Tag: Season Premiere

Categories
Sarah Jane Adventures Season 2

The Last Sontaran – Part 1

The Sarah Jane AdventuresMaria has momentous news that she’s afraid to share with Sarah, but it doesn’t concern an alien invasion: Maria’s dad has gotten a job that could send him – and her – to America. But before she has a chance to dwell on the news, there’s a UFO sighting to investigate at a radio telescope. When Sarah and her friends go to investigate, they find the daughter of the lead researcher, dazed and disoriented, and unsure of where her father is, having last seen him the night before in the nearby woods during the sighting of unknown lights in the sky. Clyde and Luke take a look in the woods, against Sarah’s wishes, and find something very solid, very large and very invisible. Sarah uses her sonic lipstick to uncloak it, discovering a Sontaran space pod – and its occupant, Commander Kaagh, the sole survivor of the Sontaran attempt to take over Earth with the ATMOS device. Kaagh plans to get revenge for the failed attack by using the radio telescope to order every satellite in the sky to deorbit and crash into populated areas of the Earth, and he’s not about to let Sarah and her “half-forms” stop him.

Season 2 Regular Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Yasmin Paige (Maria Jackson), Tommy Knight (Luke), Daniel Anthony (Clyde), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra)

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

Guest Cast: Joseph Millson (Alan Jackson), Juliet Cowan (Chrissie Jackson), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Ronan Vibert (Professor Nicholas Skinner), Clare Thomas (Lucy Skinner), Anthony O’Donnell (Kaagh)

The Last SontaranNotes: The failed Sontaran invasion via ATMOS was seen in the Doctor Who episodes The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky; Kaagh’s “flashbacks” are new scenes interspersed with scenes from those episodes, neither of which featured him. Sarah has known the Sontarans for as long as she’s known the Doctor: her first trip in the TARDIS put her in the clutches of Sontaran warrior Linx in 1974’s The Time Warrior (also notable for being the Sontarans’ first appearance in Doctor Who), while her disgust at the thought of Clyde being subjected to Kaagh’s experiments no doubt comes from her own horrifying experiences as a Sontaran’s guinea pig in 1975’s The Sontaran Experiment. Kaagh’s helmet “slices” open into retracting segments, something that no Sontaran’s helmet has ever been seen to do before (not even in their recent Doctor Who appearance); it’s possible that Kaagh’s suit of armor is a special survival suit with that capability, despite looking identical to any other suit of Sontaran armor.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Clone Wars Season 1 Star Wars

Ambush

Star Wars: The Clone WarsIn an effort to make a deal to build a Republic base on the planet of Toydaria, Yoda plans to meet with its leader, King Katuunko on the isolated planet of Rugosa. But the Jedi Master and his clone troopers are ambushed on the way to the meeting by Asajj Ventress and her droids, crash landing far from the meeting place. Trying to win favor with Katuunko on behalf of Count Dooku, Ventress suggests a contest to show the relative worth of the Separatists droids versus the Republic. If her superior numbers can succeed in capturing Yoda, Toydaria will side with the Separatists. Yoda agrees to the challenge and sets out for the meeting with only three clone troopers to aid him.

written by Steven Melching
directed by Dave Bullock
music by Kevin Kiner / original Star Wars themes by John Williams

Cast: Tom Kane (Yoda / Narrator), Dee Bradley Baker (Lt. Thire / Jek / Rys), Brian George (King Katuunko), Corey Burton (Count Dooku), Nika Futterman (Asajj Ventress), Matthew Wood (OOM-224, Battle Droids)

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Remake Series 1 Survivors

Episode 1

Survivors (1970s series)A routine day in Abby Grant’s cozy world starts to unravel slowly. Her son is away with friends as news of an unprecedented virulent flu outbreak grips the UK. As news – and evidence – of the spreading flu worsens, some people grow panicked while others sink into their own oblivion. Abby falls ill and her husband desperately tries to nurse her back to health while the medical and emergency services are overwhelmed. Convicted killer Tom Price sees the spreading sickness as an opportunity to shorten his 20+ year sentence, while millionaire playboy Al Sadiq ignores the news as best he can…until he wakes up in his penthouse, his latest conquest having died of the virus overnight. The virus isn’t limited to England, and soon modern conveniences are a thing of the past. Power stations and other critical services are disrupted because the people manning them have died. Overnight, the human race is reduced to foraging for its survival.

It’s into this world that Abby awakens three days after she falls ill. Her husband has died in that time, as has everyone in her neighborhood. With phone service gone, she has no way to check on her son, and so she sets out to find him. Along the way, she runs into Greg Preston, who seems to have very clear ideas on what he’ll have to do to survive, and has stocked up on fuel, food and other necessities. They soon encounter more survivors, including a disheartened doctor named Anya Raczynski, and the unlikely pair of Al Sadiq and an 11-year-old orphan, Najid. Tom Price, having murdered his last surviving jailer to escape, is also a survivor – though no one yet knows what he is capable of.

written by Adrian Hodges
based on the novel by Terry Nation
directed by John Alexander
music by Edmund Butt

Cast: Julie Graham (Abby Grant), Shaun Dingwall (David Grant), Joanne Rowden (Linda Pope), Matt Lanigan (Joe Pope), Freema Agyeman (Jenny Walsh), Amber Herod (Tina Styles), Guy Hargreaves (Mr. Styles), Christine Anderson (Marion Sturges), Max Beesley (Tom Price), Tim Dantay (Gary Wilson), Joe Jacobs (Tony Coyne), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Samantha Willis), Jamie Belman (Mark Carter), Flo Wilson (Helen Crawley), Trevor Dwyer-Lynch (Driver at petrol station), Phillip Rhys (Aalim “Al” Sadiq), Sophia Di Martino (Simone), Bryony Afferson (Patricia Kelly), Zoe Tapper (Anya Raczynski), Hazel Cadman (Hospital Receptionist), Ian Champion (Journalist 1), Sagar Arya (Journalist 2), Tom Lloyd-Roberts (Sir Brian Tilston), Geoffrey Kirkness (General Mike Stone), Rohit Gokani (Najid’s Father), Chahak Patel (Najid Harif), Francis Magee (Callum Brown), Robert Boulter (Neil), Sophie McShera (Cathy), Paterson Joseph (Greg Preston), Jimmy Allen (Man at petrol station), Nicholas Gleaves (Whitaker), Ronny Jhutti (Sami Masood)

Notes: Though it’s the equivalent of The Fourth Horseman, the first episode of the original Survivors series, this untitled pilot of the new series subtracts and adds numerous characters and changes many of the details in the name of modernizing the story. Oddly, the writers’ credit for the pilot only credits Survivors creator Terry Nation for his novel, which was in fact a novelization of the original series; as such, writer and executive producer Adrian Hodges is credited as the show’s creator. Both Shaun Dingwall and Freema Agyeman had recently appeared in Doctor Who, and much was made of their appearances in Survivors, though neither of their characters survive this episode; Paterson Joseph – who had appeared in the first season finale of the new Doctor Who – was also a hot topic as Survivors premiered, as many considered him a likely contender for the role of the Doctor, which David Tennant had recently announced he would be vacating. Another Doctor Who universe veteran prominent in the first season is Nikki Amuka-Bird, who also appeared in the second season of Torchwood.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Orbis

Doctor Who: OrbisLucie has resumed her boring, pre-time-travel life in Blackpool; after all, there’s no way anyone the Doctor could’ve survived his battle with Morbius on Karn. But the Headhunter seems to disagree, strongly enough that she appears at Lucie’s door and shoots her. The Headhunter also has the TARDIS in her possession, and with Lucie aboard, sets the timeship on a course for the planet Orbis – a world where she says the Doctor is very much alive. Lucie finds the Doctor living among the Celtans, a jellyfish-like-race which exists in an uneasy truce with the warlike Molluscari…and she also finds that the Doctor has spent six centuries here and has completely forgotten her. Despite this, Lucie tries to help him save the Celtans from a new Molluscari attack. And in the background, the Headhunter is playing all sides against the middle, regardless of how many lives will be lost as a result.

Order this CDwritten by Alan Barnes and Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Andy Hardwick

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Sheridan Smith (Lucie Miller), Andrew Sachs (Crassostrea), Laura Solon (Selta), Katarina Olsson (Headhunter), Beth Chalmers (Saccostrea), Barry McCarthy (Yanos)

Notes: The “time bullets” used by the Headhunter seem to have a similar effect to the slow-motion gunshot wound suffered by Gwen in the Torchwood episode They Keep Killing Suzie. The Doctor admits here that he’s lost track of his own age, and in any case he’s guilty of rounding it up or down to account for relativistic time, which is a handy throwaway explanation for why the tenth Doctor is only 900 years old, while the seventh Doctor – in his first adventure – was 953 years old, and the third Doctor was “over a thousand years old”.

Timeline: after The Vengeance Of Morbius and before Hothouse

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 09: Back To Earth

Back To Earth – Part 1

Red DwarfRed Dwarf continues to steam through space, Lister and Rimmer continue to get on each other’s nerves, Cat continues to be incredibly good-looking, and Kryten continues to be mildly neurotic: life goes on. But when an unforseen water shortage hits the ship, endangering Cat’s and Lister’s continued existence, it’s apparent that some other form of life has gotten on board as well. Everyone – minus Rimmer – piles into a diving bell to explore Red Dwarf’s enormous water tank, and they find an enormous squid-like creature there. Lister manages to chop off one of its tentacles before Rimmer stops panicking long enough to raise the diving bell to safety; the being then appears to dimension-jump off the ship under its own power. To make matters worse, another hologram appears – a former member of Red Dwarf’s crew who has been brought online to provide more effective assistance to the crew than Rimmer can provide. Since the ship can only sustain one hologram at a time, Rimmer is therefore expected to forfeit his existence.

Order the DVDswritten by Doug Naylor
directed by Doug Naylor
music by Howard Goodall

Cast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), Sophie Winkleman (Katerina)

Notes: Back To Earth takes place nine years after the eighth season of Red Dwarf (which fits since it was filmed and broadcast ten years after that season); somewhere in the intervening Red Dwarfyears, Kochanski met a tragic fate and is still mourned by Lister. (Next to Kochanski’s photo in the ship’s memorial observatory is a photo of the late Mel Bibby, who designed the more elaborate sets seen in seasons 3-8.) Holly is curiously absent for the entire story. Unlike the rest of Red Dwarf, Back To Earth was bankrolled by UK cable/satellite comedy channel Dave (appropriately enough) rather than airing on the BBC, though perhaps “bankrolled” is a term that should be used very loosely, as the budget for Back To Earth was no larger than the entire budget for the final season in 1999. Back To Earth does not reflect the storyline developed for the aborted Red Dwarf movie project, a much-mooted project that never got off the ground in the intervening decade due to a series of equally aborted financing deals. This is also the first Red Dwarf episode without an audience laugh track.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 3 Torchwood

Children Of Earth: Day One

TorchwoodAt 8:40 one morning, every child on Earth stands absolutely still and begins reciting a message, in unison and in English: “We are coming.” Both Torchwood and UNIT try to track down the meaning behind the message, but in Whitehall, a seemingly innocuous civil servant named John Frobisher understands precisely what the message means. Captain Jack tries to contact Frobisher – Torchwood’s point of contact with the government – to offer help, but Frobisher’s new personal assistant, Lois Habiba, has no idea who Jack is and simply takes a message. Lois is nothing if not inquisitive, however, and manages to look up Torchwood in the government’s files, and what she learns there turns her world upside-down. Another civil servant, Mr. Dekker, pays Frobisher a visit with a simple but ominous warning: the 456 are returning, and they have sent a message in an incredibly compressed data stream that will take time to translate. At regular intervals, the world’s children come to a stop, either to deliver another message or to unleash a piercing, blood-curdling scream. Hoping to understand what’s going on, Jack and Ianto each set out to observe a little bit closer to home. Ianto visits his sister, where his niece and nephew are acting decidedly normal, while Jack visits a daughter, Alice Carter, who he’s never mentioned to any of his teammates. Alice, wary of Jack’s apparent immortality, would rather he stayed away from her and from his own grandson, who knows him as “Uncle Jack.” Gwen visits a man named Clement McDonald in a mental institution, learning that he somehow knows of an alien threat; he claims to have escaped the 456 in 1965. McDonald is the only adult in the world to have repeated the same messages as the children due to his close call with the aliens. As more messages are relayed through the children, John Frobisher puts a top-secret plan into action, calling for the elimination of a list of individuals – including one Captain Jack Harkness – and the entire Torchwood organization. Jack’s immortality is about to be put to the test.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Peter Capaldi (John Frobisher), Paul Copley (Clement McDonald), Nicholas Farrell (Brian Green), Susan Brown (Bridget Spears), Lucy Cohu (Alice Carter), Ian Gelder (Mr. Dekker), Cush Jumbo (Lois Habiba), Liz May Brice (Johnson), Charles Abomeli (Colonel Oduya), Rik Makarem (Rupesh Patanjali), Katy Wix (Rhiannon Davies), Rhodri Lewis (Johnny Davies), Hillary Maclean (Anna Frobisher), Anna Lawson (Nurse), Rachel Ferjani (Parliamentary Secretary), Christopher James (Press Officer), Phylip Harries (Water Taxi man), Ben Lloyd-Holmes (Operative), Luke Perry (David Davies), Aimee Davies (Mica Davies), Bear McCausland (Steven Carter), Julia Joyce (Holly Frobisher), Madeleine Rakic-Platt (Lilly Frobisher), Gregory Ferguson (young Clem), Crisian Emmanuel (Mother), Melanie Barker (Mother 2), Scott Bailey (Father)

Notes: Martha is said to be on her honeymoon and out of touch with Torchwood; in reality, actress Freema Agyeman had accepted a job as one of the regular cast of Law & Order: UK, a British adaptation (also starring Battlestar Galactica’s Jamie Bamber) of the popular American crime drama. Though early drafts of the script included Martha, no contract had been drawn up for Agyeman and she took the other job. As Jack is sizing up Rupesh Patanjali as a new medical expert for Torchwood, it would seem that neither Martha nor Mickey Smith joined Torchwood (which was heavily implied at the end of the Doctor Who episode Journey’s End); presumably Martha remains with UNIT.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Sarah Jane Adventures Season 3

Prisoner Of The Judoon – Part 1

The Sarah Jane AdventuresAn object that’s been moving fast enough to cross the entire solar system in 45 minutes screams into Earth’s atmosphere and crashes not far from where Sarah lives. Mr. Smith warns that the crash site is already under the control of UNIT, but that UNIT isn’t aware of the ejection and subsequent crash of one of the ship’s life pods. Sarah, Luke, Clyde and Rani track the pod to a condemned building, finding a lone Judoon trooper there. The Judoon regards Sarah and the others as an annoyance, as it is tracking far more important quarry: Androvax the Annihilator, a war criminal responsible for the destruction of a dozen worlds, is now at large on Earth.

Season 3 Regular Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Tommy Knight (Luke), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra)

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

Guest Cast: Mina Anwar (Gita Chandra), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Terence Maynard (Madison Yorke), Robert Curtis (Security Man), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Paul Kasey (Captain Tybo), Nicholas Briggs (voice of Captain Tybo), Mark Goldthorp (Androvax), Scarlett Murphy (Julie)

Notes: The Judoon made their first TV appearance in the Doctor Who third season opener Smith And Jones, though Sarah Jane’s detailed knowledge of both the Judoon and the Shadow Proclamation (both of which were also seen in The Stolen Earth) would seem to indicate that she might have met the Judoon during her travels with the third or fourth Doctor. Nicholas Briggs once again provides the guttural voices of the Judoon in this episode, and in so doing completes his modern Doctor Who trifecta: he has voiced numerous aliens in both Doctor Who and now The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as having appeared on screen in Torchwood: Children Of Earth: Day Four.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 05

The Eleventh Hour

Doctor WhoFollowing the Doctor’s regeneration, the TARDIS plummets back to Earth, damaged and out of control. The time machine comes to rest in the 1990s, where the Doctor has to seek the help of the first person he finds – namely, a little girl named Amelia Pond who is home alone. In exchange for her help, the Doctor investigates something that’s been troubling Amelia: a crack in her wall through which she says she can hear voices. It turns out that her fears aren’t unfounded: the Doctor finds something from another dimension behind her wall, but he seals the crack and seems fairly sure he’s solved the problem. He promises to return in five minutes; Amelia packs a bag and sits in her garden, waiting for the TARDIS and the mysterious Doctor to return…

The TARDIS rematerializes in the garden, but it’s been only moments for the Doctor – he’s just realized the significance of the crack in the wall. But 12 years have passed for Amy Pond – and for the being behind her bedroom wall. The Doctor finds a door where no door should be in Amy’s house, containing a being known only as Prisoner Zero, which then escapes. As the Doctor works to find the dangerous escapee, Earth receives a signal from an alien race called the Atraxi: if the people of Earth cannot contain Prisoner Zero, the Atraxi will wipe out all life on the planet, just to make sure the escaped prisoner is dealt with. There are only 20 minutes left to save the world, and the Doctor isn’t exactly in peak condition…

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Steven Moffat
directed by Adam Smith
music by Murray Gold

Cast: Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Arthur Darvill (Rory Wiliams), Caitlin Blackwood (Amelia Pond), Nina Wadia (Dr. Ramsden), Marcello Magni (Barney Collins), Perry Benson (Ice Cream Man), Annette Crosbie (Mrs. Angelo), Tom Hopper (Jeff), Arthur Cox (Mr. Henderson), Olivia Coleman (Mother), Eden Monteath (Child 1), Merin Monteath (Child 2), David de Keyser (Atraxi voice), William Wilde (Prisoner Zero voice), Patrick Moore (himself)

The eleventh DoctorNotes: The lightning and thunderclaps in the new opening titles hearken back to the very origins of Doctor Who; the unaired pilot version of An Unearthly Child featured thunderclaps in the theme music, though these were removed before the remount of the series’ first-ever episode. The redesigned TARDIS exterior resembles the police box as seen in the two Peter Cushing Doctor Who movies in the 1960s, while the new set for the TARDIS console room includes elements that recall the early William Hartnell stories (the large metallic light fixture above the console), the Davison/Colin Baker era TARDIS (a sound effect that occurs several times in The Eleventh Hour’s final scenes) and even the TARDIS as seen in the 1996 TV movie (the scanner screen as an old TV hanging above the console). Caitlin Blackwood is a good fit as young Amy because she’s Karen Gillan’s cousin in real life.

A made-for-DVD short, Meanwhile In The TARDIS, bridges the gap between The Eleventh Hour and The Beast Below; it’s a bonus feature on the series 5 DVD box set.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Situation Vacant

Doctor Who: Situation VacantA classified ad is placed, seeking qualified applicants for companions to a traveler in time and space. The Doctor arrives for the final interviews, finding four people with wildly varying personalities and skills. When a crisis unfolds at a gathering of scientists, the Doctor’s potential new companions have their work cut out for them – and so does the Doctor himself, for he wasn’t the one who placed the ad to begin with.

Order this CDwritten by Eddie Robson
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Jamie Robertson

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), James Bachman (Hugh Bainbridge), Shelley Conn (Asha Qureshi), Joe Thomas (Theo Lawson), Niky Wardley (Juliet Walsh), Sabina Franklyn (Wanda Rothman), Tony Millan (Leonard Pallister), Joanna Kanska (Rachel), Barnaby Edwards (Rafshaw)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 06

The Impossible Astronaut

Doctor Who2011: Amy and Rory (having settled into life on Earth following their honeymoon) and River Song (still in her stormcage prison) receive numbered invitations consisting only of a date and a place. The place is the American plains, where the Doctor – presumably the sender of the invitations – awaits. But to their horror, an astronaut – clad in a vintage Apollo spacesuit – emerges from a body of water and shoots the Doctor, triggering his regeneration. The astronaut then shoots the Doctor again, killing him before the regeneration is completed, and returns to the water. An elderly man named Canton Delaware III appears, bearing his own numbered invitation and convenient means for disposing of the Doctor’s body. The Doctor’s stunned companions then discover the Time Lord alive and well, blissfully unaware of what’s just happened – in his own future, of which they can divulge nothing.

1969: A scant trail of clues leads the time travelers to the White House, mere months before the launch of Apollo 11. President Richard Nixon has been receiving strange phone calls, almost always on a phone line that happens to be nearest wherever he is, from a child terrified of a spaceman who has appeared nearby. Despite the Secret Service’s lack of enthusiasm about the four apparently British visitors who have popped into the Oval Office without warning, the Doctor appoints himself the chief investigator of the case of the mysterious phone calls. He deduces the location from which the phone calls must be coming, and with a younger Canton Delaware III aboard the TARDIS, goes to find the child who’s placing the calls.

At the White House, Amy sees a creature – a creature of which she saw only a glimpse in 2011. At the abandoned warehouse from which the calls are being placed, Rory and River both see the creatures as well. There’s only one problem: they’re fully aware of who the Doctor is, and of the fate he will suffer. And anyone who sees them, once they look away, doesn’t remember having seen them. Are these the assassins who have killed the last of the Time Lords?

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Steven Moffat
directed by Toby Haynes
music by Murray Gold

Cast: Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Arthur Darvill (Rory), Alex Kingston (River Song), Mark Sheppard (Canton Delaware), William Morgan Sheppard (old Canton Delaware), Marnix van den Broeke (The Silent), Stuart Milligan (President Richard Nixon), Chuk Iwuji (Carl), Mark Griffin (Phil), Sydney Wade (Little Girl), Nancy Baldwin (Joy), Kieran O’Connor (Prison Guard), Adam Napier (Captain Simmons), Henrietta Clemett (Matilda), Paul Critoph (Charles), Emilio Aquino (Busboy)

Notes: The interior of the alien spacecraft was glimpsed last season in The Lodger. The TARDIS has landed as an invisible object before, in 1968’s The Invasion, though the second Doctor was able to find both the time machine and its entrance a bit more gracefully in that story. Guest star William Morgan Sheppard – often credited as W. Morgan Sheppard in the U.S. and as Morgan Sheppard in the U.K. – has guest starred on nearly every genre series under the sun, from several “generations” of Star Trek, Babylon 5, seaQuest and more, to a memorable regular role on Max Headroom in both its British and American incarnations. He is the real father of actor Mark Sheppard, of whose character he portrays a much older version. Mark Sheppard is familiar to followers of such series as Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, The Middleman, Warehouse 13 and Firefly. Where both the Sheppards were born in the U.K., Stuart Milligan was born in Boston and has portrayed several Presidents of the United States during a career which has seen him do much of his television work in Britain.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

The New World

TorchwoodIn Kentucky, convicted child killer Oswald Danes’ time has run out, but apparently not his luck: despite being given a lethal injection, Danes convulses violently but does not die. In Washington, CIA agent Rex Matheson is impaled in a traffic accident, but despite doctors’ predictions that he won’t make it, he too pulls through. Across the entire world, death simply stops happening to the human race.

This is nothing new to the object of research being conducted by Matheson’s colleague, CIA agent Esther Drummond. An unexplained intrusion into the CIA’s computer system has wiped out any trace of the word “Torchwood,” leaving her to search through the agency’s physical records, a search that leads to an enigmatic man named Captain Jack Harkness. She’s more than a little surprised to find Jack himself in the archives, evading someone who’s trying to kill him; Esther simply gets caught in the middle.

In Wales, the only other surviving member of Torchwood, Gwen Cooper, has settled into motherhood in seclusion. With her husband Rhys, Gwen has gone completely off the grid, avoiding any contact with the outside world until she receives word that her father has suffered a heart attack. She quietly slips into Cardiff to see him, where she learns that his doctors can’t explain how he survived. It’s only now that Gwen is learning about death taking a holiday in the rest of the world.

Esther’s research into Torchwood intrigues Matheson, whose injuries are slow to heal despite his miraculous survival. He stubbornly arranges a flight to Wales to track down Gwen. Gwen is less than happy to be tracked down – but then she learns that he’s not the only one who’s tracked her down, she has to save Matheson’s life. With a heavily armed helicopter in pursuit, Matheson finds himself on the run with Gwen and her family, saved only by a timely intervention (and a handy stash of weapons) provided by Jack.

But Matheson still insists on extraditing Gwen and Jack to the United States, where he’s sure they hold the key to what’s going on. Along the way, Jack discovers that, while the rest of the human race is suddenly immortal, that condition no longer necessarily applies to him.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Bharat Nalluri
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Arlene Tur (Dr. Vera Juarez), Paul James (Noah Vickers), Marina Benedict (Charlotte Willis), Brian Guest (Alexander Peterssen), William Thomas (Geraint Cooper), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), Tom Price (Sgt. Andy Davidson), Penny Bunton (Female Hiker), Ron Butler (Senior Professor), Jim Castillo (Male Anchor #2), Rick Chambers (Senior Male Anchor), Hymnson Chan (Male Nurse), Van Epperson (Archivist), Ellen Fox (TV Journalist), Laura Gardner (Female Expert), Lauri Hendler (Angry Nurse), Carla Jeffery (Teenage Girl), Clint Jung (Male Professor), Charlene Lovings (Nurse), Jessica Mathews (Female Anchor #3), Rocky McMurray (Senior Guard), Laura Morgan (Flight Attendant), Phil Nice (Male Hiker), Bunnie Rivera (Rosita), Robin Sachs (British Professor), Heather Ann Smith (Joan Cabina), Jackie Torres (Female Anchor #2), Nischelle Turner (Female Anchor), David Grant Wright (Male Anchor)

Notes: British-born (but U.S.-based) guest star Robin Sachs played numerous guest roles on Babylon 5 – usually behind Narn or Minbari makeup – as well as appearing in Buffy and Alias. He’s done voice work for video games such as Dragon Age: Origins and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, and was the leader of the evil aliens in the movie Galaxy Quest. He’s the son of the late Leonard Sachs, who played Borusa in the 1983 Doctor Who story Arc Of Infinity. Van Epperson is no stranger to SFTV, having appeared in three Star Trek incarnations (TNG, DS9 and Enterprise). Jack uses the alias of his deceased former Torchwood colleague, Dr. Owen Harper, to gain access to the autopsy (Owen, played by Burn Gorman, was a Torchwood regular until dying not one but two deaths in season two).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Sarah Jane Adventures Season 5

Sky – Part 1

The Sarah Jane AdventuresSarah Jane watches a meteorite as it plunges to Earth, only it’s no meteorite: it’s a crashing space vehicle delivering a hunter called the Metalkind to Earth. Hours later, Sarah Jane is awakened by someone at the door, but when she opens the door there’s no one there – except for a baby left unattended. The infant obviously isn’t human, though: her cry blows every light bulb and power outlet along Bannerman Road.

At a nearby nuclear power station, another alien incursion takes place. The mysterious and powerful Miss Myers appears out of a ball of energy and “enlists” the plant’s worker to help her track down her child. The Metalkind is also seeking her child, for entirely different reasons. Sarah, Rani and Clyde are left holding the baby – which turns out to be a living weapon.

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

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Daniel Anthony (Clyde Langer), Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), Mina Anwar (Gita Chandra), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Christine Stephen-Daly (Miss Myers), Gavin Brocker (Caleb), Paul Kasey (The Metalkind), Chloe Savage (baby Sky), Ella Savage (baby Sky), Amber Donaldson (baby Sky), Scarlet SkyDonaldson (baby Sky), Sinead Michael (Sky), Floella Benjamin (Professor Rivers), Peter-Hugo Daly (Hector), Will McLeod (voice of the Metalkind)

Notes This was the first Sarah Jane Adventures episode to air after the death of series star Elisabeth Sladen earlier in 2011. Of a planned six two-part stories, three were finished prior to production halting due to her illness.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 2 Walking Dead, The

What Lies Ahead

The Walking DeadFollowing the destruction of the lab at the Centers for Disease Control, Rick leads the group to Fort Benning. Stopped on the highway by a traffic jam of abandoned cars, they must hide from a large herd of walkers who seem to be migrating. A search is mounted when Sophia wanders off, but the search also reveals the group is becoming more fractured. As they continue to look for Sophia, tragedy strikes the other child.

Order this seasonDownload this episodewritten by Ardeth Bey and Robert Kirkman
based on the graphic novel series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore
and Charlie Adlard
directed by Ernest Dickerson and Gwyneth Horder-Payton
music by Bear McCreary

The Walking DeadCast: Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes), Jon Bernthal (Shane Walsh), Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes), Laurie Holden (Andrea), Steven Yeun (Glenn), Chandler Riggs (Carl Grimes), Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale), Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon), IronE Singleton (T-Dog), Melissa McBride (Carol Peletier), Madison Lintz (Sophia)

LogBook entry by Robert Parson

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
Doctor Who New Series Season 07

Asylum Of The Daleks

Doctor WhoOne by one, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory are abducted by the Daleks and brought to a ship housing the Dalek Parliament. Fully expecting extermination, the Doctor and his friends are shocked to hear the Daleks demanding that the Time Lord save them from an unspecified threat – namely, the Daleks’ own past. On a remote planet, the Daleks have imprisoned the most insane, battle-scarred members of their own race, sealed in with a shield. But a ship has managed to crash there, and is broadcasting a signal that could give away the planet’s secret. The Daleks have captured the Doctor and his friends to send them to deal with the crashed ship, facing an onslaught of mad Daleks along the way.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Steven Moffat
directed by Nick Hurran
music by Murray Gold

Cast: Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams), Jenna-Louise Coleman (Oswin), Anamaria Marinca (Darla), Naomi Ryan (Cassandra), David Gyasi (Harvey), Nicholas Briggs (voice of the Daleks), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek 1), Nicholas Pegg (Dalek 2)

Doctor WhoNotes: The Daleks in the “intensive care unit” are survivors of conflicts with past Doctors; Oswin points out that they’re veterans of Spiridon (Planet Of The Daleks, 1973), Kembel (The Daleks’ Master Plan, 1965/66), Aridius (The Chase, 1965), Vulcan (Power Of The Daleks, 1966), and Exxilon (Death To The Daleks, 1974). Despite this, and despite much pre-publicity stating that nearly every style of Dalek ever seen in the original series would be seen here, the Daleks seen in this area are all the up-armored Dalek casings introduced in 2005’s Dalek. Glimpsed in the part of the asylum first visited by Rory is the Special Weapons Dalek (Remembrance Of The Daleks, 1988), a legendary major variation on the standard Dalek casing despite this being only its second on-screen appearance in the history of the series.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green