards, also rescuing Carter. Teal’c stays behind to fight and rescue Daniel and O’Neill while Carter escapes, but he is soon overcome. Once outside, Carter contacts Maybourne, one of the SGC’s most hated enemies, to inform him of a foothold situation and requests a meeting in a public place – but at that meeting, Maybourne hands her over to O’Neill and Daniel to be taken back to the SGC. Maybourne promises to accompany her as well. But it’s only on the return flight to the SGC that either Carter or Maybourne realizes that the alien incursion may have already spread as far as the Pentagon.

Order the DVDswritten by Heather E. Ash
directed by Andy Mikita
music by Joel Goldsmith & Kevin Kiner

Guest Cast: Tom McBeath (Colonel Harry Maybourne), Colin Cunningham (Major Davis), Teryl Rothery (Dr. Fraiser), Richard Leacock (Colonel Brogan), Colin Lawrence (Sergeant Warren), Dan Shea (Sergeant Siler), Alex Zahara (Alien Leader / Alien #1), Dion Johnstone (Alien #2), Tracy Westerholm (Surveillance SF), Biski Gugushe (SF Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Twilight

Star Trek: EnterpriseWhile investigating an orderload in the starboard warp nacelle systems, Captain Archer and T’Pol encounter an unusual spatial anomaly, and Archer is overcome by it after pushing his science officer out of the way. Archer awakens in the sick bay of the Enterprise, told by Dr. Phlox that a parasitic infection he contracted is preventing him from retaining any short-term memory. After this condition makes it apparent that Archer is unfit for duty, T’Pol is made the ship’s Captain. Phlox attempts a more aggressive treatment, and when Archer awakens from it, an older T’Pol tells him that twelve years have passed – none of which he can remember – during which the Xindi have destroyed Earth and are now systematically hunting down the last 6,000 surviving humans who escaped the planet’s destruction.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Michael Sussman
directed by Robert Duncan McNeill
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Gary Graham (Soval), Brett Rickaby (Yedrin Koss), Richard Anthony Crenna (Security Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Jeremiah Season 2

The Mysterious Mr. Smith

JeremiahAs promised, Jeremiah “takes over” the town of Millhaven, running it as a far more benevolent community than its previous self-appointed “mayor.” With Marcus’ full support and with Libby in tow, Jeremiah restores freedom and a more neighborly feel to the town, but his reward is skepticism from the townsfolk when an emissary from Daniel arrives to take custody of a traveling family with information about Daniel’s fledgling government. Jeremiah refuses to hand the family over, and the people of Millhaven quickly lose faith in him for fear that they will be on the receiving end of Daniel’s retribution. In the meantime, Kurdy discovers that his new partner, Mr. Smith, has not only been leaving and returning to Thunder Mountain at odd hours, but he’s also created a primitive camera and has been photographing the interior of the base. Kurdy follows Smith out of the mountain, determined to discover the truth about Smith’s secretive agenda.

Order the DVDswritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Tim Truman

Guest Cast: Peter Stebbings (Marcus), Derek Hamilton (Charles), Jeniffer Copping (Leah), Tom Scholte (James), Michael P. Northey (Richard), Michael Telgen (Frank), Stuart Pierre (Traveler), Richard Harmon (Madison), Jason Bryden (Mike), Dana Pemberton (Clete), Alex Rae (Dave), Norm Sherry (Bartender), Alicia Thorgrimsson (Teller), Tamara Lashley (Teller), Grayson Hosie (Teller), Jay Hilliker (Teller), Nicola Anderson (Teller), Emmanuel Belliveau (Norader guy)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Jeremiah Season 2

Voices In The Dark

JeremiahA celebration is held in Millhaven to honor Jeremiah’s victory over Daniel’s armed thugs. But the party nearly becomes a wake when aman in the crowd, receiving orders from Daniel through a walkie-talkie, tries to assassinate Jeremiah in full view of everyone present. Though Jeremiah is shot, the wound is not fatal, and the gunman then fails to kill himself as ordered. Jeremiah feels that Marcus needs to learn more about Daniel’s movement sooner rather than later, but when Marcus doesn’t act on that suggestion, Jeremiah asks Kurdy and Mr. Smith to help. The three visit a city under Daniel’s control, finding that luxuries such as water and electricity can be found there – but so can dissenters in the ranks of Daniel’s army…at least, Jeremiah hopes so when one of these defectors is taken back to Thunder Mountain.

Order the DVDswritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Martin Wood
music by Tim Truman

Guest Cast: Peter Stebbings (Marcus), Francoise Yip (Rachel), Doron Bell Jr. (Adam), Michael P. Northey (Richard), Adrian Hughes (Karl Stevenson), Gaston Howard (Foreman), Cody Laudan (Prisoner), Rob Daly (Enforcer), Lance Gibson (Enforcer), Melissa Barker-Sauer (Dancer), Ted Kozma (Bypasser), Essra Vischon (Onlooker), Alessandro Juliani (voice of Daniel)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 04 Star Trek

Cold Station 12

Star Trek: EnterpriseCaptain Archer and his crew investigate Arik Soong’s original destination coordinates, finding a crude colony where he took his Augment children to escape from Earth authorities. There, they find that the Augments left one of their own to die – a young man whose powers didn’t quite measure up to theirs. Archer brings him aboard the Enterprise, and then sets the ship on a course for Cold Station 12. A Starfleet cold storage facility designed to keep isolated samples of various deadly pathogens away from any planetary biosphere, Cold Station 12 is also home to 1,800 frozen Augment embryos, the legacy of the Eugenics War. When humanity couldn’t decide how to deal with the embryos, they were set aside in stasis and treated as a disease. Soong and his Augments take the entire crew of the space station hostage, but find that the chief pathologist, Dr. Lucas, won’t give them access to the embryos when his life is threatened, or even that of his colleagues. Enterprise arrives and Archer leads a boarding party to Cold Station 12 to try to contain the situation, but they too become hostages – and Lucas’ old friend Dr. Phlox turns out to be the one person whose death he isn’t prepared to allow. With the codes to release the embryos, Soong and his “children” prepare to leave, but already Soong’s hold over them has begun to slip. Despite Soong’s insistence that human lives should be spared, the ambitious Augment Malik traps Archer and his landing party, with Lucas and his crew, on Cold Station 12 after programming the fields containing the station’s deadly diseases to shut down in four minutes…

Order DVDswritten by Michael Bryant
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Brent Spiner (Arik Soong), Alec Newman (Malik), Abby Brammell (Persis), Richard Riehle (Jeremy Lucas), Kaj-Erik Eriksen (Smike), Kris Iyer (Deputy Director), Adam Grimes (Lokesh), Amy Wieczorek (Female Pilot), Jordan Orr (Young Malik), Kevin Foster (Security Guard #1)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Torchwood

Cyberwoman

TorchwoodCompletely against standard operating procedure, Ianto admits a visitor to Torchwood – a Japanese doctor he’s called in to help with a special project. That project is Lisa, Ianto’s girlfriend, partially Cyber-converted and salvaged from the wreckage of the Torchwood London headquarters in Canary Wharf. He has kept her hidden away in the basement level, along with a complete Cyberman conversion pod which he’s managed to turn into a life support system. The doctor is able to help Lisa leave the life support system, but once under her own power, she exhibits little of her own personality – she’s a Cyberman seeking to complete her upgrade and then she’ll begin to convert the rest of the human race. Once Ianto’s project is exposed, Jack decides that yet another branch of Torchwood may have to be sacrificed to stop a Cyber invasion…but Ianto’s loyalties lie elsewhere.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by James Strong
music by Murray Gold

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Burn Gorman (Owen Harper), Naoko Mori (Toshiko Sato), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Caroline Chikezie (Lisa), Togo Igawa (Dr. Tanizaki), Bethan Walker (Annie)

Original Title: The Trouble With Lisa

Notes: Ianto apparently worked at the London branch of Torchwood during the Dalek-Cyberman battle (Doctor Who: Doomsday). This marks the first time a female Cyberman has appeared on screen, though much was made of female Cybermen in the Doctor Who audio story Real Time.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Sarah Jane Adventures Season 1

Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane? – Part 2

The Sarah Jane AdventuresMaria, escaping an abduction by a Graske, is thrown back in time to 1964, where she meets young Andrea and Sarah on the very day in 1964 that one of them is destined to die. She tries to convince both girls to stay away from the pier, but the Graske returns and snatches Maria away again, depositing her in a limbo space with the adult Sarah. Maria’s dad finds the alien artifact that Sarah gave to Maria, and it preserves his memory of her when she’s removed from time – though he can’t seem to find anyone else who remembers Maria. He tracks down Andrea Yates to ask her about the incident in which, according to this timeline, Sarah died – and discovers that Andrea has made a deal with a very different kind of devil. When news reports reveal that a meteor is hurtling toward a collision with Earth, it seems that Sarah and Maria’s absence from history may spell doom for the entire world.

Get the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Gareth Roberts
directed by Graeme Harper
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Joseph Millson (Alan Jackson), Juliet Cowan (Chrissie Jackson), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Jane Asher (Andrea), Paul Marc Davis (The Trickster), Jimmy Vee (The Graske), Jessica Ashworth (young Sarah Jane), Francesca Miller (young Andrea), Jason Mohammad (Newsreader), Philip Hurd-Wood (voice of the Graske)

Notes: The Graske first appeared in the Doctor Who interactive game Attack Of The Graske, also written by Gareth Roberts, which appeared on the BBC’s red button channel on Christmas 2005. As it’s not part of the series proper, this may be the first time that a character originating from a medium other than TV has crossed over into the Doctor Who universe proper.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Sarah Jane Adventures Season 3

The Eternity Trap – Part 1

The Sarah Jane AdventuresSarah, Rani and Clyde pay a visit to Ashen Hill Manor, reputedly the most haunted house in England. Professor Rivers and her somewhat smug assistant Toby have already set up shop in the house, looking for spikes in electromagnetic readings and other signs of paranormal activity. Despite Sarah’s reassurances that there are no such things as ghosts, strange things begin occurring almost immediately, including Rani’s sighting of Erasmus Darkening, an alchemist who supposedly conducted dark experiments in a lab beneath the manor in the 1600s. When Professor Rivers vanishes without a trace, even Sarah Jane has to admit that something strange is happening.

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

Guest Cast: Floella Benjamin (Professor Rivers), Donald Sumpter (Erasmus Darkening), Callum Blue (Lord Marchwood), Adam Gillen (Toby Silverman), Amelia Clarkson (Elizabeth Marchwood), Rhys Gear (Joseph Marchwood)

Note: Floella Benjamin has appeared as Professor Rivers in parts 1 & 2 of season 1 finale The Lost Boy, and in part 2 of season 2’s Day Of The Clown. Absent from this episode is Tommy Knight as Luke.

LogBook entry by Earl Green