written by Jack Marshall
directed by Jack Marshall

Cast: James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Jeffery Quinn (Mr. Spock), John Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Jack Marshall (Scott), Jay Storey (Kyle), Julienne Irons (Uhura), Meghan King Johnson (Rand), Ron Boyd (DeSalle), Jasen Tucker (Chekov), Jay Storey (Kyle), Larry Nemecek (Cal Strickland), John Winston (Captain Jefferies), Eddie Paskey (Admiral Leslie), Andrea Ajemian (Onabi), Mark Strock (Ohn), Shawn David (Security Officer), Pearl Marshall (Security Officer), Jeff Mailhote (Security Officer), Ed Kaczmarek (Mr. Leslie), Ed Abbate (Crewman), Timothy Sheffield (Crewman), Michel Anderson (Crewman), Anthony Laviano (Crewman), Jerry Yuen (Crewman)

Review: At the time this first effort by James Cawley and the determined Star Trek: New Voyages crew hit the internet, it was a revelation for most folks who weren’t on the inside curve when it came to fan films. Arguably, the media interest in their efforts not only put New Voyages and other Trek fan films on the map, but drew more attention to fan-made continuations of existing “universes” in general. In the minds of some diehard Trek fans, it was also a ballsy, defiant gesture to Paramount: if you don’t make the Star Trek we want to watch (a vocal faction of fandom was disappointed in the then-current series Star Trek: Enterprise), we’ll make it ourselves.

Come What May, by the standards of the “episodes” New Voyages (later Star Trek: Phase II) would be turning out just a couple of years later, is uneven. It’s all one big experiment, and the seams are showing in a big way. Among many other things, it seems that no one could make up their minds just how they wanted this story to fit into the Trek universe. It’s set during the original five-year mission, of course, but there seem to be clear pointers toward the movies (i.e. Sulu off the ship to attend command training) and beyond. The flash-forwards that occur as the alien life form comes into contact with the crew are a bit of a crap shoot – sometimes they work wonderfully (Kirk
glimpsing Spock’s Star Trek II death, and his own demise re-enacted from Star Trek: Generations), sometimes they just make me go “huh?” (Spock’s wedding – apparently to Chapel – and a scene which seems to indicate Kirk somehow survives Generations).

The seams show with some of the acting as well. As much as I’ve come to appreciate what the various main cast members bring to their
interpretations of their beloved roles, the guest stars rule the day here, starting in the teaser with “Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion” author Larry Nemecek as a feisty starbase commander who seems to have no difficulty finding things to complain about, to the extremely cute Andrea Ajemian as the mysterious being who hassles the Enterprise crew. It’s all amateur-hour stuff, to be sure, with James Cawley letting his “Elvis” stage persona bleed through to his portrayal of Kirk more here than in any other New Voyage, but it is, after all, a fan film.

The production quality is nowhere near the level that New Voyages would later enjoy; in places, it looks a bit like it was shot on VHS in 1987. This is most likely a side-effect of the state of computer-based editing and compositing at the pro-consumer level circa 2004; the 3-D animation of such things as the Enterprise revealed as she leaves the Franz Joseph-designed spacedock is whole orders of magnitude sharper. If nothing else, it just shows har far New Voyages has come.

But there are other aspects that show it even more. Come What May is tracked with just about the clumsiest hodgepodge of Star Trek music imaginable, leaping from classic ’60s episode scores to music from the various movies and even Next Generation with reckless abandon. It’s interesting in places (Kirk’s opening log entry about the changes evident at the five-year mission’s halfway point is set to the tune of a piece of wistful Star Trek VI music, which is just inspired) but becomes, for the most part, a distraction.

Cawley and his cohorts have since withdrawn Come What May from their selection of downloads and jettisoned it from their “official” running order of episodes; it’s been labeled the series pilot and banished into hyperspace. One wonders if, in the face of their current endeavours, written by the likes of D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold, the New Voyages gang has become a little embarrassed by their first endeavour. There are light years between this and the most recent efforts, to be sure, but perhaps they should embrace this first adventure, for without it, one wonders if the big names would be beating a path to the New Voyages studio in upstate New York.

written by Ashley Nealfuller & David Clarke
directed by David Clarke
music by Martin Johnson

Cast: Tony Garner (The Doctor), Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Peter Tuddenham (Voix), Hugh Lloyd (Scribe), David Clarke (Auriga), Anthony Townsend (Callisto), Lynette East (Adreinna), Stephen Cranford (The Covellitor), Ashley Nealfuller (Chancellor Chaldor), Arthur Harrod (Aturo), Heather Cohen (Observer Aquilia), Chris T. Kirk (Observer Vardrah), Ian Edmond (Ralib), Richard Kingshott (Nilan)

Appearing in footage from The War Games: Patrick Troughton (The Doctor)

Notes: Technically, since his scenes were taped after he recorded the BBC radio play The Ghosts Of N-Space, Devious represents Jon Pertwee‘s final performance as the third Doctor before his death in 1996 (Pertwee’s scenes were filmed in April 1995). Other “name” guest stars include the late Peter Tuddenham, famous for voicing most of the sentient computers in the 1970s BBC space opera Blake’s 7. Filming on Devious began before filming began on the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie starring Paul McGann, and work on Devious continues even into the Matt Smith era. A “highlights trailer” was included, with the participation of the filmmakers, on the official BBC DVD of the second Doctor’s final regular story, The War Games. The film’s official web site, including photos of many scenes not included in the War Games DVD trailer, can be found here.

Review: It’s hard to judge Devious on its own merits when all that’s available is a trailer. Devious is a sort of unfinished symphony: an epic work that doesn’t look like it’ll be finished anytime soon. And yet, it’s almost a part of mainstream Doctor Who folklore. It’s been in production for over 15 years, it marks Jon Pertwee’s last appearance as the Doctor, it fills in an intriguing gap in Who mythology, and Pertwee’s filmed scenes provided his surprising posthumous appearance in the 40th anniversary Big Finish audio story Zagreus. Devious is something that everyone’s heard about and, until the extended trailer appeared on The War Games DVD set, no one had seen.

The first impression is that it’s actually rather impressive, given the low budget that was obviously driving the whole thing. On their website chronicling the still-in-progress project, the filmmakers even admit to cheaping out on major elements like their TARDIS console room set – at least until they managed the impressive casting coup of Jon Pertwee, at which point it became “bring your ‘A’ game” time. Pertwee’s appearance is documented almost in full in the trailer that appears on the War Games DVD, though this has the side effect of making it look as though the entirety of Devious is trying to plug a minor hole in continuity (namely, the fact that we didn’t actually see Patrick Troughton regenerate into Pertwee, even though it’s pretty safe to assume that this must have happened in there somewhere). There’s more to it than that, but the War Games DVD trailer obviously concentrates on the scenes filling that gap.

Devious‘ own original Doctor, Tony Garner, is a good choice for the role – he really does look like a transitional stage between Troughton and Pertwee. (Thanks to the somewhat gutsy decision to repurpose a clip of Troughton from The Two Doctors, we actually see Troughton transform into Garner and, later, Garner transform into Pertwee.) And to give some credit where it’s due, the props made for Devious are impressive. (If you’re wondering how anyone can possibly know that, don’t worry – you have seen the props from Devious, whose TARDIS console room set and full-sized Daleks were used in the Rowan Atkinson charity spoof The Curse Of Fatal Death.)

Will Devious ever be completed? It’s tempting to just shrug and say “no,” given that the 1996 TV movie had yet to be cast, let alone filmed, when work began, and we’re now six years into a new series which hit the air in 2005, and Devious still isn’t done. But the filmmakers behind it insist that work is continuing, and one would assume that a dream project like this – I mean, c’mon, recruiting Jon Pertwee himself to play the Doctor at a time when there was no reasonable expectation that anyone else would ever play the role in front of a camera again? – won’t be left for dead. In any case, by way of Zagreus, Fatal Death and other fannish projects that have used Devious’ astoundingly well-built prope, the production has already left a lasting impression on the Doctor Who mythos… even if it’s just unofficially.

Don’t give up on it, guys. It looks really cool.

Battlefield written by Terrance Dicks
Prisoner 451 written by Miles Richardson
Scout Ship written by Roger Stevens
directed by Keith Barnfather
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Sophie Aldred (Space Pilot 692 7896), Miles Richardson (Commander Of Brigade Merq), John Wadmore (Field Major Sarg)

Notes: Where Mindgame strongly hinted that the human soldier played by Sophie Aldred was Ace (possibly from the New Adventures novels), Mindgame Trilogy complicates that interpretation with the death of Aldred’s character.

Review: An interesting and somewhat surprising 1999 follow-up to the rather well-produced (if chlichèd) fan-made video project Mindgame, Mindgame Trilogy suffers a great deal in comparison because it alternates between being a total bummer (as Sophie Aldred’s doomed space pilot slowly rationalizes her way toward suicide) and rather annoyingly dull (the Draconian’s dilemma, something which could have been much more interesting). It’s presented as three “episodes,” each written by a different author, to smooth the transition a bit; each episode focuses on only one character. If any of the three original characters fares best, it’s the Sontaran (now played by John Wadmore), who winds up in what may be the most action-packed fight scene ever to be populated by only one character. But in many ways, the Sontaran’s plight smells familiar – his duty and honor diatribes could have been lifted from any Klingon-centric episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Sophie Aldred goes an excellent job of portraying her character’s agonizing psychological death dive, but it’s that segment which is the most downbeat, depressing, and hard to watch. It’s also the most compelling, emotionally speaking. I have to make a special mention of the use of CGI to place Aldred’s character in the cockpit of a drifting space vessel; rather like the Starfury cockpits in early episodes of Babylon 5, it doesn’t afford the camera any leeway in terms of movement, but it’s still an effective device, especially considering that the fan-made videos turned out by BBV and Reeltime Pictures had acquired a bit of a reputation for doing things on the cheap.

This leaves us with the Shakespeare-spouting Draconian. Not only does this part of the video barely make sense, it’s not that entertaining, and smacks of an actor having written himself a vanity piece. While Mindgame Trilogy is a fascinating study of each of these characters in isolation, perhaps the mold should have been broken for the chapter involving the Draconian character, and perhaps he should have had someone to interact with, even if it was a sentient computer that needed only a voice. As it is, he spends his hour on the stage fretting and strutting… well, at least it sure feels like an hour. The running time of the video is again padded out with a making-of program, much like the original Mindgame.

An interesting and worthwhile (if flawed) experiment, Mindgame Trilogy at least has good performances to commend it. This video may well be an actor’s delight, but perhaps not a viewer’s delight.

written by Terrance Dicks
directed by Keith Barnfather
music by Bug Music Productions

Cast: Sophie Aldred (Human), Miles Richardson (Draconian), Toby Aspin (Sontaran), Bryan Robson (The Alien)

Notes: The dialogue for Sophie Aldred’s human character is written not unlike Ace’s dialogue, with one major hint (“Wicked!”) at the very end of the episode; if one interprets this to mean that the character is Ace, it’s possible that this could be the first on-screen portrayal of Ace from the New Adventures era (namely, between leaving the TARDIS in the novel “Love And War” and rejoining later in “Deceit”). However, the sequel production Mindgame Trilogy may invalidate this interpretation, and may also indicate that this is not Ace.

Review: It’s very easy to have high expectations of this Reeltime independent video from 1998. The script, after all, was written by Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who’s script editor for much of the late sixties and early seventies. The alien makeups were some of the more credible and well-crafted work I’ve yet seen in what is, essentially, a fan production. And the cast featured Sophie “Ace” Aldred and Miles Richardson (who has made the odd appearance on such shows as Highlander). How could they go wrong?

Dicks unfortunately steers the whole ship into an iceberg by falling back on a clichèd, overused, predictable, and nauseatingly Trekkian plot device. Not that the “two people from clashing cultures must cooperate to battle a mutual enemy” plot was originated with Star Trek – I believe that honor goes to, if not “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, then at least “Enemy Mine”. But the various Star Trek series have recycled this basic storytelling staple so often, one could be forgiven for thinking that it originates in Roddenberry’s universe.

Doctor Who itself is guilty of borrowing some of the most famous plotlines in science fiction and horror history: huge chunks of the series’ now-missing golden years of the late 1960s were lifted liberally from classic Universal monster movies. But at least there were uniquely Who-ish touches that justified the near-plagiarism. Not so here. The story is utterly unoriginal, with little in the way of style to distinguish it from similar stories.

And that’s not the final insult. The actual program itself is terribly short – just over half an hour. The run time of the program is dwarfed by the mammoth-length special on the making of Mindgame, which, while it’s nice, is a very lopsided way to get the fans’ money. Maybe the tape should’ve been advertised as “The Making of Mindgame – featuring the exclusive bonus movie, Mindgame!” instead of the other way around. From a purely financial standpoint, I felt cheated. I don’t mind behind-the-scenes specials…but when they’re longer (and even more boring) than the actual meat of the proceedings, I have to object.

written by Michael Struck and Jack Trevino
adapted from a story by Michael Struck
directed by Michael Struck
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael
Farragut theme by Hetoreyn

Voice Cast: John Broughton (Captain John T. Carter), Michael Bednar (Commander Robert Tacket), Holly Bednar (Lt. Commander Michelle Smithfield), Paul R. Sieber (Lt. Prescott), Tonya Bacon (Lt. Moretti), Amy McDonough (Dr. Holley), Bob McDonough (Galway)

Special Guest Voices: Chris Doohan, Hetoreyn, Jason LeBlanc, Chase Masterson, Vic Mognogna, Ralph M. Miller, Lou Scheimer

Notes: Scotty pays the Farragut a visit, voiced by Chris Doohan, the son of the late James Doohan, while the Romulan commander is voiced by Lou Scheimer, producer of the original Filmation Star Trek animated series, who did an uncredited turn as the voice of the same Romulan in the animated episode The Practical Joker in 1974.

Review: Another winner of an animated episode from the Farragut team and Neo F/X, The Needs Of The Many seems a little bit familiar – playing off of the same “restore history by sending this person back in time to their death” premise as Yesterday’s Enterprise, among others – but it’s interesting to see it play out in animation. Clocking in at almost the same running time as a standard live-action Star Trek episode, and dealing with more mature themes (and yet somehow not being heavy-handed with it), Needs would be a good show as either live action or a cartoon.

Of course, a cartoon lets the producers get away with monumentally ballsy moves like bringing Scotty into the story, brought back to life by James Doohan’s son in what has to be described as a better-than-passable take on his father’s faux Scottish brogue. The character’s appearance, and recasting, are done tastefully and respectfully, and brings the whole exercise that much closer to feeling like a legitimate entry in the annals of animated Trek. There are nods to Trek spinoffs later down the timeline as well, with Tim Russ putting in a guest shot as a Vulcan bearing a striking resemblance to Tuvok, and a mention that the Farragut’s Andorian crewmember is part Aenar. None of these things will stick out like a sore thumb to non-Trek scholars, they’re just background flavoring. Even more intriguing is the backstory that puts a whole new spin on the Gorn’s original appearance in Arena – it’s a gutsy re-framing of the original story that doesn’t break with Trek history in any meaningful way.

The regular cast gets some material here that would be meaty in animation or in front of a camera, with their characters remaining true to the characters as established in the live-action Farragut episodes. Paul Sieber as Security Chief Prescott and Holly Bednar as Smithfield get the lion’s share of dialogue and character development, especially since both interact with Scotty and visiting time traveler Carmen Renata (played by Chase Masterson) quite a bit. The story and the stakes in The Needs Of The Many are a bit more mature than Power Source, and while I love Power Source as a great tribute to the excellence and excesses of the original animated Trek, Needs comes out on top in terms of good drama. (It’s worth noting that it’s co-written by former DS9 writer Jack Trevino and Neo F/X’s Michael Struck.)

Visually, there’s absolute fidelty to the original Filmation animation once again, though the litmus test here is Scotty, a character who did appear in the original animated episodes – and that test is passed with flying colors.

Hopefully, the two animated Farragut episodes aren’t a one-off phenomenon. It’s tempting to suggest that animated episodes could bridge the gaps between live-action outings – Farragut is a great fan series in both forms, and I’d be delighted to see both versions of it continue. The Needs Of The Many isn’t a curate’s egg that only a Trek fan could love: it’s a good script, acted well, that anyone can sink their teeth into – and it just happens to be animated.

written by Ben Andrews, Ben Johnson, Jon Johnson, James Lyle, Lorraine Montez, Leo Roberts, Brian Sipe and Roy Stanton
directed by Sam Akina, Gale Benning and Leo Roberts
music by Brad Anthony Laina / end credit music by Steve Brush

Cast: Ben Andrews (Captain Bryce Avari), Ben Johnson (Commander Talis Jaryn), James Lyle (Dr. Thomas Alden), Roy Stanton (Ambassador T’Von), Elle Viane Sonnet (Lt. Commander Akelyn Solara), Nicole Santora (Lt. Commander Yamora Vu’Shan), S. Joe Downing (Lt. Arca Niran), Vanessa Cobbs (Lt. Pelomar Laenah), Jesse James Pattison (Lt. Joben Karkko), Lorraine Montez (Lt./Major Ulti Natyra), J.P. Giuliotti (Admiral Theodore Grayson), Wes Hurley (Commander Telek), John Lynch (Major Noah Croft), Rodrigo Demedeiros (Minister/Councilor Tol Hadik), Mark Rahner (Lt. Guy Shaw), Leo Roberts (S.A.B.R.E. General Krik), Loren Walton (Lt. Baron), Eve Powell (Ensign Riley), Alexis Eggertsen (Lt. Ayiln), Jessica Hendrickson (Dr. DeSoto), Ben James (Lt. B.J. Nelson), Tellier Killaby (Lt. Commander Russoe Preval), Michelle McNamer (Lt. Commander Jennifer Elarah), Nathan Moore (Lt. Commander K’Var), Dennis Paillex (Lt. Casey Mendham), Fred Varnal (Lt. Natarion), Marlene Wong (Yavae Vadwel), Dylan Blackhorse-Von Jess (Katrassii Prime Romulan Agent), Jared Hemmelgarn (Katrassii Prime Romulan Agent), Ben James (Katrassii Prime Romulan Agent), Aaron Key (Katrassii Prime Romulan Agent), Spenser O’Neill (Katrassii Prime Romulan Agent), Adam Sonnet (Katrassii Prime Romulan Agent), Stephanie Hilbert (voice of Lusian), Brad Anthony Laina (voice of Praetor Sirol), William Michael Paul (voice of Praetor Bevoral), Adam Sonnet (voice of Lt. Molnar), Jason Wright (Computer voice)

Notes: Star Trek: Phoenix takes place in 2422, 35 years after the destruction of Romulus, an event which set in motion the events of the 2009 Star Trek movie; this also places it at least 40-50 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. Phoenix takes place in the “prime” timeline, while Nero’s pursuit of Spock sent much of Star Trek into an alternate timeline. Phoenix’s hull registry number is NCC-101138.

Review: A fresh step forward in the Star Trek saga, Phoenix is long overdue. While I’m a fan of the various “Kirk-era” productions, Phoenix has taken the direction that fan films have really needed to take for quite some time: forward – almost as far forward from TNG as TNG was from the original show. To be fair, Star Trek: Intrepid and the long-running fan series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier moved forward from Voyager and Nemesis as well, but by starting immediately after those two final entities in 24th-century Trek, they were beholden to some of their storytelling conventions as well. Phoenix makes a clean, decisive break from all of that, and aside from a bit of somewhat stilted introductory voice-over exposition giving some background to the Romulus situation, it doesn’t get bogged down in the ongoing minutiae of the Star Trek universe. Like TNG’s premiere, it assumes you’ve got the broad-stroke basics of Star Trek down – i.e. transporters, phasers, etc. – and begins doing its own thing.

This includes a whole new look. Phoenix shows off a new evolution of the Starfleet uniform aesthetic, with a leather-armored look indicating that the 25th century is a bit more dangerous than the 24th. Some of the color-coded conventions of previous Starfleet “looks” are still adhered to, with some intersting new variations, including purple for command personnel. The uniforms are very detailed, and stand up well to the scrutiny of the HD shooting and production used here. Interstingly, the Phoenix bridge is not seen at all, with the storyline offering an escape hatch for that omission by announcing that the bridge has suffered critical damage. The parts of the Phoenix that we do see are represented by both practical and virtual sets, but this time the compositing on the virtual sets is some of the cleanest I’ve ever seen in a fan production. Even the transporter effect has been reinvented, and it all works – nothing here breaks the Star Trek universe.

The Romulan renegades get a combination of looks that link more directly to the two most recent films in the franchise, with the same facial tattoo work worn by Nero in Star Trek, and high-collared garb which calls back to the outfit worn by Shinzon in Nemesis – someone’s really done their homework here. Considerable thought has been put into the evolution of the look, right down to the odd yin-yang-style revision of the LCARS Okudagrams, which now float in the air. Also cool is the 3-D topographic display desk which lets the transporter operator point at where the away team will land.

The cast is mostly excellent, with only the faux-Brit ship’s doctor and the main Romulan baddie even approaching being over-the-top; the doctor character isn’t so much OTT, he just comes across as an old-school “average American’s impression from PBS of how Britons sound and act” stereotype. That character will probably be fleshed out better in future installments, and as for the Romulan, it’s not like Nero didn’t chew any scenery in the 2009 movie. In any case, that’s not a bad batting average for an amateur-produced pilot episode. The uneasy marriage of military, diplomatic and traditional Starfleet characters reminds me – in a good way – of Babylon 5 (with a nod toward Star Blazers as well), while the occasional detour into non-linear storytelling via flashbacks is a nice post-Lost update of the usual style of Trek storytelling. The script was, surprisingly, written by a committee if the credits are anything to go by – and it turned out pretty well, showing that some lessons have been learned from the TV programming that’s taken over the airwaves since Enterprise sailed off into deep space for the last time. (I could spend all day debating whether or not the actual Trek writing staff in Paramount’s Hart building ever would’ve learned to adapt like this.)

My biggest gripe with Phoenix turns out to be this: the video formats for their downloads are all Apple-centric – iPod and Quicktime. Don’t get me wrong, they look great, but I’m not a huge fan of either format. The show’s site, by the way, is incredibly slick, with great visuals and cast/crew interviews, as if it were the PR site for an actual broadcast series… further blurring the line between user-generated content on the ‘net and Hollywood fare, and further sounding the slow, drawn-out death knell of the latter. I can’t recommend Star Trek: Phoenix highly enough – here’s hoping they don’t keep me on the edge of my seat for months and months for the resolution to this cliffhanger.

written by Carlos Pedraza & David Gerrold
directed by David Gerrold
music by Fred Steiner

Cast: James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Ben Toplin (Mr. Spock), John Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Bobby Quinn Rice (Ensign Peter Kirk), Evan Fowler (Alex Freeman), Denise Crosby (Dr. Jenna Yar), Bill Blair (Commander Blodgett), John Carrigan (Commander Kargh), Charles Root (Scott), Jay Storey (Kyle), Kim Stinger (Uhura), Ron Boyd (DeSalle), Andy Bray (Chekov), Meghan King Johnson (Rand), Nick Cook (Hodel), Paul R. Sieber (Agrens), Patrick Bell (Xon), Debbie Huth (Fontana), Jeff Mailhotte (Sentell), Joel Bellucci (Bren), Anne Carrigan (Le’ak), James Avalon (Klaar)

Notes: Dr. Jenna Yar (full name: Jenna Natasha Yar) is the grandmother of Lt. Tasha Yar from Star Trek: The Next Generation; by this stage she has already had a daughter, presumably Tasha’s mother, who is safe on Earth and isn’t seen in this story. Section 31 is retroactively worked into the classic Trek timeline here; it was actually first mentioned in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the 1990s, and later in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Review: The long-awaited second half of this Trek cliffhanger arrived more than a year after the first part hit the web, and even so, I’m writing this review based on a mostly-complete pre-release edit whose final two acts are still in the “temp edit” stage.

The first part of Blood And Fire was about as good as a fan film’s going to get anytime soon, so all that part two has to do is live up to it. In a strange way, it succeeds and doesn’t quite reach the same level, all at the same time. It succeeds in wrapping up the actual story, bringing Section 31 into the fray and adding a surprisingly low-key celebrity cameo from Denise Crosby, and it barrels toward the inevitable grim conclusion of the happy couple set up in part one (anytime wedding bells are heard aboard the Enterprise, it’s practically the bell of doom for somebody – see also Balance Of Terror).

I hesitate to criticize the pacing or editing of segments of the show that aren’t finalized, because in the end it may not be what everyone else sees when Blood And Fire Part II hits the web in finished form; there’s an element of the story that unfolds in an almost Farpoint-esque way, and it’s given a lot of time to unfold like that. And yet I like, or at least understand, some of the editing decisions – the sheer sense of wonder is palpable, the effects are gorgeous and the part of me that still enjoys the languid FX shots of Star Trek: The Motion Picture doesn’t want them to touch the pacing at all.

Punches are not pulled on telegraphing to the audience the scope of the personal loss that Peter Kirk faces, and Bobby Rice pulls no punches in getting that across. Some of his dialogue is looped in the scene where all of these plot developments come home, and while it may not sound completely naturalistic, it is at least true to the editing style of classic Trek (go back and watch the closing scenes of Charlie X for a similar example).

For the regular cast, Kirk and company and thrust into more conflict than even the movies have foisted upon those characters, particularly between Kirk and McCoy. Bones gets to be a downright irascible bastard in this episode, and John Kelley is up to the challenge of taking him there. High marks are also due for Evan Fowler and for Denise Crosby, who gets something a bit less campy than Sela here. Bill Blair does the best he can in the role of Blodgett, but the character as written stops just short of twirling his moustache in some scenes.

Overall, it’s another outstanding entry for Phase II / New Voyages; I guess my ambivalence about this episode as opposed to Part I is that I’m wondering where the allegory went. For years, tales have circulated about Blood And Fire being an appropriately fiery criticism of the lack of forward motion on a cure for AIDS, with the bloodworms standing in for the disease; Part II really seems to drop that ball. I was ready – and rooting for – David Gerrold to tear into all sorts of social injustices, and somehow it just doesn’t happen. Maybe over the years the legend became bigger than the story itself. In any case, the script as written/rewritten is expertly executed.

written by Paul Ebbs & Gareth Preston
directed by Bill Baggs
music by Mike Neilson and Steve Johnson

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Foot Doctor), Mark Donovan (The Salesman), Nigel Fairs (Geoff / The Licensor), Jo Castleton (Gloria), Nigel Peever (Rassilon), Gareth Preston (Delivery Man / Cyberon), Rupert Booth (Sontaran / Auton), Philip T. Robinson (Auton / Cyberon), Paul Griggs (Auton / Cyberon), Paul Ebbs (Cyberon voice), Steve Johnson (Cyberon voice)

Notes: Despite poking much fun at the unlicensed equivalents of the Doctor and the Cybermen, many of the Doctor Who baddies who appear here are licensed, and their creators are credited: the Sontarans and Autons (both created by Robert Holmes), and the Krynoid (created by Robert Banks Stewart).

Review: It’s funny watching Do You Have A Licence To Save This Planet? in retrospect. The whole message of this half-hour send-up of the Doctor Who format – such as it was in the 1980s – and its many easily-pounced-upon foibles is simple: Doctor Who fans don’t need the BBC anymore. Arguably, they don’t even need to license anything from the BBC anymore to make fan films.

Oh, how times have changed.

To be fair, BBV isn’t just mocking the BBC – it’s also mocking BBV. The not-so-licensed Cyberons – BBV’s copyright-dodging answer to the Cybermen (all they’re really missing is the jug-handle ears) – are front and center, and are ripe for the comedic picking, continual voice-modulated utterances of “Excellent!” and all. Helping the whole thing move along is Sylvester McCoy, in full-on silly mode; past Doctors have been more than adept at comedy, but this is a broad farce almost on a vaudevillian level. Short of the late, great Jon Pertwee, the only ex-Doctor who could’ve pulled this off is McCoy. High marks also go to the next-door neighbors – and to some surprisingly good special effects, including a passable CGI TARDIS interior.

It’s all terribly silly, but Do You Have A Licence To Save This Planet? must be viewed with its original context in mind: it was the post-McGann-movie 1990s. The BBC had brought Doctor Who back and then dropped the ball again, effectively leaving the property where it had been in the pre-McGann-movie early ’90s: in the hands of fan novelists, fan filmmakers, and fan comic artists. There are even tongue-in-cheek acknowledgements in the dialogue that the Doctor Who format simply wouldn’t work anymore in prime time.

Again, how times – and Time Lords – have changed. And not just because real, proper Doctor Who returned to TV in 2005, either: by the time this video was released (2001), several of Bill Baggs’ former cohorts broke ranks to do properly licensed Doctor Who for Big Finish’s audio range, something that Baggs was shut out of because he had irritated the BBC for several years with his own audio productions which were “Doctor Who in everything but name”; in that sense, Baggs may be flipping the bird to his old buddies here too.

This is definitely an in-joke for the fans, but it isn’t so obscure that others won’t enjoy it. It’s amazing how cheeky the whole thing is in thumbing its nose at the BBC… which probably explains why it continues to languish in out-of-print VHS obscurity now.

written by Nick Cook
directed by Alan Christison, Stephen Pasqua & Nick Cook
music by Bodo Hartwig / Intrepid theme by Dylan Feeney

Cast: Alan Christison (Commander Navar), Steven Pasqua (Lt. Cole), Gordon Dickson (Kashid-Zar), Jay Clark (PO Jaden Antos), Chris Cassell (Security Guard)

Review: Following on directly from the previous short, Where There’s A Sea…, Turning Point delivers another compact, economic piece of drama that moves the plot – both political and character-oriented – of Intrepid forward significantly. In six minutes and change.

Even moreso than its predecessor, Turning Point is shot entirely practical, with no composite work and, aside from an opening shot of the ship, no CG work whatsoever. In fact, the whole thing’s actually shot on a single set. (Why three directors? I think that’s down to something we used to call the “Jump Cut City method” – whoever wasn’t in a given shot was behind the camera.) The stark lighting works well in this case, and the whole thing is very well performed and put together; even the sound is acceptable this time.

While some fan films’ vignettes are taster pieces – intended to keep the eagerly-waiting fans happy between full-length episodes – I admire the Intrepid team’s willingness to dare to advance the storyline in these short pieces. It all adds up to an intriguing whole.

written by Nick Cook
directed by Steve Hammond
music by David Beukes / Intrepid theme by Dylan Feeney

Cast: Nick Cook (Captain Hunter), Steven Pasqua (Lt. Cole), Lucie Cook (Lt. Caed / Orion), Steve Hammond (Captain Merik), Alain DeMol (Erik De Meyer / CPO D’Gor), Marco Piva (Rafael Batista), David Robertson (PO Josh Taylor), Dave Lees (CPO Alex Quint), Alan Score (Admiral Prentice), Gordon Dickson (Kashid-Zar), Jay Clark (PO Jaden Antos), Gary Paterson (Duffy), Alison Dickson (Kendrick), Nick Beckwith (Orion), Ann Dixon (Orion)

Review: An interesting short subject set in the Intrepid‘s “universe”, Where There’s A Sea… advances the complicated political situation introduced in the first episode and delivers a hell of a shoot ‘em up in the space of about 11 minutes.

It’s interesting to note that there’s a bare minimum of virtual set work in this short; almost everything is shot practical on real sets. There are still a few telltale signs that the Intrepid crew is working out some lighting quirks, and despite valiant attempts to redress and disguise it, it’s hard to hide that many of the “sets” seem to be either the same room or the same set of partition walls; planted-on paraphenalia such as Starfleet signage and “screens” help matters a bit. I appreciate the effort to shoot things “real”, however, so I won’t complain much – it certainly speeds up post-production not having to composite every single background in. I’m not expecting a perfect replica of the Voyager bridge to spring up in Scotland somewhere – the virtual sets are a necessary evil. But where they do show up here, it’s also very easy to tell that the Intrepid team is getting better at it.

Another area that could stand improvement is a holdover from Heavy Lies The Crown: sound recording. I had to watch Where There’s A Sea… a couple of times, and a few specific scenes several times, to hear everything that was being said. Not everyone has a boom mic at their disposal, but even if it comes down to hiding a microphone in the setpieces, the sound mix needs improvement. The music is outstanding, and the CG effects are very good, though many of the merchant ship exteriors present a slightly video gamey look.

Overall, a nice effort, crisply edited, well written and acted – I just want to hear all that well-delivered dialogue a bit better.