Day: November 12, 1967

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Classic Series Prisoner, The

Many Happy Returns

The PrisonerNumber Six sees an opportunity to escape when he finds that the entire population of the Village has disappeared without a trace. He hitches a boat ride back to London, but finds himself in even worse trouble among a boatful of gun smugglers. Upon arriving in London, Number Six returns to his former employers and briefs them on the Village…only to discover that no one believes his story. He offers to find the Village for them to prove its existence, not suspecting that his return to his prison will be a one-way trip.

written by Anthony Skene
directed by Joseph Serf
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Donald Sinden (The Colonel), Patrick Cargill (Thorpe), Georgina Cookson (Mrs. Butterworth), Brian Worth (Group Captain), Richard Caldicott (Commander), Dennis Chinnery (Gunther), Jon Laurimore (Ernst), Nike Arrighi (Gypsy girl), Grace Arnold (Maid), Larry Taylor (Gypsy man)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Gatchaman Gatchaman I

Galactor’s Giant Air Show

Kagaku Ninjatai GatchamanKen gets ready to take on his “day job” as a test pilot, flying Dr. Nambu’s experimental, non-polluting jet, when he sees an amazing sight. A skeletal figure standing on a biplane intercepts the jet and, with powerful metallic tentacles, takes it out of the sky, forcing Ken to eject. As he splashes down in the ocean, he’s powerless to do anything but watch as the biplane and its deadly pilot wipe out most of the other planes at the air show. The God Phoenix is launched immediately, but even Gatchaman’s ship suffers serious damage when it goes up against the mysterious biplane. Dr. Nambu studies the damage and finds proof that Galactor has perfected the process of making weapons from a stronger-than-steel metal called Whisker – a metal that Nambu himself hasn’t been able to duplicate. If Galactor is already producing weapons based on Whisker, even Gatchaman can’t stop them.

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 (Katsenberg), Kazuya Tatekabe (Captain), Mitsuo Yokoi (Captain), Hideo Kinoshita (Narrator)

Note: 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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Robert's Robots Season 1

Follow That Robot

Robert's RobotsEccentric inventor Robert Sommerby designs and builds robots – some of them smarter than others – and this has brought him to the attention of the government, as well as earning some research grant money from them as well. Mr. Fosdyke, a visitor from the Ministry of Technology, pays Robert a visit, meets the hulking but none-too-smart robot Katie, and is stunned to learn that Robert’s robots are being programmed to experience emotions. Fosdyke wants Robert’s research to remain top secret.

That doesn’t matter to Mr. Gimble, the private investigator sitting outside Robert’s lab. His employer, the mysterious and heavily-accented Mr. Marken, has ties to international electronics companies who will pay handsomely for Robert’s research – without actually paying Robert, of course. Gimble climbs over the fence and breaks into the lab, hurriedly donning a lab coat when he hears someone coming. His visitor is none other than Mr. Fosdyke…who has been told to go meet the robot wearing a lab coat with an “R” on the back. But how long will he follow Gimble around in the belief that Gimble is a robot?

Robert's Robotswritten by Bob Block
directed by Vic Hughes
music not credited

Cast: John Clive (Robert Sommerby), Brian Coburn (Katie), Nigel Pegram (Eric), Doris Rogers (Aunt Millie), Richard Davies (Gimble), Leon Lissek (Marken), Robert Dorning (Fosdyke), Dudley Jones (Doctor Randell), Larry Noble (Man), Janet Burnell (Woman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space Academy

Life Begins At 300

Space AcademyA mission to retrieve the precious mineral zolium goes dangerously wrong when the concentration of toxic zolium gas overwhelms Paul’s life support system, leaving him defenseless on the surface of a remote planetoid. Peepo retrieves Paul and returns him to the Seeker, but the effort almost destroys him as well. Back at Space Academy, an self-assured young cadet named Gina insists that she predicted this outcome, since her knowledge of zolium is more up-to-date than Commander Gampu’s. Convinced that he is at fault for putting Paul’s life in danger, Gampu decides to tender his resignation, shocking the students under his command.

written by Jack Paritz
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Cast: Jonathan Harris (Commander Gampu), Pamelyn Ferdin (Laura), Ric Carrott (Chris), Ty Henderson (Paul), Maggie Space AcademyCooper (Adrian), Brian Tochi (Tee Gar), Eric Greene (Loki), Peepo (himself), Paula Wagner (Gina Corey)

Notes: Paula Wagner, this episode’s special guest star, only made two filmed appearances as an actress, and this is one of them. She’s better known now as a high-powered producer and one of the co-owners of United Artists, along with Tom Cruise. She’s produced numerous films that Cruise has starred in, including Mission: Impossible, War Of The Worlds, The Last Samurai, and Vanilla Sky.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 2 Space: 1999

The Dorcons

Space: 1999The moon nears some kind of drifting artificial satellite in deep space. But when the object is scanned, it blasts through Moonbase Alpha’s shields with a powerful scanning beam of its own, rendering the crew immobile and damaging equipment. The beam settles on Maya, awakening her and subjecting her to extraordinary pain. A Dorcon ship appears and demand that Koenig hand Maya over – or watch his entire crew die. Koenig refuses, and a vicious attack ensues. Alan Carter leads a small fleet of Eagles into combat, but both the Eagles and Alpha suffer heavy damage while the Dorcon ship is virtually untouched. The Dorcons and Psychons are sworn enemies, and the Dorcons have the ability to stop a Psychon transformation in mid-change – and to drain a Psychon’s life force to renew their own. Faced with Alpha’s destruction, Koenig – at Maya’s own insistence – gives up the fight and hands her over to the Dorcons. But an insurrection within the Dorcons’ own ranks could give Maya and the rest of Moonbase Alpha a means of escape.

Order the DVDswritten by Johnny Byrne
directed by Tom Clegg
music by Derek Wadsworth

Guest Cast: Tony Anholt (Tony Verdeschi), Nick Tate (Alan Carter), Patrick Troughton (The Archon), Ann Firbank (Consul Verda), Gerry Sundquist (Malic), Alibe Parsons (Alibe), Laurence Harrington (Stewart), Kevan Sheehan (1st Dorcon operative), Michael Halsey (1st Dorcon soldier), Hamish Patrick (Command Center Alphan), Hazel McBridge (Female medical officer)

Notes: The late Patrick Troughton was, of course, best known as the second incarnation of Doctor Who.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battlestar Galactica (Classic Series) Season 1

The Magnificent Warriors

Battlestar Galactica (original)The Colonial fleet is wracked by a food shortage, threatening to cut their journey to Earth very short. Adama proposes a trip to the farming planet Serenity, where he hopes to exchange equipment for food. But there are a couple of problems on the way. To get the equipment he’ll need for barter, Adama must renew a long-dead relationship with the loquacious Siress Belloby. And once on the surface of serenity, not only do the Commander and his entourage find themselves in the middle of a war between the human farmers and the warlike Boray, but Belloby and her equipment go missing.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Glen A. Larson
directed by Chris I. Nyby II
music by Stu Phillips

Guest Cast: Barry Nelson (Bogan), Brett Somers (Siress Belloby), Dennis Fimple (Duggy), Eric Server (Dipper), Olan Soule (Carmichael), Rance Howard (Farnes), Ben Frommer (Nogow)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 04 Star Trek The Next Generation

Future Imperfect

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 44286.5: While investigating suspicious energy readings on Alpha Onias III – a planet that would be ideal for a secret Romulan base – Riker, Geordi and Worf are overcome by toxic gases. Geordi and Worf, however, are rescued via transporter, while the Enterprise loses all trace of Riker. Riker awakens in the sick bay of the Enterprise, told by an older Dr. Crusher that sixteen years have passed since that event, and that a virus he contracted on the mission to Alpha Onias III recently became active, causing him to lose all memory back to that event. He is now the ship’s Captain, Data is First Officer, and Picard – now an Admiral – is completing the final arrangements for the signing of a peace treaty between the Romulans and the Federation, and Riker has a teenage son as well. But glaring mistakes soon point out to Riker that this scenario is not, in fact, happening, and that it’s all a nearly perfect simulation. But the question remains – who’s behind it, the Romulans…or someone else?

Order the DVDswritten by J. Larry Carroll & David Bennett Carren
directed by Les Landau
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Andreas Katsulas (Commander Tomalok), Chris Demetral (“Jean-Luc Riker”/”Ethan”), Carolyn McCormick (Minuet), Patti Yasutake (Nurse), Todd Merrill (Gleason), April Grace (Transporter Chief Hubbell), George O’ Hanlon, Jr. (Transporter Chief), Dana Tjowander (Barash)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space: Above And Beyond

The Enemy

Space: Above And BeyondDamphousse is facing an inquiry and possible court-martial following a harrowing event which nearly caused the soldiers of the 58th to kill each other while on assignment. Her career rests on her ability to remember what happened – which turns out to be no easy task when she’s trying to remember a new mind-altering Chig weapon.

Order the DVDwritten by Marilyn Osborn
directed by Michael Katleman
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Bob Koherr (Crazy Marine), Danny Goldring (Sergeant)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 04 Star Trek Voyager

The Year Of Hell – Part II

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 51425.4: Having barely survived numerous attacks by an enemy armed with a weapon that alters history itself, Voyager is crippled beyond repair and Captain Janeway has ordered the crew to abandon ship. Chakotay and Paris are found by the enemy, a seemingly amicable Krenim named Annorax, and Chakotay tries to reason with him before he destroys Voyager. Janeway orders the last of the senior crew to leave Voyager so she can launch one final decisive attack against the Krenim – but her plan will only succeed if Chakotay and Paris can turn Annorax’s own crew against him.

Order the DVDswritten by Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
directed by Mike Vejar
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), Lise Simms (Wife), Majel Barrett (Narrator)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

North Star

Star Trek: EnterpriseFollowing up on leads about kidnapped humans in the Expanse, the Enterprise visits a planet where humans are supposedly being held in slavery by a race called the Skagarans. Archer, Trip and T’Pol disguise their identities and mingle with the natives, where they find that the story is now very different: the humans, kidnapped long before the 22nd century, have risen up and overthrown their former masters, and the Skagarans are now a belittled under-class, not allowed to receive an education or hold any position of power. But even then, Archer is still determined to restore balance and equity to the two races inhabiting this world, even if it means revealing his true identity and rocking the humans’ beliefs to the core.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by David A. Goodman
directed by David Straiton
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Glenn Morshower (Sheriff MacReady), James Parks (Deputy Bennings), Paul Rae (Bartender), Emily Bergl (Bethany), Steven Klein (Draysik), Gary Bristow (Stablehand), Mike Watson (Skagaran), John Baron (Yral), Alexandria M. Salling (Taliyah), Jeff Eith (Cowboy #1), Cliff McLaughlin (Cowboy #2), Tom Dupont (Cowboy #3), Dorenda Moore (MACO #1), Kevin Derr (MACO #2)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Clone Wars Star Wars Tartakovsky Series, Vol. 1

Chapter 4

  • By Dave
  • November 12, 2003

Star Wars: Clone WarsThe Republic’s primary ground assault moves steadily forward. The Banking Clan turns to Durge, a bounty hunter enlisted by Count Dooku, who leads a team of swoop-riding assassin droids against the Republic’s flank.

Order the DVDsstory by Bryan Andrew, Darrick Bachman, Paul Rudish and Genndy Tartakovsky
directed by Genndy Tartakovsky
original music by John Williams
new music by James L. Venable and Paul Dinletir

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

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Enterprise Season 04 Star Trek

The Augments

Star Trek: EnterpriseArcher has to take drastic measures to prevent the pathogen samples from contaminating Cold Station 12, relying on the Enterprise to beam him up after venting the station’s central core (and himself) to open space. Aboard the stolen Klingon ship, Malik tells Soong about his attempt to kill everyone aboard the station, and as a result Soong quietly resolves to eliminate the aggressive tendencies from the recovered Augment embryos before they are born. Soong also strongly objects to Malik’s plan to seed the atmosphere of a Klingon planet with more disease pathogens, a move which could spark a conflict between the Klingons and Starfleet, keeping both of them too busy to pursue the Augments. Malik sees both of these as Soong’s final betrayal of the Augments, and has the geneticist locked up in the brig. With the help of the sympathetic Persis, Soong escapes in a life pod to warn Captain Archer of Malik’s intentions, but finds that the Enterprise crew isn’t inclined to believe his warnings – and every second that he spends trying to convince them, Malik and the Augments are bearing down on the Klingon planet he has chosen as a target.

Order DVDswritten by Michael Sussman
directed by LeVar Burton
music by Velton Ray Bunch

Guest Cast: Brent Spiner (Arik Soong), Alec Newman (Malik), Abby Brammell (Persis), Adam Grimes (Lokesh), Richard Riehle (Jeremy Lucas), Mark Rolston (Captain Magh), Kristen Ariza (Augment #1)

Notes: When Malik mentions the S.S. Botany Bay and Khan Noonien Singh (Space Seed, Star Trek II), Soong dismisses the survival of Khan and his sleeper ship as a legend. The “Briar Patch” mentioned in this episode is also where Star Trek: Enterprisethe Enterprise-E fought a pitched battle with several Son’a starships in Star Trek: Insurrection. The episode is dated 2154, and it’s mentioned that augmentation was banned “150 years ago” – which would date that ban in the year 2004. The Deep Space Nine episode Doctor Bashir, I Presume, in which DS9’s own doctor is revealed to be an Augment of sorts, and the Voyager two-parter Future’s End (set partly in 1996 in a world with no mention of the Eugenics Wars) seemed to relocate the Eugenics Wars into the mid-to-late 21st century, rather than the 1990s (the date the original Star Trek established for the wars). As a result, one possible interpretation of this episode’s dialogue may be that modern-day (2004) bans on human cloning and stem cell research are being cited as the first instances of human augmentation.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Torchwood

Small Worlds

TorchwoodFreak weather conditions, strange sightings and deaths add up to one thing for Jack – a species that most humans would describe as fairies has returned, eliminating anyone who stands between them and their “chosen one.” Jack has seen their work before, when they wiped out an entire squad of men under his command during his time on Earth in World War II. This time, their chosen one is an ordinary, if lonely, child – and anyone who makes her life miserable, from her stepfather to school bullies, is marked for death. When Torchwood steps in to put an end to the killing, they’re marked too – even Gwen’s home is attacked. When it comes to ridding the human race of the fairies’ influence, what lengths will Jack go to and what sacrifices will he make to protect Earth?

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Peter J. Hammond
directed by Alice Troughton
music by Murray Gold & Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Burn Gorman (Owen Harper), Naoko Mori (Toshiko Sato), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Eve Pearce (Estelle), Lara Phillipart (Jasmine), Adrienne O’Sullivan (Lynn), William Travis (Roy), Roger Barclay (Goodson), Heledd Baskerville (Kate), Ffion Wilkins (WPC), Nathan Sussex (Custody Sergeant), Paul Jones (Man in street), Sophie Davies (Bully), Victoria Gourley (Bully)

Notes: Peter J. Hammond is also the creator of the cult British SF series Sapphire & Steel. Director Alice Troughton is no relation to the late Patrick Troughton, who was the second Doctor Who.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Sarah Jane Adventures Season 1

The Lost Boy – Part 1

The Sarah Jane AdventuresWhen Luke’s face appears on a TV newscast about a grief-stricken couple’s search for their missing son, Sarah and Luke’s friends are shocked. Maria’s mother tips the police off about having seen Luke at Sarah’s house, and they descend upon the house to recover Luke and place Sarah under arrest. After a little bit of intervention from UNIT, Sarah is released with no charges filed, but everyone is suspicious of Luke’s “real family” – especially Luke, who finds himself now virtually a prisoner in their home. But when Clyde, believing he has solid proof that Luke is not in the hands of his real parents, calls on Sarah’s computer, Mr. Smith, he discovers that there’s more wrong than anyone realized.

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

Guest Cast: Joseph Millson (Alan Jackson), Juliet Cowan (Chrissie Jackson), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Jay Simpson (Jay), Holly Atkins (Heidi), Ryan Watson (Nathan Goss), Floella Benjamin (Professor Rivers), Julian Dutton (Chief Inspector), Paul Kasey (Jay Slitheen), Jimmy Vee (Nathan Slitheen), Ruari Mears (Heidi Slitheen)

Notes: The Pharos Institute is apparently the same group that built the enormous receiving antenna from which the fourth Doctor fell shortly before his regeneration in the 1981 Doctor Who episode Logopolis; it is noted in dialogue that the Institute has existed for over 20 years.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Sarah Jane Adventures Season 3

Mona Lisa’s Revenge – Part 1

The Sarah Jane AdventuresClyde’s artwork lands in a local gallery, winning his class a trip there and a rare opportunity to see a prized piece of art on loan from the Louvre: the Mona Lisa itself. But when the legendary painting is unveiled, it isn’t the Mona Lisa at all – it’s an image of one of the gallery’s employees, trapped inside the painting. The news spreads quickly that the Mona Lisa has been stolen, and police pour into gallery. The woman who most people associate with the Mona Lisa is, in fact, on the loose in the gallery: she has escaped the painting and has at least a limited existence as flesh and blood. She arms herself with the Sontaran blaster depicted in Clyde’s painting and begins to trap the police in other paintings throughout the gallery. Only Luke, Clyde and Rani remain – until Sarah herself walks into the gallery, and into the Mona Lisa’s trap.

Get the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Phil Ford
directed by Joss Agnew
music by Sam Watts & Dan Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Suranne Jones (Mona Lisa), Ace Bhatti (Haresh), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Jeff Rawle (Mr. Harding), Liza Sadovy (Miss Trupp), Lizo Mzimba (himself)

Notes: The gallery scenes were filmed at the Welsh National Temple of Peace and Health, which explains its resemblance to the space station in the Doctor Who episode The End Of The World, which also used it as a location.

LogBook entry by Earl Green