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Classic Season 21 Doctor Who

Resurrection Of The Daleks

Doctor WhoWith the TARDIS caught in a time corridor at the end of the previous story, the Doctor is surprised to find that he is being taken to some rather unremarkable London docks. His investigation into the origins of the time corridor lead him to a meeting with a group of hapless 20th century soldiers who can’t even begin to imagine the traces of technology they’ve discovered in a nearby warehouse. The Doctor’s arrival has been expected – in fact, carefully orchestrated – by the Daleks, who are in the midst of a plot that involves clones, biological warfare, and the rescue and revival of their mad creator, Davros.

Order the DVDwritten by Eric Saward
directed by Matthew Robinson
music by Malcolm Clarke

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Terry Molloy (Davros), Maurice Colbourne (Lytton), Rodney Bewes (Stien), Rula Lenska (Styles), Del Henney (Colonel Archer), Chloe Ashcroft (Professor Laird), Philip McGough (Sergeant Calder), Jim Findley (Mercer), Leslie Grantham (Kiston), Sneh Gupta (Osborn), Roger Davenport (Trooper), John Adam Baker, Linsey Turner (Crew members), William Sleigh (Galloway), Brian Miller, Royce Mills (Dalek voices), John Scott Martin, Cy Town, Tony Starr, Toby Byrne (Daleks), Nicholas Curry (Chemist), Michael Jeffries, Mike Braben (Policemen), Mike Mungarven, Simon Crane (Soldiers), Pat Judge (Man with metal detector)

Broadcast from February 8 through 15, 1984

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 21 Doctor Who

Planet of Fire

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS has been set for a new course by Kamelion, who is attempting to go to the source of a distress signal which is overriding his every function. The Doctor manages to wrest control of the ship from Kamelion and lands the TARDIS on Earth to investigate. While the Doctor finds little of importance, other than a freshly uncovered batch of artifacts from an archaeological expedition, Turlough discovers the signal’s source and immobilizes the TARDIS to avoid going there. Turlough also spots a drowning swimmer on the TARDIS scanner. He rescues the girl, discovering that she has stolen the oddest of the artifacts that the Doctor saw earlier. When the Doctor returns, the TARDIS again takes off without his control, and apparently with a new passenger on board. The mystery of the new passengers unravels quickly, as does the mystery of who has been controlling Kamelion. But why is Turlough so keen to avoid a colony from his own planet – a colony of outcasts of which he may be a member?

Order the DVDwritten by Peter Grimwade
directed by Fiona Cumming
music by Peter Howell

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Peter Wyngarde (Timanov), Barbara Shelley (Sorasta), Gerald Flood (voice of Kamelion), James Bate (Amyand), Dallas Adams (Professor Foster), Edward Highmore (Malkon), Jonathan Caplan (Roskal), John Alkin (Lomand), Michael Bangerter (Curt), Simon Sutton (Lookout), Max Arthur (Zuko), Ray Knight (Trion)

Broadcast from February 23 through March 2, 1984

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 21 Doctor Who

The Caves of Androzani

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Peri find themselves on Androzani Major, a world embroiled in a bloody war over the drug spectrox, which prolongs the human life span. While exploring some seemingly uninhabited caves, the Doctor and Peri fall into a foreign substance which has the immediate effect of causing an unpleasant rash, and are then captured by a platoon of soldiers who accuse them of smuggling weapons. While awaiting summary execution for this crime, the Doctor and Peri are then rescued – or perhaps kidnapped – by Sharaz Jek, a disfigured madman who hoards the planet’s supply of spectrox and oversees the real weapons smugglers. The soldiers, Jek, the gun-runners and a treacherous corporate mogul with an eye on the presidency are all battling for control of the spectrox supply, and none of them will let anything stand in their way – especially not two innocent bystanders who are dying anyway.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Robert Holmes
directed by Graeme Harper
music by Roger Limb

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Christopher Gable (Sharaz Jek), John Normington (Morgus), Robert Glenister (Salateen), Maurice Roeves (Stotz), Roy Holder (Krelper), Martin Cochrane (Chellak), Barbara Kinghorn (Timmin), David Neal (President), Ian Staples (Soldier), Colin Taylor (Magma creature), Keith Harvey, Andrew Smith, Stephen Smith (Androids), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Gerald Flood (voice of Kamelion)

Broadcast from March 8 through 16, 1984

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 21 Doctor Who

The Twin Dilemma

Doctor WhoThe seemingly harmless Professor Edgeworth abducts Romulus and Remus Sylvest, twin boys whose immense mathematical prowess is closely guarded for fear that it could become a powerful weapon in the wrong hands. Edgeworth’s paymaster is Mestor, the giant gastropod, who plans to have the boys calculate a way to plunge the Jacondan solar system into chaos – all for the sake of hatching thousands of giant larvae containing a future swarm of gastropods. Edgeworth is the alias of Azmael, an outcast Time Lord who is reluctantly working for Mestor, but unknown to him, a fellow Time Lord is about to come crashing into Mestor’s plan for universal domination – a Time Lord who is suffering from a severely traumatic regeneration, and whose actions and moods cannot be predicted.

Order the DVDwritten by Anthony Steven
directed by Peter Moffatt
music by Malcolm Clarke

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Maurice Denham (Edgeworth/Azmael), Kevin McNally (Hugo Lang), Edwin Richfield (Mestor), Barry Stanton (Noma), Oliver Smith (Drak), Seymour Green (Chamberlain), Paul Conrad (Romulus), Andrew Conrad (Remus), Dennis Chinnery (Sylvest), Helen Blatch (Fabian), Dione Inman (Elena), Roger Nott (Prisoner), John Wilson (Guard)

Broadcast from March 22 through 30, 1984

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 22 Doctor Who

Attack Of The Cybermen

Doctor WhoThe Doctor wanders right into a Cyberman scheme to alter their own history. When he first encountered them, the Doctor engineered the destruction of the Cybermen’s home planet in order to save Earth. Now, the Cybermen – operating from their base on Telos – plan to divert the course of Halley’s Comet circa 1985, so Earth won’t be there to interfere in Cyber-history. Left behind after the attempted Dalek invasion, Lytton is up to no good on Earth, but his attempt to curry favor with the Cybermen in exchange for a ticket off of Earth turns into a deal with the devil that he can’t survive. And on Telos itself, a pair of renegade slave laborers tries to steal a Cyberman timeship, and the original inhabitants of Telos, who cannot survive in anything but sub-zero temperatures, enlist help in their own fight against the Cybermen.

Order the DVDwritten by Paula Moore
directed by Matthew Robinson
music by Malcolm Clarke

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Maurice Colbourne (Lytton), Brian Glover (Griffiths), Terry Molloy (Russell), James Beckett (Payne), Jonathan David (Stratton), Michael Attwell (Bates), Sarah Berger (Rost), Esther Freud (Threst), Faith Brown (Flast), Sarah Greene (Varne), Stephen Churchett (Bill), Stephen Wale (David), Michael Kilgarriff (CyberController), David Banks (CyberLeader), Brian Orrell (Cyber Lieutenant), John Ainley, Roger Pope, Thomas Lucy, Ian Marshall-Fisher, Pat Gorman (Cybermen)

Broadcast from January 5 through 12, 1985

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 22 Doctor Who

Vengeance On Varos

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS stalls in deep space, drained of one of its power sources. The Doctor is able to nudge the TARDIS toward the planet Varos, the galaxy’s only known natural deposit of zeiton-7 ore. But the rightful governor of Varos is under the thumb of Sil, a sinister profitmongering alien who plans to take over Varos and strip-mine it dry with no regard for the natives of the planet. Life on Varos is so bleak that executions and elections are both broadcast publicly, and they’re not exactly two different things – anytime one of the governor’s referendums fails to meet with the approval of the public, the governor himself suffers at the mercy of a disintegration beam, and naturally it’s on the air. The Doctor and Peri arrive right in the middle of just such an execution, setting a condemned prisoner free and setting in motion a chain of events that could free Varos from Sil’s murderous business dealings.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Philip Martin
directed by Ron Jones
music by Malcolm Clarke

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Martin Jarvis (Governor), Nabil Shaban (Sil), Jason Connery (Jondar), Forbes Collins (Chief Officer), Stephen Yardley (Arak), Sheila Reid (Etta), Geraldine Alexander (Areta), Owen Teale (Maldak), Graham Cull (Bax), Nicholas Chagrin (Quillam), Hugh Martin (Priest), Keith Skinner (Rondel), Bob Tarff (Executioner), Jack McGuire, Alan Troy (Madmen)

Broadcast from January 19 through 26, 1985

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 22 Doctor Who

The Mark Of The Rani

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS is diverted to England at the dawn of the industrial revolution, a particularly sensitive point in human history that could be derailed by one careless time traveler – but in this case, there are no fewer than three careless time travelers. The Master is hatching a plot – yet again – to do away with the Doctor and destroy the Earth, while the Rani, a female Time Lord with a talent for sinister biochemical experiments, uses humans as her guinea pigs. This puts the Doctor and Peri in double jeopardy as the Master and the Rani interfere with each other’s plans, and both of the evil Time Lords couldn’t be less concerned about their effects on Earth’s development.

Order the DVDwritten by Pip Baker & Jane Baker
directed by Sarah Hellings
music by Jonathan Gibbs

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Kate O’Mara (The Rani), Terence Alexander (Lord Ravensworth), Gawn Grainger (George Stephenson), Peter Childs (Jack Ward), Gary Cady (Luke Ward), Richard Steele (Guard), William Ilkley (Tim Bass), Hus Levant (Edwin Green), Kevin White (Sam Rudge), Martyn Whitby (Drayman), Cordelia Ditton (Older Woman), Sarah James (Young Woman), Nigel Johnson (Josh), Alan Talbot (Tom)

Broadcast from February 2 through 9, 1985

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 22 Doctor Who

The Two Doctors

Doctor WhoThe second Doctor and Jamie are sent on a mission by the Time Lords to ask a team of scientists, as diplomatically as possible, to bring their time travel experiments to an end. The Doctor is unable to convince the head scientist, Dastari, to heed the Time Lords’ warnings; Dastari is far too busy admiring his own work, including his genetic “improvement” of Chessene, a savage Androgum. But Chessene’s augmentations have simply given her the ability to apply her violent primitive impulses on a grander scale – such as a collusion with the Sontarans to use the new time travel device as a weapon of conquest. The Doctor is captured by the Sontarans and taken to their secret base of operations on Earth – and his sixth incarnation will have to find him to avoid the corruption of his entire timeline.

Order the DVDwritten by Robert Holmes
directed by Peter Moffatt
music by Peter Howell

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), John Stratton (Shockeye), Jacqueline Pearce (Chessene), Laurence Payne (Dastari), James Saxon (Oscar), Carmen Gomez (Anita), Clinton Greyn (Stike), Tim Raynham (Varl), Aimee Delamain (Dona Arana), Nicholas Farcett (Technician), Laurence Payne (Computer voice), Fernando Monast (Scientist)

Broadcast from February 16 through March 2, 1985

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 22 Doctor Who

Timelash

Doctor WhoRebellion is in the air on Karfel, a planet whose native population is enslaved by the Borad – a being which used to be one of them, but has now become a horrible genetic mutant. Tyranny is not the Borad’s only gift to Karfel – he has also brought the Timelash, a device that allows political prisoners to be “executed” by dumping them into a time corridor. The Borad has also brought Karfel to the brink of war with the Bandrils, a race of peaceful hand puppets. In the midst of this bleak landscape, the Doctor and Peri arrive, and find themselves racing against time to save the Karfelons from their own esteemed leader.

Order the DVDwritten by Glen McCoy
directed by Pennant Roberts
music by Elizabeth Parker

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), JeanAnne Crowley (Vena), Eric Deacon (Mykros), Robert Ashby (The Borad), Paul Darrow (Tekker), David Chandler (Herbert), Denis Carey (Old Man), David Ashton (Kendron), Peter Robert Scott (Brunner), Dicken Ashworth (Sezom), Tracy Louise Ward (Katz), Christine Kavanaugh (Aram), Steven Mackintosh (Gazak), Dean Hollingsworth (Android), James Richardson (Guardolier), Martin Gower (Tyheer/Bandril Ambassador)

Broadcast from March 9 through 16, 1985

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 22 Doctor Who

Revelation of the Daleks

Doctor WhoThe Doctor arrives on the planet Necros, whose chief industry is funeral services, to pay his final respects to an old friend. But Necros isn’t what it used to be. It’s now run by The Great Healer – in reality, Davros, creator of the malevolent Daleks – who is using Necros as cover for his experiments to convert human beings into mindless Dalek operators. The head of the funeral industry, Kara, has hired an assassin to dispose of Davros, but her hired gun quickly realizes that he’s being paid to act as cannon fodder. The Doctor discovers that his arrival has been anticipated, but he doesn’t suspect that the Daleks are involved until he falls into their clutches.

Order the DVDwritten by Eric Saward
directed by Graeme Harper
music by Roger Limb

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Terry Molloy (Davros), Eleanor Bron (Kara), Clive Swift (Jobel), Alexei Sayle (DJ), Jenny Tomasin (Tasambeker), William Gaunt (Orcini), John Ogwen (Bostock), Stephen Flynn (Grigory), Bridget Lynch-Blosse (Natasha), Trevor Cooper (Takis), Colin Spaull (Lilt), Hugh Walters (Vogel), Alec Linstead (head of Stengos), Ken Barker (Mutant), Royce Mills, Roy Skelton (Dalek voices), Penelope Lee (Computer voice), John Scott Martin, Cy Town, Tony Starr, Toby Byrne (Daleks)

Broadcast from March 23 through 30, 1985

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Blackadder Season 2

Bells

BlackadderKate, a young woman in financial straits, disguises herself as a boy, assumes the name “Bob” and goes to London to find work. Lord Blackadder takes on “Bob” as his manservant and finds him to be excellent company. But soon things get out of hand, as Blackadder begins to find himself falling in love with “Bob”…

Season 2 Regular Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Lord Edmund Blackadder), Tim McInnerny (Lord Percy Percy), Tony Robinson (Baldrick), Miranda Richardson (Queen Elizabeth I), Stephen Fry (Lord Melchett), Patsy Byrne (Nursie)

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Gabrielle Glaister (Kate/Bob), Rik Mayall (Lord Flashheart), John Grillo (Dr. Leech), Edward Jewesbury (Kate’s Father), Barbara Miller (Wise Woman), Sadie Shimmin (Young Crone)

Season 2 Notes: Miranda Richardson’s portrayal of Queen Elizabeth brought her into the Blackadder family, leading to appearances in all later series. Best known for her dramatic work in films like The Crying Game (1992) and Tom & Viv (1994), she has also embraced fantasy roles in productions like the miniseries Merlin (1998), Alice In Wonderland (1999) and Snow White: The Fairest Of Them All (2002).

Stephen Fry was again a regular cast member for Blackadder Goes Forth and made a guest appearance in Blackadder The Third. He is perhaps best known for his work as Jeeves in the TV series Jeeves and Wooster.

Notes: Patsy Byrne’s extensive career includes appearances in such series as I, Claudius, All Creatures Great and Small, Inspector Morse and Tony Robinson’s Maid Marian and Her Merry Men.

Gabrielle Glaister would return as a “Bob” of a different sort in Blackadder Goes Forth (Major Star, Private Plane).

Rik Mayall portrays a later generation Lord Flashheart in Blackadder Goes Forth (Private Plane) and also appears in The Black Adder (The Black Seal) and Blackadder: Back & Forth.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

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Blackadder Season 2

Head

BlackadderLord Blackadder is named as the new Lord High Executioner. He decides to execute Lord Farrow two days early in order to free up his Wednesday. But Lady Farrow pleads to the Queen for a chance to see her husband before he dies. With an order from the Queen allowing her access to her husband, Lady Farrow (and the Queen) will not be happy to find his head has been cut off…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Holly de Jong (Lady Farrow), Bill Wallis (Gaoler Ploppy), Linda Polan (Mrs. Ploppy), Patrick Duncan (Earl Farrow)

Notes: Despite being clearly designated the second episode of Blackadder II, Head seems to fill the role of the series opener much better than the actual first episode, Bells. This notion is supported first by continuity issues (Percy has a beard throughout Head despite having cut it off in Bells). Next, Head spends a notable amount of time introducing the characters, while Bells seems to take them for granted. Finally, the closing song for Head mentions Blackadder’s grandfather (as portrayed in The Black Adder), again reinforcing the idea that Head was meant to be the segue into the Elizabethan era.

Bill Wallis previously appeared in The Black Adder (The Archbishop). He returns in Black Adder Goes Forth (General Hospital).

Linda Polan’s generally sparse career includes genre appearances in Gulliver In Lilliput (1982), the 1983 Patsy Kensit TV series Luna and the Doctor Who spin-off special K-9 and Company (1981).

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

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Blackadder Season 2

Potato

BlackadderSir Walter Raleigh has returned from his adventures and all of London is abuzz with excitement (except Edmund). When it becomes clear that Raleigh’s exploits have allowed him to supplant Edmund in the Queen’s favor, Edmund boasts of his plans to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, which no sailor has ever done. Edmund finds the only ship’s captain willing to go in the form of the drunken, legless Captain Redbeard Rum. Edmund’s scheme begins to turn sour when he realizes that Rum has no idea how to get where they’re going…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Tom Baker (Captain Rum), Simon Jones (Sir Walter Raleigh)

Notes: Simon Jones is best known for his portrayal of Arthur Dent in the radio, LP and television versions of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Other genre work includes Brazil (1985), Twelve Monkeys (1995), the TV series Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, and the Star Trek audio adventure Cacophony.

Tom Baker’s seven year turn in the title role of the BBC’s Doctor Who forever cemented his place in pop culture history. His other genre work includes Frankenstein: The True Story (1973), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), The Silver Chair (1990), Dungeons & Dragons (2000) and the 2000 TV series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

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Blackadder Season 2

Money

BlackadderWhile entertaining a professional “lady friend,” Edmund is visited by the Bishop of Bath & Wells, who has come to collect a thousand pounds that Edmund owes the Bank of the Black Monks of St. Herod. Edmund, naturally, does not have the money. The Queen, meanwhile, plays one practical joke after another on Edmund, which in succession see him deprived of what little money he does have. All this leads Edmund inevitably towards his dreadful appointment with the Monks and a hot poker…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Ronald Lacy (Bishop of Bath & Wells), Cassie Stuart (Mollie the inexpensive prostitute), Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Pants), John Pierce Jones (Arthur the Sailor), Tony Aitken (Mad Beggar), Philip Pope (Leonardo Acropolis), Piers Ibbotson (Messenger), Barry Craine (Mr. Pants)

Notes: In this episode we learn that although there may be Blackadders throughout history, not all Blackadders are made of the same stuff. Edmund’s father has squandered the family fortune on “wine, women and amateur dramatics,” something a true Blackadder would never do (if for no other reason than their long-held hatred of theater). It is one of the few mentions of any of the various Blackadders’ extended families.

Ronald Lacey’s career dates back to the early 1960s. It includes extensive television and film work. Genre appearances include The Avengers, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984).

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 2

Beer

BlackadderEdmund challenges Lord Melchett to a drinking contest despite the fact that one drink causes Edmund to start singing “that song about the goblin.” Complicating matters is the fact that Edmund’s aunt and uncle, the puritanical Lord and Lady Whiteadder, are coming over for dinner to discuss his inheritance on the very same night…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Miriam Margolyes (Lady Whiteadder), Hugh Laurie (Simon Partridge), Roger Blake (Geoffrey Piddle), William Hootkins (Monk), Daniel Thorndike (Lord Whiteadder)

Notes: Miriam Margolyes makes her second appearance here, following her work in The Black Adder (The Queen Of Spain’s Beard). She returns again in Blackadder’s Christmas Carol.

Hugh Laurie returns in the final episode of Blackadder II (Chains). He was a regular cast member of the remaining series. Laurie is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Bertie Wooster opposite Stephen Fry’s Jeeves in the TV series Jeeves and Wooster. He is also known for his appearances in the Stuart Little films as the human father of the little mouse, Stuart.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey