Categories
Original Series Season 01 Star Trek

Shore Leave

Star Trek ClassicStardate 3025.3: McCoy recommends a layover so the crew can rest from the constant strain of nonstop duty, and an earthlike but apparently uninhabited planet provides a perfect opportunity for shore leave, but when odd things begin happening on the surface, Kirk becomes suspicious. McCoy, after telling Sulu that the planet is like a setting from “Alice in Wonderland,” spots a large rabbit followed by Alice herself. Kirk runs into his old nemesis, Academy prankster Finnegan, while Sulu discovers a police revolver that he doesn’t have in his ancient firearms collection and later runs into a Samurai warrior. Mysterious tracking devices follow the crew’s actions and thoughts, and whatever they happen to be thinking of seems to become real – even if it’s a deadly threat, as McCoy discovers.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Theodore Sturgeon
directed by Robert Sparr
music by Gerald Fried

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Emily Banks (Tonia Barrows), Oliver McGowan (Caretaker), Perry Lopez (Rodriguez), Bruce Mars (Finnegan), Barbara Baldavin (Angela), Marcia Brown (Alice), Sebastian Tom (Warrior), Shirley Bonne (Ruth)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series Season 02 Star Trek

The Trouble With Tribbles

Star Trek ClassicStardate 4523.3: The Enterprise is summoned to space station K-7 for security duty when the station’s security forces are considered inadequate to guard a shipment of valuable grain by the standards of Federation agriculture administrator Baris. A shipload of Klingons stops off at the station as well, which has all parties concerned even more about the grain consignment. Kirk orders stepped-up security, but that only results in some of the crew – including Scotty and Chekov – instigating a massive bar brawl with the Klingons. All the while, the seemingly harmless huckster Cyrano Jones is trying to peddle furry tribbles off to anyone with a few credits, and Uhura buys one and takes it back to the Enterprise, not knowing that tribbles do only two things: eat and breed.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by David Gerrold
directed by Joseph Pevney
music by Jerry Fielding

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), William Schallert (Nilz Baris), William Campbell (Koloth), Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones), Whit Bissell (Lurry), Michael Pataki (Korax), Ed Reimers (Admiral Fitzpatrick), Charlie Brill (Arne Darvin), Paul Baxley (Ensign Freeman), David Ross (Guard), Guy Raymond (Trader)

Notes: another side of this episode’s events can be seen in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine celebrating the original series’ 30th anniversary, Trials And Tribble-ations. Tribbles are also spotted in the bar in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, but according to the animated series, Kirk and his crew encountered them once more in More Tribbles, More Trouble.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Night Gallery Season 2

The Different Ones / Tell David… / Logoda’s Heads

Night GalleryThe Different Ones: 17-year-old Victor Koch is kept hidden away in isolation by his father, Paul, due to a physical deformity, but does not take kindly to that isolation, whether his father means well or not. Paul contacts a government agency dealing with cases like Victor’s, and is offered three options: taking no action, euthanizing Victor, or sending Victor to another planet as part of an exchange program that would welcome him with open arms. Paul opts for the most merciful of these options, sending Victor to the planet Boreon. But who will Boreon send as an exchange student to Earth?

Night Gallerywritten by Rod Serling
directed by John Meredyth Lucas
music by Oliver Nelson / series theme by Gil Melle

Cast: Dana Andrews (Paul Koch), Monica Lewis (Official), Jon Korkes (Victor Koch), Dennis Rucker (Man), Peggy Webber (Woman), Mary Gregory (2nd Woman)

Tell David…: Ann, lost while driving home in a thunderstorm, decides to momentarily take shelter at a house she spots along the way. The couple who live there, David and Pat, have an array of futuristic gadgets and seem to live an idyllic life; when Ann finally gets home, she is reminded that her life is anything but ideal, but David and Pat have invited her to visit again soon. When Ann does visit again, and mentions that David is her own son’s name, coincidences and details of conversations begin convincing Ann that she’s glimpsing her son’s future – a future which David says his mother did not live to see.

Night Galleryteleplay by Gerald Sanford
from the short story by Penelope Wallace
directed by Jeff Corey
music by Oliver Nelson

Cast: Sandra Dee (Ann Bolt), Jared Martin (Tony Bolt / David Blessington), Jenny Sullivan (Pat Blessington), Jan Shutan (Jane Blessington), Francoise Ruggieri (Yvonne), Anne Randall (Julie), Chris Patrick (David Bolt)

Logoda’s Heads: Major Crosby leads an expedition into Africa, searching for the missing brother of Henley, a younger member of the expedition. The few leads they have bring them to a village whose witch doctor, Logoda, is said to have magic thanks to the decapitated heads of his enemies. In trying not to cross Logoda, Crosby and his team ignore more immediate threats.

Night Galleryteleplay by Robert Bloch
from the short story by August Derleth
directed by Jeannot Szwarc
music by Oliver Nelson

Cast: Patrick Macnee (Major Crosby), Brock Peters (Logoda), Denise Nicholas (Kyro), Tim Matheson (Henley), Albert Popwell (Sgt. Imo), Zara Cully (Emba), Roger E. Mosley (Second Askari)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Starlost, The

The Beehive

The StarlostA shipwide alert warning of “impending threat” draws Devon and his friends to a biosphere devoted to zoological studies. There, Dr. Marshall is leading a team of researchers who are examining the evolution of bees from Earth. But with all the time that has passed since Earthship Ark was launched, and with a little bit of genetic tweaking from Marshall, something has happened to the bees – at least four of them have grown to almost human size, and they’ve gained dominance over the smaller honeybees in the swarm. They’ve also somehow gained control of Marshall’s mind, jeopardizing the safety of his fellow humans (including Devon, Rachel and Garth) and forcing him to inform the swarm of any actions the humans are taking against the bees. When the other scientists decide that the time has come to eliminate the bees before they can escape and make the entire Ark their hive, the bees see it as a declaration of war.

Get this season on DVDwritten by Norman Klenman
directed by Bill Davis
music by Score Productions, Ltd.

Guest Cast: William Hutt (Dr. Pete Marshall), Antoinette Bower (Dr. Heather Marshall), Alan McRae (Ron Callisher), John Friesen (Harry Keeble)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Star Blazers

Hurry, Yamato: Earth Is Suffering

Star BlazersD minus 308 days: Growing tired of the Star Force’s last minute escapes, Leader Desslok calls upon General Lysis, the ruthless Gamilon war hero, to do away with the Argo. An advance flight of Black Tigers engages a squad of Gamilon fighters, capturing one damaged ship and its pilot intact. A large crowd gathers to watch Dr. Sane examine the pilot, and all speculation about the nature and cruelty of the Gamilons is laid to rest when the flight suit is removed – the pilot looks like a human being, only with blue skin, and his vital signs are the same as any human. Wildstar, reliving the trauma of his parents’ death during the Gamilons’ bombing of Earth, has vowed to kill the first Gamilon he sees with his own bare hands…and decides to fulfill this promise even if it means murdering a valuable prisoner.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 1 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Lydia Leeds (Starsha), other actors unknown

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Season 17 Doctor Who

The Horns Of Nimon – Part 2

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and K9 find themselves in the path of a massive planetoid being pulled into the singularity, but the Doctor manages to bounce the TARDIS off of the planetoid. On Skonnos, a sycophantic leader named Soldeed begs a creature called the Nimon for more time, as Soldeed’s people continue to search for the missing slaver ship. Thanks to the Doctor’s repairs, the ship does make its way back to Skonnos, where the young slaves – and Romana – are to be handed over to the Nimon as a “tribute.” The Doctor manages to patch up the TARDIS and follow the ship to Skonnos, where he is promptly thrown into the complex of the Nimon.

Order this story on DVDDownload this episodewritten by Anthony Read
directed by Kenny McBain
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana), David Brierly (voice of K9), Simon Gipps-Kent (Seth), Janet Ellis (Teka), Graham Crowden (Soldeed), Michael Osborne (Sorak), Malcolm Terris (Co-pilot), Bob Hornery (Pilot), Clifford Norgate (Nimon voices), John Bailey (Sezom), Robin Sherringham, Bob Appleby, Trevor St. John Hacker (Nimon)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
K-9 Sarah Jane Adventures

K-9 & Company: A Girl’s Best Friend

K-9 & CompanyAfter her Aunt Lavinia leaves for a lecture tour in America much earlier than expected, her niece, Sarah Jane Smith, takes up temporary residence in her house in the quaint village of Moreton Harwood. Sarah finds the locals to be a little bit backward, and one of Lavinia’s recent letters to the editor in the local paper decrying the belief that black magic will help the crops grow – a belief that some of the villagers apparently take quite seriously. Lavinia’s ward, Brendan, also arrives to stay at the house, and Sarah finds a note from Lavinia herself, pointing her in the direction of a large box that has been in Lavinia’s possession for years. The box, which has never been opened, contains a present for Sarah from the Doctor – her very own K-9. Brendan, who’s delighted with computers and technology, makes fast friends with the robotic dog, but that night when Sarah visits one of the neighbors, Brendan finds himself in need of one of K-9’s more unusual abilities when two men break into the house. K-9 stuns one of the men and then pursues the other, but doesn’t catch him. Sarah finds the local police oddly uninterested in the incident, and begins to wonder if there’s something to Lavinia’s witchcraft worries. When Brendan is kidnapped and the police still aren’t interested, her suspicions are even more aroused, and she’ll need K-9’s help to find out how far this small-town conspiracy goes.

Order the DVDwritten by Terence Dudley
directed by John Black
music by Peter Howell / title music by Fiachra Trench & Ian Levine

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), John Leeson (voice of K-9), Bill Fraser (Commander Pollock), Ian Sears (Brendan Richards), Colin Jeavons (George Tracey), Sean Chapman (Peter Tracey), Mary Wimbush (Aunt Lavinia), Linda Polan (Juno Baker), Gillian Martell (Lilly Gregson), Neville Barber (Howard Baker), John Quarmby (Henry Tobias), Nigel Gregory (Sergeant Wilson), Stephen Oxley (PC Carter)

Notes: Though not strictly speaking an actual part of the Sarah Jane Adventures series, K-9 & Company establishes numerous important parts of the series backstory, and perhaps more importantly established plot points which later Doctor Who episodes (The Five Doctors, School Reunion) regarded as official. It was also the first (and, until Torchwood was greenlit, only) official Doctor Who TV spinoff. As is the case with the current slate of Doctor Who spinoffs being produced by the same team responsible for the parent series, K-9 & Company would have been produced by Doctor Who’s then-producer John Nathan-Turner, who admitted that he wasn’t fond of the dog’s deus ex machina antics in Doctor Who, but realized that the massive outcry over K-9’s departure meant that there was an audience. Nathan-Turner later admitted that the biggest failure of K-9 & Company was its opening episode’s theme of black magic and the occult; like The Sarah Jane Adventures, K-9 & Company was envisioned for the younger segment of Doctor Who’s audience, and so the pilot episode’s human sacrifice and pagan ceremonies failed to play well against the Christmas/New Year holidays. (A widespread power outage at the time of broadcast didn’t help ratings either.) Ironically, Sarah did get her own spinoff, with K-9 in the opening episode, premiering 26 years and 4 days after K-9 & Company. (For those wondering: K-9 & Company was to have been the series title, while A Girl’s Best Friend was the name of this particular episode; it’s worth noting that in their book “Doctor Who: The Eighties,” authors David J. Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker reveal that only Nathan-Turner was envisaging a full series, something which his superiors at the BBC had not seriously discussed at the time.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Earth: Final Conflict Season 1

Scorpion’s Dream

Earth: Final ConflictWhen the Companions shut down a research project investigating early breeds of the sentient Taelon Skrill weapons, the lead researcher is vastly disappointed – but when one of the Skrills bonds with him and begins to alter his thought processes to preserve its own life, Boone tries to track him down. However, the Taelons have also sent Sandoval to find the fugitive researcher with orders to kill him before he can learn any more about the living weapon.

written by Harry “Doc” Kloor
directed by Ken Girotti
music by Micky Erbe & Maribeth Solomon

Guest Cast: Jonathan Potts (Larry Clark), Claudette Mink (Janice), Sugith Varughese (Dr. Basi), Joe Roncetti (Nickel), Ken Girotti (Security Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Deep Space Nine Season 06 Star Trek

The Magnificent Ferengi

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate not given: The Grand Nagus contacts Quark with the news that Quark’s mother Ishka has been captured by the Dominion; Zek offers Quark 50 bars of latinum to rescue her. Quark, who wants to prove that Ferengi can be as heroic as anyone else, puts together a team consisting of himself, Rom, Nog, Leck, Gaila, and Brunt. They are hopeless as commandos, so Sisko arranges a prisoner exchange: Starfleet lets the Ferengi trade Keevan, a Vorta POW, for Ishka. But will Quark and his team survive long enough to make the exchange and save Moogie?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler
directed by Chip Chalmers
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Jeffrey Combs (Brunt), Max Grodenchik (Rom), Aron Eisenberg (Nog), Cecily Adams (Ishka), Josh Pais (Gaila), Christopher Shea (Keevan), Hamilton Camp (Leck), Chase Masterson (Leeta), Iggy Pop (Yelgrun)

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover

Categories
6th Doctor

The One Doctor

Doctor Who: The One DoctorThe Doctor reluctantly answers a distress call from the planet Generios (in the Generios system, which is nestled away quietly in the constellation of Generios). When he arrives, though, he finds he’s surplus to requirements – the people of Generios are celebrating their victory over the evil Skelloids, a victory they say was engineered by that legendary time traveler known as the Doctor! Mel chalks it up to one of the Doctor’s other incarnations, but the Doctor isn’t so sure. When he runs into the man the people of Generios have hailed as a hero, the Doctor is even more certain that this man isn’t one of his future selves – this “Doctor” travels around the universe in what is essentially a transmat disguised as a Porta-Loo, and generally being far too chummy with his buxom sidekick Sally Anne. But when a new alien menace threatens to destroy Generios – this time decidedly more real than the fake Doctor’s equally fake holographically-projected Skelloid invasion – the planet must look to the Doctor (the real Doctor) for help.

Order this CDwritten by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman
directed by Gary Russell
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Melanie), Christopher Biggins (Banto Zame), Claire Buckfield (Sally-Ann Stubbins), Stephen Fewell (Councillor Potikol / Assembler 2), Nicholas Pegg (Citizen Sokkery / Mentos), Jane Goddard (The Questioner), Adam Buxton (Assembler 1), Matt Lucas (Jelloid), Mark Wright (Guard)

Timeline: after The Trial Of A Time Lord and before The Juggernauts

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Jeremiah Season 2

The Face In The Mirror

JeremiahHis name is Frederick Monash, and he’s a survivor of the Big Death. He’s on the run from Daniel’s forces, and he’s trying to reach the resistance, but has to go into hiding just before he can meet with them. Jeremiah’s father knew him, at Valhalla Sector, when he was working on a top-secret plan called Project Backfire, designed to keep Valhalla Sector’s more militant leaders from grabbing too much power – but no one ever knew if he lived long enough in the outside world to set that plan into motion. Monash’s mission was to create a new government that would challenge Valhalla Sector’s secretive tactics, and if a leader couldn’t be found to lead that new society, one would be invented. But somewhere along the way, Project Backfire lived up to its name and became even more vicious than Valhalla Sector itself, and its leader is indeed the one Monash dreamed up – and his name is Daniel.

Order the DVDsstory by Sara (Samm) Barnes and J. Michael Straczynski
teleplay by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Sean Astin
music by Tim Truman

Guest Cast: Peter Stebbings (Marcus), Francoise Yip (Rachel), Leila Arcieri (Crystal), Robert Wisden (Devon), Matthew Walker (Frederick Monash), John Pyper-Ferguson (Sims), James Upton (Aide), Trever Havixbeck (Driver), Michael Jonsson (Driver), Kimani Ray Smith (Traveler), Leanne Adachi (Traveler), Linden Banks (Scientist), Judith Maxie (Scott), Larry Musser (Warren)

Appearing in footage from Letters From The Other Side and Crossing Jordan: Joanne Kelly (Libby)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who

Other Lives

Doctor Who: Other LivesThe TARDIS brings the Doctor, C’rizz and Charley to Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851, but when the blue box in the Crystal Palace begins to attract too much attention, C’rizz and Charley leave it unattended so they can find the Doctor and make their escape again. What they don’t count on is the pair of French diplomats who stumble into the time machine and accidentally activate it, leaving the time travelers stranded. The Doctor finds a woman latching onto him in the mistaken belief that he is her missing explorer husband, while C’rizz falls afoul of the owner of a freakshow. Charley tries to seek the help of the Duke of Wellington, only to find that he needs her help to impersonate one of the missing French diplomats…and possible avert a war in the process! And while the time travelers each assume these new and unlikely roles, they wonder if the TARDIS will make its way back to Hyde Park in their lifetimes…

Order this CD written by Gary Hopkins
directed by Gary Russell
music by David Darlington

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard), Conrad Westmaas (C’rizz), Ron Moody (The Duke of Wellington), Michael Hobbs (Mr. Fazackerly), Mike Holloway (Jacob Crackles), Peter Howe (Maxi), Francesca Hunt (Georgina Marlow), Maitland Chandler (Rufus Dimplesqueeze)

Timeline: after Scaredy Cat and before Time Works

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Audio Dramas Blake's 7 New Series - Main

Traitor

Blake's 7: TraitorNow with Vila and Gan aboard the ship, Blake turns his attention once more to gaining control of his new transport – which means he has to trust Avon, who may or may not be trying to gain control of the alien ship for himself. As Gan and Vila explore the depths of the ship, no doubt seeking treasures worthy of plundering, they stumble upon one of the control core areas for the ship’s computer, and Gan is ensnared in the ship’s organic machinery. The ship, which is seeking candidates for a replacement crew, scans Gan’s mind to learn the identities of Blake, Jenna and the others, but still finds only sketchy information and sets itself on a course to collide with a star. Avon tries to reason with the computer, while Mezin takes advantage of the chaos to try to signal a Federation ship for help, an act of desperation which instantly loses her crewmates’ trust. The alien ship blows the Federation scout away – but not before forcibly extracting information on Blake and the others from the scout ship’s database. Even as the ship’s sentient computer repeatedly demands that Blake and his fellow fugitives must submit themselves to an initiation procedure, Avon warns that they may be dealing with an unstable mind at the heart of the ship. Jenna suggests an old smuggling haven of hers for a temporary hideout, but when they arrive, they discover that the Federation has razed the planet’s entire civlization to the ground. Blake decides to drop Mezin off there, but when she sees what has been done by the government to whom she has pledged her loyalty, the Federation officer starts to come around. Christened the Liberator, Blake’s alien ship decides that it needs to refuel – and the supply depot at a heavily populated Federation colony becomes its first target, despite the crew’s wishes. The resulting “attack” now puts the ship and its crew somewhat higher on the priority list for Supreme Commander Servalan and Travis.

Order this story on CDwritten by Marc Platt
directed by Andrew Mark Sewell
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Derek Riddell (Roj Blake), Colin Salmon (Kerr Avon), Carrie Dobro (Jenna Stannis), Dean Harris (Vila Restal), Owen Aaronovitch (Oleg Gan), India Fisher (Lora Mezin), Daniela Nardini (Servalan), Craig Kelly (Travis), Rula Lenska (Dr. Ruth Ashaya), Jake Maskall (Lt. Jorge Garcia), Alistair Lock (Derelict Ship voices), Jonathan Redwin (Cassim Rafat), Kevin Jon Davies (Councillor Adrius Singh), William Johnston (Police Scout), Barbara Joslyn (Control), Jonathan Rhodes (Prosecutor), Andy Thomas (Refinery)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
5th Doctor Doctor Who

Plague Of The Daleks

Doctor WhoFlung forward in the time bubble, the Doctor and Nyssa once again find themselves in Stockbridge, though the jumble of artifacts from different points in the village’s history points toward the far future. The village’s residents are recreated as barely-intelligent clones, and guided tours through representations of the village’s four seasons take place at regular intervals. The operators of the Stockbridge attraction mistake the Docotr and Nyssa for members of the trust that determines the funding received by the village. An unexpected rainstorm, not programmed into the climate control system governing Stockbridge’s weather, turns anyone touched by its acidic raindrops into shambling, zombie-like creatures with no trace of human memory. And lurking beneath it all, laying in wait for their old enemy who has returned to Stockbridge time and again, are the Daleks. They have waited for centuries for the Doctor’s next visit to the village, and time has come to spring their trap.

Order this CDwritten by Mark Morris
directed by Barnaby Edwards
music by Steve Foxon

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Keith Barron (Isaac Barclay), Liza Tarbuck (Lysette Barclay), Richenda Carey (Alexis Linfoot), Barry McCarthy (Vincent Linfoot), Richard Cordery (Professor Rinxo Jabbery), Susan Brown (Mrs. Withers / Mrs. Sowerby / Computer Voice), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks / Cricketer / Dobson)

Notes: Keith Barron previously guest starred as Captain Striker in the Davison-era television story Enlightenment. Liza Tarbuck voiced a character in the 2007 animated Doctor Who story The Infinite Quest. The reference to “the tides of time” drops the name of the first Doctor Who Weekly comic strip starring the fifth Doctor, and the first to feature events set in Stockbridge. The Daleks again deploy a meants of controlling the minds of humans/humanoids that they’ve captured, though the means of this control appear to be closer to those depicted in The Curse Of Davros and Asylum Of The Daleks than to the use of clunky Robomen in The Dalek Invasion Of Earth.

Timeline: between The Eternal Summer and The Demons Of Red Lodge and Other Stores

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
5th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Demons Of Red Lodge and Other Stories

Doctor WhoThe Demons Of Red Lodge: The Doctor and Nyssa awaken in the dark, surrounded by creatures that almost certainly mean them harm. Even the Doctor has to fight down a panic response to find a way out of the situation, until the time travelers encounter a seemingly friendly face who offers them shelter. They quickly discover the truth: they’re now locked in with something even worse.

The Entropy Composition: The Doctor, sensing that Nyssa is missing pleasant reminders of her home planet, takes her to the vast archives of recorded music on the planet Conchordia. But before they can explore the history of Traken’s music, they encounter another piece of music, a wall of sound capable of ripping living matter apart. The Doctor must track it back to its origins as a lost prog rock opus created under alien influence.

Doing Time: The Doctor, thanks to his suspicious use of the alias “John Smith”, is sentenced to serve time in a prison facility whose governor has loftier political ambitions. The Doctor came here to warn of a devastation explosion a few months into the future; he’s horrified when the prison’s corrupt governor decides to ensure that the explosion happens as part of an arranged election year publicity stunt.

Special Features: Recording commences on a DVD commentary for an early ’70s horror film, with two of the troubled movie’s surviving cast members, its director, and historical advisor Doctor John Smith in attendance. The movie is a heavily fictionalized chronicle of a legendary haunting at Red Lodge. Two of those participating in the commentary were there to witness the actual events: the creature who inhabited helpless victims to ensure its survival, and the Time Lord who tried to stop it. Their battle is not finished until the end credits roll.

Order this CDThe Demons Of Red Lodge written by Jason Arnopp
The Entropy Composition written by Rick Briggs
Doing Time written by William Gallagher
Special Features written by John Dorney
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Richard Fox & Lauren Yason

The Demons Of Red Lodge Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Susan Kyd (Emily Cobham / Ivy Cobham), Duncan Wisbey (Villager), John Dorney (Villager)

The Entropy Composition Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Andree Bernard (Erisi), Ian Brooker (Naloom), Joanna Munro (Mrs. Moloney), James Fleet (Geoff Cooper)

Doing Time Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), John Dorney (Janson Hart), Susan Kyd (Governor Chaplin), Duncan Wisbey (Dask / Judge / Jabreth / Hobbling Pete)

Special Features Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), James Fleet (Martin Ashcroft / Sir Jack Merrivale), Ian Brooker (Professor Bromley / Narrator), Joanna Munro (Johanna Bourke / Carlotta), John Dorney (Mr. Pinfield / Yokel / Running Man / Carriage Driver)

Notes: In The Entropy Composition, the Doctor and Nyssa discuss primal acoustic echoes of the creation of the universe, also known as “the music of the spheres.” That also happens to be the title of a humorous short starring David Tennant as the tenth Doctor, shown live to an audience at the BBC Proms Doctor Who concert in 2008, and while your mileage may vary as to whether the Tennant short (or, indeed, this audio) are “canon”, the may both involve the same “music of the spheres.” The single-episode story Special Features required multiple scripts and recording sessions: one for the sound and dialogue of the “movie” running in the background throughout the story, and one for the foreground story involving the Doctor, resulting in what was considered one of the most complex productions Big Finish had ever assembled at the time of its release.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green