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Earl Green is the creator, curator, and head writer of theLogBook.com.
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4th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Serpent Crest Part 2: The Broken Crown

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey, with the Skishtari egg in hand, escape back to Earth through a wormhole, and they arrive in the village of Hexford… over a century early. Nest Cottage, and the Doctor’s equipment there, do not exist. Worse yet, Alexander, Booln and the egg have vanished without a trace. Something is causing the residents of 19th century Hexford to vanish, and naturally the newly arrived time travelers quickly rise to the top of the list of suspected causes for the disappearances. When she meets Mr. Bewley and his young charge, a boy named Andrew who never takes off his mask, Mrs. Wibbsey realizes that both Boolin and Alexander did arrive, and their memories of their true identities have been lost as a result of crashing down to Earth. Worse yet, “Andrew” is harnessing the power of the Skishtari egg to bring his imagination to life, often for unsavory reasons. Has the Robotov Empire’s future ruler developed a murderously cruel streak in exile?

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

Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Susan Jameson (Mrs. Wibbsey), Terrence Hardiman (Reverend Dobbs), Joanna David (Mrs. Audley), Guy Harvey (Andrew), Simon Shepherd (Mr. Bewley), Charlie Mitchell (Jake), Elinor Coleman (Sally), Geoff Leesley (Harold), Su Douglas (The Cook)

Notes: Guest star Michael Jayston appears in a role unrelated to his infamous recurring Doctor Who character, the Valeyard (from the 1986 Trial Of A Time Lord season). Sam Hoare went on to appear as Doctor Who floor manager (and future director) Douglas Camfield in the 2013 docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time. The Doctor says he appeared in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

Timeline: moments after Sepulchre and before The Broken Crown; prior to The Ribos Operation

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Phase II / New Voyages Star Trek Fan Films

No Win Scenario

Star Trek: Phase II

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

Stardate not given: Klingon Captain Kargh gathers his allies at a less-than-obvious location to lay out his final plans for an assault on Federation territory which will result in the deaths of millions of humans, a crippling blow to Starfleet’s morale and Federation security. But as far ahead as Kargh believes he has planned, someone else has outplanned him and is listening in.

Watch Itwritten by Erik Korngold
directed by Erik J. Goodrich
music by Fred Steiner

Cast: John Carrigan (Kargh), Anne Carrigan (Le’ak), James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Paul R. Sieber (Klingon Ops), Larry Nemecek (Tellarite Grolst), Jeff Quinn (Mr. Spock), Julienne Irons (Lt. Uhura), Jeff Mailhotte (Klingon), Kent Schmidt (Klingon), Chris Lunderman (Klingon), Tanveer Naseer (Klingon), Mark Strock (Klingon), Jay Storey (Lt. Kyle), Andy Bray (Chekov)

Star Trek Phase IINotes: Originally filmed in 2005 along with the already-released vignette Center Seat and other vignettes still not released to this day (Change Of Command and Auld Lang Syne), the raw footage shot for No Win Scenario was misplaced until actor John “Kargh” Carrigan provided his own copy and secretly edited and post-produced it himself, with FX provided by Tobias Richter of The Light Works (who also provided CGI FX for Enemy: Starfleet!). The completed episode was presented to Phase II star and showrunner James Cawley as a surprise, and was made available on October 8th, 2011 – 7 years to the day after the release of the first New Voyages episode, Come What May. As such, this episode is shot in letterboxed standard-definition video and features many actors who have not participated in Phase II’s more recent releases. It is still unknown if or when the other previously-shot vignettes may be released, especially since every Phase II production since World Enough And Time has been filmed in HD.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Season 5

The Curse Of Clyde Langer – Part 1

The Sarah Jane AdventuresClyde and Rani’s school day – and Sarah’s attempt to enroll Sky in their school – is brought to a standstill when fish begin raining from the sky. Mr. Smith suggests a connection between the unusual storm and a Mojave totem pole on display at a nearby museum – a totem whose discovery was also associated with raining fish. Clyde touches the totem pole and gets a splinter in his finger. The next day, his friends begin turning against him and telling him to get out of their sight – anyone exposed to the sight or sound of Clyde’s name suddenly hates him. Even his own mother kicks him out of his house. In the space of one day, Clyde has gone from alien hunter and budding artist to homeless.

Get the DVDwritten by Phil Ford
directed by Ashley Way
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Sinead Michael (Sky), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Lily Sarah Jane AdventuresLoveless (Ellie), Jocelyn Jee Esien (Carla Langer), Sara Houghton (Doctor Madigan), Elijah Baker (Steve Wallace), Anwar Lynch (Security Guard)

Notes: Clyde’s perusal of a book about the French Revolution is a gag that goes all the way back to the very first Doctor Who episode, in which the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan was seen reading a similar book. (In 1988’s 25th anniversary story Remembrance Of The Daleks, Ace was seen glancing at a similar book – possibly the same one, since both stories took place at Coal Hill School.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 5

The Curse Of Clyde Langer – Part 2

The Sarah Jane AdventuresLed to shelter by a homeless girl, Clyde is a man without a home, a family, or friends. Determined to survive, he has to learn the ways of life on the streets fast. Sarah and Rani still can’t say his name without feeling a sudden, inexplicable rage, but Sky seems completely unaffected. Sky finally works up the courage to set Mr. Smith to the task of solving the curse, but he discovers that the “curse” is actually a cover for an alien being trying to gain a foothold on Earth. Thanks to the splinter that’s still in hs finger, Clyde holds the key to stopping this alien invasion… but how can anyone ask him for his help when they can’t bear to say his name?

Get the DVDwritten by Phil Ford
directed by Ashley Way
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Sarah Jane AdventuresCast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Sinead Michael (Sky), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Lily Loveless (Ellie), Jocelyn Jee Esien (Carla Langer), Sara Houghton (Doctor Madigan), Angela Pleasance (Mystic Mags), Ewart James Jones (Max)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 5

The Man Who Never Was – Part 1

The Sarah Jane AdventuresLuke is coming home from college, and it’ll be the first time he’s met Sky since Sarah adopted her. Sarah’s been invited to a sneak preview of the soon-to-be-launched SerfBoard personal computer, and takes Luke and Sky with her so they can get to know each other. But both of them notice something else: Serf “glitches,” a telltale sign of a hologram. Sarah manages to land an exclusive interview with Serf, and begins asking awkward questions, producing the expected result: whoever is controlling the hologram of Serf can’t keep up with the unusual line of questioning. But Serf isn’t the real threat, and he’s not in charge of Serf Systems. Who’s pulling the strings, and what secrets lie inside the SerfBoard that’ll soon be in the hands of millions?

Get the DVDwritten by Gareth Roberts
directed by Joss Agnew
music by Sam & Dan Watts

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Sinead Michael (Sky), James Sarah Jane AdventuresDreyfus (Harrison), Mark Aiken (Serf), Edyta Budnik (Adriana), Peter Bowles (Lionel Carson), Dan Starkey (Plark), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith)

Notes: While Serf’s name is a play on Vint Cerf, one of the computer scientists instrumental in the creation and development of the internet, the character of Serf seems to be largely based on Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs, who died mere days before this story’s premiere. (The iPad-like SerfBoard and its carefully orchestrated PR rollout are also storngly reminiscent of Jobs’ meticulously stage-managed 2010 introduction of the iPad, and the jab at Serf’s payment and treatment of its labor force is also clearly aimed at Apple.) Serf is played by Irish-born actor Mark Aiken, who’s been busy on both sides of the Atlantic, appearing in 24, Charmed, Alias, CSI and MI-5.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 5

The Man Who Never Was – Part 2

The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe real power behind Serf has been revealed: the hologram of the long-dead computer tycoon is being generated by enslaved aliens, at the behest of Serf’s former business partner. Desperate to keep the truth from getting out, he locks up Sarah, Sky and Luke, and threatens the alien minions trapped in the bowels of the Serf Systems building. After receiving a message from Luke, Clyde and Rani go undercover to get into Serf’s building to rescue Sarah and the others. Sarah finds that others have been detained in order to keep Serf’s illusion a secret, and helps to free them as well. But can the plot be exposed before Serf’s hypnotic hologram persuades the public to buy a SerfBoard for every home?

Get the DVDwritten by Gareth Roberts
directed by Joss Agnew
music by Sam & Dan Watts

Sarah Jane AdventuresCast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Sinead Michael (Sky), James Dreyfus (Harrison), Mark Aiken (Serf), Edyta Budnik (Adriana), Peter Bowles (Lionel Carson), Dan Starkey (Plark), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Jason Mohammad (Newsreader)

Notes: The was the final episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures produced before production was halted due to Elisabeth Sladen’s health. She died on April 19th after a lengthy battle with cancer, and the three two-part stories already “in the can” for the fifth season were completed and aired in October of that year, Sarah Jane Adventureswrapping up the series. A special montage covering the entire series was added to the end of The Man Who Never Was. With no new season of Torchwood commissioned following Miracle Day, the end of The Sarah Jane Adventures also marks the end of Russell T. Davies’ involvement in the Doctor Who universe.

Guest star Dan Starkey is better known as the actor most frequently engaged to play Sontaran roles in both Sarah Jane Adventures and the new Doctor Who; he has also begun providing Sontaran voices for Big Finish Productions’ Doctor Who audio stories. Alexander Armstrong, the voice of Sarah’s sentient computer Mr. Smith, would go on to appear (in person for once!) in the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas special.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Silver Turk

Doctor WhoThe Doctor brings Mary Shelley to the great exhibition at Vienna in 1873, where he learns that the legendary chess-playing Mechanical Turk is still operating. When he and Mary go to see it, however, the Doctor is appalled to discover that the Turk is actually a severely damaged Mondasian Cyberman. Its “inventor”, a man who performed a repair job that makes Mondasian spare part surgery look elegant by comparison, meets any challenge to the “Turk”‘s legitimacy with extreme hostility, and naturally he and the Doctor quickly find themselves at odds with each other. The Doctor also correctly deduces that a second Cyberman is present on Earth, and Mary finds that a rival inventor has that Cyberman in his possession. If even one of the injured Cybermen can recharge enough to regain full strength, the future of all life on Earth is in jeopardy… so naturally, the Cyberman is lucky enough to speak to a writer of fanciful stories whose imagination can conjure up such ideas as reviving a dead man with lightning.

Order this CD written by Marc Platt
directed by Barnaby Edwards
music by Jamie Robertson

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Julie Cox (Mary Shelley), Gareth Armstrong (Dr. Johan Drossel), Christian Brassington (Alfred Stahlbaum), David Schneider (Ernst Bratfisch), Gwilym Lee (Count Rolf Wittenmeier), Claire Wyatt (Countess Mitzi Wittenmeier), Nicholas Briggs (Cybermen)

Notes: The Cybermen in The Silver Turk are apparently the first Mondasians to discover Earth since Cyber-conversion changed life on Mondas forever. However, the Doctor stops them from transmitting their findings back to Mondas, presumably delaying their discovery and any potential invasion plans until 1986 (The Tenth Planet). This is only the second time that Mondasian Cybermen have featured in a Big Finish Doctor Who story; the first was in Spare Parts, also written by Marc Platt.

Timeline: after Mary’s Story (part 4 of Company Of Friends) and before Storm Warning

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
4th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Serpent Crest Part 3: Aladdin Time

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey find themselves locked into a room with vast amounts of treasure, and not nearly enough air to breathe – a tomb fit for a king. A young boy, who identifies himself as Aladdin, manages to find a way into the room and leads his two new friends out of the tomb to safety. The Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey know “Aladdin” as Alexander, heir to the throne of the Robotov Empire, but the Doctor thinks it best not to reveal the boy’s true identity to him. As the time travelers follow their guide through an increasingly improbable series of adventures, including an encounter with a serpentine creature which is actually his scarf, the Doctor realizes that this isn’t reality, but is instead the illusory world inside the Skishtari egg. He sets about trying to deconstruct that illusion, but he must ensure that he, Alexander and Mrs. Wibbsey can escape it before it collapses.

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

Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Susan Jameson (Mrs. Wibbsey), Guy Harvey (Aladdin), Sophie Ward (Storyteller), Terrence Hardiman (Gryphon), Andrew Sachs (Scarf), Simon Shepherd (Magician), Su Douglas (Toad)

Timeline: after The Broken Crown and before The Hexford Invasion; prior to The Ribos Operation

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Specials

2011 Children In Need Special

Doctor WhoThe Doctor, in trying to draw attention toward a worthy cause, offers the shirt off of his back, as well as a few things he wears on his front. The problem now is how to get back to the TARDIS without anyone seeing that he’s just given up his clothes.

written by Steven Moffat
directed by Richard Senior
music by Murray Gold

Cast: Matt Smith (The Doctor)

Doctor WhoNotes: Written by Steven Moffat and shot at BBC Television Centre in London mere days before air, this brief (exactly two minutes) scene was part of the BBC’s annual Children In Need charity event, of which Doctor Who has been a part for years (Dimensions In Time, the 2005 special scene, Time Crash). This was the first time Doctor Who had been before the cameras at Television Centre since the production of the Sylvester McCoy story Ghost Light wrapped in 1989. Following the short skit was a trailer for the 2011 Christmas episode The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Witch From The Well

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS brings the Doctor and Mary to an English village where it is said that a witch haunts the unwary. Skeptical of this story, the Doctor investigates and discovers that an alien being has inhabited the body of an elderly woman – the one now regarded as a witch – and holds the village in her thrall. And if that’s not bad enough, the presence of the “witch” has given rise to religious zealotry that is as much of a threat to the people of the village (and the time travelers) as the alien being. The Doctor and Mary have to deal with threats from beyond Earth and with more Earthbound superstition.

Order this CD written by Rick Briggs
directed by Barnaby Edwards
music by Steve Foxon

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Julie Cox (Mary Shelley), Simon Rouse (Master John Kincaid), Andrew Havill (Aleister Portillon / Squire Claude Portillon), Serena Evans (Agnes Bates), Lisa Kay (Beatrix), Alix Wilton Regan (Finicia), Kevin Trainor (Lucern / Cornet Swallow)

Timeline: after The Silver Turk and before Army Of Death and Storm Warning

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Black Mirror Season 1

The National Anthem

Black MirrorA member of the Royal Family is kidnapped, and a YouTube video demands that the Prime Minister perform a degrading act on live television to secure her release…or the next video will likely be that of her death. With mere hours before the deadline, the Prime Minister and his staff try to explore numerous avenues of at least appearing to comply with the demand, including backup plans that backfire when word gets out from a bystander on social media. Time is running out, and throughout 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Michael Callow and his aides concentrate on the issue most important to them during this crisis: the poll numbers.

Get the DVDswritten by Charlie Brooker
directed by Otto Bathurst
music by Martin Phipps

Black MirrorCast: Rory Kinnear (Michael Callow), Lindsay Duncan (Alex Cairns), Donald Sumpter (Julian Hereford), Tom Goodman-Hill (Tom Bilce), Anna Wilson-Jones (Jane Callow), Patrick Kennedy (Section Chief Walker), Alastair Mackenzie (Martin), Chetna Pandya (Malaika), Alex MacQueen (Special Agent Callett), Jay Simpson (Rod Senseless), Helen Fospero (Lucinda Towne), Lydia Wilson (Princess Susannah), Sophie Kennedy Clark (Lauren), Andrew Knott (Brian), Allen Leech (Pike), Johann Myers (Noel), Sophie Wu (Jamie), Rakie Ayola (Shelly), Amit Shah (Jack), Nick Hendrix (Andrew), Justin Edwards (Jon), Jeany Spark (Camilla), Aymen Hamdouchi (Kieran), Julian Rivett (Damon Brown), Jonathan Forbes Black Mirror(Browne), Madeliene Bowyer (Sonia), Jeffry Wickham (Sir Harold Mount), Shazad Latif (Mehdi Raboud), Eleanor Wyld (Young Actress), Wolf Wasserman (Spark), Mickell David (Son), Dominic Le Mougnan (Prince)

Note: Shazad Latif would, several years later, take on the role of Ash Tyler in Star Trek: Discovery. (The plot details of this episode have been significantly watered down in the above synopsis; suffice to say, Black Mirror isn’t for kids.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
4th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Serpent Crest Part 4: The Hexford Invasion

Doctor WhoMrs. Wibbsey has returned to her relatively humdrum life caring for Nest Cottage and its grounds, and it has been months since the Doctor left in the TARDIS to return Alexander and Boolin to their home planet to fulfill their destinites. So it comes as something of a shock when Mike Yates – back in uniform – and UNIT come knocking on the door, insisting upon setting up shop at Nest Cottage. Mike says that the Doctor will explain everything, but the short, whimsical, recorder-playing man who shows up is as far from the Doctor as anyone Mrs. Wibbsey could imagine. Furthermore, she’s convinced that this new Doctor is up to no good, and is unable to convince anyone of this. But things change when an enormous alien spacecraft appears in the sky, and then the TARDIS materializes and “her” Doctor steps out of it. Unable to remember some of his second incarnation’s exploits, for once, the Doctor isn’t sure if his earlier self is on the side of right or not. But when the entire village of Hexford is ripped out of the ground and taken away from Earth, the Doctor realizes that he may have to fight his younger self to get it back.

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

Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Susan Jameson (Mrs. Wibbsey), David Troughton (The Visitor), Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Cornelius Garrett (Reverend Tonge), Nerys Hughes (Deirdre), Joanna Tope (Tish)

Notes: David Troughton is one of the late Patrick Troughton’s sons, and has appeared in television Doctor Who before (The Curse Of Peladon, Midnight). The second Doctor makes references to the Yeti and the Great Intelligence (The Web Of Fear) and the Cybermen in the London sewer system (The Invasion).

Timeline: several months after Aladdin Time and before Survivors In Space; prior to The Ribos Operation

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
4th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Serpent Crest Part 5: Survivors In Space

Doctor WhoThe entire village of Hexford, buildings and all including Nest Cottage, has been ripped out of the Earth and transported to the rebel moon by a huge Skishtari spacecraft. For three months, Mike Yates has been struggling to keep the peace among the residents of Hexford as their food supply dwindles and they have to make do without electricity or any other artificial energy source. The second Doctor continues to make attempts to signal the outside universe for help – or so he says. The fourth Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey arrive in the TARDIS, but the Doctor insists that it isn’t as simple as just taking the residents of Hexford back to Earth in his time machine. He wants to know what his younger self’s part is in these events, and he already has a hunch that it hasn’t been trying to send distress signals for months. But when robots converge on the dome protecting Hexford from an uninhabitable moon begin to take over the village, help will still have to come from outside, perhaps from a source whose life the Doctor has saved in the past.

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

Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Susan Jameson (Mrs. Wibbsey), David Troughton (The Visitor), Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Cornelius Garrett (Reverend Tonge), Nerys Hughes (Deirdre), Joanna Tope (Tish), Sam Hoare (Lucius), Paddy Wallace (The Tsar)

Notes: Mrs. Wibbsey says that months of adventures in the TARDIS occurred between the taking of Hexford and the Doctor’s arrival there (possibly leaving the door open to further fourth Doctor/Wibbsey adventures from either the BBC or perhaps Big Finish). The cover art gracing both this release and The Hexford Invasion is based on the visual style of British comic illustrator Frank Bellamy, whose dynamic illustrations graced Doctor Who listings in the Radio Times in the early 1970s and were later collected in the art book “Timeview: The Complete Doctor Who Illustrations Of Frank Bellamy”. This was the final AudioGo fourth Doctor adventure before Tom Baker’s first “season” of Big Finish adventures began early in 2012.

Timeline: after The Hexford Invasion and prior to The Ribos Operation

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Black Mirror Season 1

Fifteen Million Merits

Black MirrorBing Madsen wakes up in his tiny room every day; every wall is a screen, and like everyone else, he’s bombarded with constant entertainment. But also like everyone else, he can’t just stay in his room – it’s off to the gym to put in a full day on a stationary bike, the kinetic energy from which everyone’s electronic life is powered. Those who can’t or won’t spend their days in the gym are clad in yellow, relegated to menial work, and ridiculed throughout society. Bing, however, puts in his gym time, and it’s there that he meets Abi, with whom he’s immediately smitten. Upon hearing her sing, he’s entranced, and offers to spend the majority of the credits he’s built up working in the gym to buy her a ticket to compete on Hot Shots, a reality show that has made stars of so many others. The ticket is more expensive than he realizes, and he effectively zeroes out his account to make good on the promise, but he does give her a ticket and accompanies her to the live broadcast, whose judges are ready to make her a star…but not in the way that she hoped or imagined. But, presented with the choice of returning to pedaling the stationary bike day in and day out, or giving herself over to a more tawdry life of stardom than she bargained for, she does indeed make a choice. Now Bing is determined to come up with enough money – again – to buy another Hot Shots ticket, but this time so he can send society a message.

Get the DVDswritten by Charlie Brooker and Kanak Huq
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Stephen McKeon

Black MirrorCast: Daniel Kaluuya (Bing), Jessica Brown Findlay (Abi), Rupert Everett (Judge Hope), Julia Davis (Judge Charity), Ashley Thomas (Judge Wraith), Paul Popplewell (Dustin), Isabella Laughland (Swift), David Fynn (Oliver), Colin Carmichael (Kai), Hannah John-Kamen (Selma Telse), Kerrie Hayes (Glee), Eugene O’Hare (Hammond), Jaimi Barbakoff (Anna), Merce Ribot (Big Shot Registration Lady), Matthew Burgess (Botherguts Host), Laura Power (Interviewer), Matt Stokoe (Guard)

Note: Hannah John-Kamen would appear in a later episode of Black Mirror (Playtest) in a much more substantial role.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
StarHyke

Disordered

StarHykeIn the year 3034, humanity has eliminated emotions and irrationality, and has set out to rid the universe of other species who refuse to similarly quash their emotions. The human fleet, led by Captain Belinda Blowhard of the Dreadnaught Nemesis, fights a pitched battle against the Reptids that doesn’t go well. A new tactic is devised: the Nemesis will warp back in time to eliminate the Reptid threat before it spreads. A Reptid saboteur breaks into the Nemesis during the time warp and unleashes a secret weapon, restoring the crew’s surgically-removed emotions and depositing the Nemesis in Earth orbit in the early 21st century.

As members of the Nemesis crew visit Earth’s surface, trying to remain incognito as they look for signs of Reptid interference in Earth’s past, the ship’s doctor finds that the Nemesis crew’s emotions are being restored and amplified by a viral weapon unleashed by the Reptid. Unless an antidote is found, the crew will revert to a primitive lack of any control over their own urges.

Order this series on DVDwritten by Andrew Dymond, Jonathan G. Brown and Ian Winter
directed by Andrew Dymond
music by Anthony Brisco and Alan Deacon

Cast: Claudia Christian (Captain Belinda Blowhard), Suanne Braun (Dotty), Brad Gorton (Commander Cropper), Rachel Grant (Wu Oof), Stephanie Jory (Sally Popyatopov), Wayne Pilbeam (Bull Ox), Gene Foad (SERCH), Sue Witheridge (Daphne), Simon Lewis (Reg), Fiona Reynard (Vilma), Jason Bailey (Christian), Simon Gilvear (Reptid), Rebecca Nichols (Nurse Beach), Jeremy Bulloch (Dr. Striker), Danny John-Jules (Admiral Lenovo), Anneli Bird (Human), Chris Howard (Human), Keiran McGreevy (Ensign Hole), Kate Naughton (Human)

StarhykeNotes: The episode is dedicated to the memory of actor Michael Sheard. All six episodes of Starhyke were released direct-to-DVD in 2009, but finally appeared on the UK satellite channel Showcase TV in 2011. The entire series was produced “on spec” without a specific broadcaster lined up to show it – an expensive gamble in television terms, especially for a show with the production requirements of a science fiction series. Claudia Christian starred as Commander Susan Ivanova in the first four seasons of Babylon 5, while Jeremy Bulloch is best known for his appearances as Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. Danny John-Jules, who starred as Cat in Red Dwarf, makes a one-off cameo here. Suanne Braun appeared in numerous episodes of Stargate SG-1 as Hathor.

LogBook entry by Earl Green