Categories
5th Doctor Doctor Who

No Place Like Home

Doctor Who: No Place Like HomeThe Doctor is giving Erimem a tour around the TARDIS, but begins to lose track of where he is inside his own ship. When the timeship’s power fades, the Doctor knows that some outside force is acting on his TARDIS… or is it something on the inside? The Doctor and Erimem discover that a new life form has evolved within the TARDIS itself, and finally it has gained the sentience and knowledge required to take control. The Doctor hopes he can reason with the being, but the creature seems to have other ideas…

written by Iain McLaughlin
directed by Gary Russell
music by David Darlington

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Caroline Morris (Erimem), Mark Donovan (Rovie), Nicholas Briggs (Shayde)

Notes: The character of Shayde, an artificial intelligence spawned from the Time Lords’ Matrix itself, was created by writer Steve Parkhouse for the first fifth Doctor comic strip, “The Tides Of Time” (issues #61-67 of Doctor Who Monthly, 1982; art by Dave Gibbons).

Timeline: between The Eye Of The Scorpion and The Church And The Crown

Logbook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

Dawn

Star Trek: EnterpriseTrip’s solo shuttlepod mission is cut short by an attack, forcing him to set down on a nearby moon. As he tries to contact Enterprise for backup, two complications arise which could prove to be fatal. The moon’s distance from its sun means that sunrise will bring a fatal temperature rise… and furthermore, Trip’s attacker has also become stranded on this world – a creature who doesn’t care if Trip lives long enough for help to arrive.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by John Shiban
directed by Roxann Dawson
music by David Bell

Guest Cast: Gregg Henry (Zho’Kaan), Brad Greenquist (Khata’n Zshaar)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 06 SG-1 Stargate

Disclosure

Stargate SG-1The ambassadors of almost every major country are summoned to the United States for a top secret briefing. As the incredulous representatives listen, General Hammond reveals, at long last, the Stargate program, the existence of aggressive alien species known as the Goa’uld and the Replicators, and even the existence of allies such as the Asgard. General Hammond warns that an imminent Goa’uld attack may require international cooperation to defend Earth. But then Senator Kinsey arrives, trying to turn the ambassadors’ distrust of the SGC to his own advantage – on behalf of the NID. General Hammond is in the perilous position of losing what little support he has won by coming clean on the existence of the Stargate program, and has only one card left to play.

Order the DVDswritten by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
directed by William Gereghty
music by Joel Goldsmith and Kevin Kiner

Guest Cast: Francois Chau (Chinese Ambassador), Colin Cunningham (Maj. Davis), Garry Chalk (Colonel Chekov), Martin Evans (British Ambassador), Paul Batten (French Ambassador), Ronny Cox (Senator Kinsey),

Notes: Essentially a clip show with a framing story shot inexpensively with a small cast on a single set, Disclosure is notable for featuring only one regular cast member – Don S. Davis as General Hammond – in its new footage; the rest of the show’s stars appear only in clips from older episodes.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who

Jubilee

Doctor Who: JubileeThe TARDIS makes a rough landing in what appears to be modern-day England, though a rip in the fabric of time traumatizes the Doctor by showing him events that he doesn’t remember – a bloody war. As he and Evelyn explore, they discover that they’ve somehow landed on an alternate Earth whose “English Empire” is about to celebrate a jubilee in recognition of their defeat of a Dalek invasion force in 1903 – a victory they attribute entirely to the Doctor, a figure they know as a military hero who led them in battle against the Daleks, while history records that the Doctor’s companion Evelyn was a casualty of that carnage. The highlight of the 100th anniversary celebration will be the very public execution of an unarmed Dalek, kept alive in captivity all these years. This time, are the Daleks the downtrodden underclass, waiting for the Doctor to free them from the tyrannical reign of the all-conquering, merciless human race?

Order this CDwritten by Robert Shearman
directed by Nicholas Briggs & Robert Shearman
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Maggie Stables (Evelyn), Martin Jarvis (Nigel Rochester), Rosalind Ayres (Miriam Rochester), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices), Georgina Carter (Female movie star), Steven Elder (Farrow), Jack Galagher (Male movie star), Kai Simmons (Lamb)

Timeline: between The Sandman and Doctor Who And The Pirates

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Dalek Empire Doctor Who

Dalek War Chapter I

Dalek War Chapter IThe war between the Daleks who have overrun Earth’s solar system and the Daleks from an alternate dimension has not gone well. Kalendorf has taken a position at the head of the combined human/alternate-Dalek fleet, fighting for the liberation of the galaxy. Alby Brook has sought isolation and oblivion, choosing to stay away from the main action as he mourns the fate of Suz Mendes. Suz is also the subject of an intensive search by the Daleks. And Mirana seems to have found her before the Daleks can – but in so doing has delayed a rendezvous with Alby, leaving him in a potentially precarious situation. But what has happened to Suz in the meantime? Is she still dedicated to the resistance…or is she in the thrall of the Daleks?

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Kalendorf), Mark McDonnell (Alby Brook), Sarah Mowat (Susan Mendes), Teresa Gallagher (Mirana), Steven Elder (Siy Tarkov), Karen Henson (Saloran Hardew), Ian Brooker (Marber / Drudger), Hannah Smith (The Mentor), Simon Bridge (Dr. Johnstone), Jeremy James (Herrick), Dannie Carr (Morli), Nicholas Briggs (Daleks)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

Stigma

Star Trek: EnterpriseDuring a stopover near a medical conference, Dr. Phlox gets two unusual opportunities. First, a reunion with one of his three wives, Feezal, gives him the chance to catch up on family matters. But more pressing in Phlox’s mind is the opportunity to find out everything he can from a Vulcan delegation to the conference about a terminal neurological disease. Considered a taboo subject, and a disease suffered only by a group of Vulcans ostracized by the rest of their society, the disease is also a closely-held secret, and Phlox is able to find very little. When he presses, the Vulcans wonder why his curiosity is so keen. Could it be that the Enterprise’s only Vulcan crew member is facing a painful death due to this disorder?

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
directed by David Livingston
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Melinda Page Hamilton (Feezal), Michael Ensign (Dr. Oratt), Bob Morrisey (Dr. Strom), Jeffrey Hayenga (Dr. Yuris), Lee Spencer (Vulcan Doctor)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

Cease Fire

Star Trek: EnterpriseArcher is hand-picked by Shran to serve as the negotiator between the Andorians and Vulcans in yet another tense territorial dispute. Ambassador Soval is suspicious of why Shran is insistent on Archer’s presence, but reluctantly goes along. Though Archer barely understands the conflict, he does his best to get the two parties to talk, and he believes that both Shran and Soval are sincere in their desire to settle the matter peacefully. So who is trying to derail the talks, bringing the Vulcans and Andorians precariously close to the brink of war?

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Chris Black
directed by David Straiton
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Jeffrey Combs (Shran), Suzie Plakson (Tarah), Gary Graham (Soval), John Balma (Muroc), Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Forrest), Zane Cassidy (Andorian soldier)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

Future Tense

Star Trek: EnterpriseThe Enterprise encounters a derelict ship of unknown design and origin – and its single occupant, though dead, reveals a number of surprises. Dr. Phlox determines that the pilot of the charred ship has human, Vulcan, Rigellian and Terellian DNA (among other species), apparently through natural breeding and not genetic engineering. Trip and Malcolm Reed scour the interior of the ship for clues, and discover a hatchway the leads to the lower decks of the capsule…even though it isn’t big enough to have those decks. They discover a data module in the dimensionally-impossible bowels of the ship, and moments later a Suliban ship appears, its commander demanding to take possession of the derelict from Archer. Archer refuses the request and bluffs his way out of the encounter, and the Suliban retreats to gather reinforcements. Not long afterward, another ship appears, its occupants identifying themselves as the Tholians. They too want the mysterious vessel, and they will let nothing stand in their way – not the Enterprise, not Archer, and not even an entire fleet of Suliban warships.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong
directed by James Whitmore Jr.
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Forrest), Cullen Douglas (Suliban Soldier)

Notes: This episode’s original title, Crash Landing, was hastily changed after the tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003. Despite that event, images of the shuttle lifting off remained in the series’ main titles. This episode also marks the first appearance (though not the first mention) of the Tholians since the third season of the original Star Trek in The Tholian Web.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
5th Doctor Doctor Who

Nekromanteia

NekromanteiaThe Doctor, Peri and Erimem visit an alien market square – Erimem’s first adventure on a world other than Earth – where Erimem stumbles across information that leads her to suggest a visit to the Nekromanteia system. The Doctor goes along with the idea, unaware that he’s landing himself and his companions in the midst of a grim war – between a well-armed corporate entity and a coven of powerful witches – which has been plotted out from the beginning by an unscrupulous businessman seeking immortality for himself.

Order this CDwritten by Austen Atkinson
directed by John Ainsworth
music by David Darlington

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Caroline Morris (Erimem), Gilly Cohen (Jal Dor Kal), Glyn Owen (Commander Harlon), Kerry Skinner (Cochrane), Ivor Danvers (Wendle Marr), Kate Brown (Tallis), Nigel Fairs (Yal Rom / Guard), Andrew Fettes (Salaysia), Simon Williams (Paul Addison), Gary Russell (Thesanius), Jack Galagher (Comms Officer), John Ainsworth (Soldier)

Timeline: between The Church And The Crown and The Caves Of Androzani

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Dalek Empire Doctor Who

Dalek War Chapter II

Dalek War Chapter IIMirana, operating in total secrecy, has recovered Suz, rescuing her from the burial in a collapsing star that has been ordained by the alternate universe Daleks for all humans subjected to the Dalek conversion process. Mirana and Kalendorf have discovered a horrifying secret – to avoid capture by the alternate universe Daleks, the Dalek Emperor forced its consciousness into Suz’s mind – a cohabitation she’s unaware of until Mirana tells her. Alby’s ship finally shows up for the rendezvous, but it has been commandeered by Daleks, and Alby and a refugee named Morli are hostages. The Daleks storm Mirana’s ship, taking command swiftly, but they refrain from their usual ruthlessness when Suz threatens to kill herself (which would also destroy the Emperor). At Earth’s solar system, Kalendorf’s Alliance fleet succeeds in tearing down the Daleks’ defenses, but at a high cost. Once in the solar system itself, Kalendorf and his alternate Dalek allies make startling discoveries, not the least of which is that the Daleks have terraformed Jupiter into a massive, human-habitable world by brute force. And in a Dalek laboratory, Suz’s mind is being turned inside-out, as the Daleks try to subjugate her personality permanently to bring the Emperor’s consciousness to the surface.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Sarah Mowat (Susan Mendes), Teresa Gallagher (Mirana), Gareth Thomas (Kalendorf), Mark McDonnell (Alby Brook), Dannie Carr (Morli), Jeremy James (Herrick), Ian Brooker (Marber / Drudger), Hannah Smith (The Mentor), Steven Elder (Siy Tarkov), Karen Henson (Saloran Hardew), Nicholas Briggs (Daleks)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

Canamar

Star Trek: EnterpriseThe Enterprise arrives at a rendezvous point to pick up a shuttlepod carrying Captain Archer and Trip, but the shuttle is empty. Signs of a struggle in the shuttle point to an abduction. T’Pol inquires with government officials on the last planet visited by Archer, discovering that he and Trip were captured and assumed to be smugglers, and are now in a prison transport bound for Canamar, a high-security penal colony. But just as the order comes through to release Archer and Trip from the brutal confines of the prison ship, a prisoner revolt thwarts their release – and suddenly they’re fighting for their lives and the lives of every other prisoner on board, trying to bluff their way into the ranks of the mutineers and hold out long enough for Enterprise to track them down.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by John Shiban
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Brian Tyler

Guest Cast: Mark Rolston (Kuroda), Sean Whalen (Zoumas), Michael McGrady (Nausicaan), Holmes R. Osborne (Enolian Official), Brian Morri (Enolian Guard), John Hansen (Prisoner)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
7th Doctor Doctor Who

The Dark Flame

Doctor Who: The Dark FlameHaving left Bernice on a research facility on Orbos to visit a colleague of hers, the Doctor and Ace are on their way back to Orbos when an unusually powerful distress call washes over the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits – powerful enough that even Ace picks up on it. The message, which the Doctor believes to come from his old friend Remnex, warns of the Dark Flame…and ends abruptly in a scream of agony. As it happens, Professor Remnex is also conducting research on Orbos, and the Doctor is relieved to find him in perfect health. Bernice, on the other hand, has waited two weeks for her colleague to arrive, to no avail, and no one can account for his whereabouts. The Doctor discovers that a pair of scientists on Orbos are planning to trigger a black light explosion in a nearby star, an ill-advised experiment that could have far-reaching consequences if not properly contained. Soon after his warnings about the impending experiment fall on deaf ears, the Doctor discovers that Remnex has been murdered, having sent his warning through time to the Doctor at the time of his death. The Doctor and Bernice recognize the hallmarks of the Cult of the Dark Flame, a group (thought to be extinct) which worships an energy being from a parallel, but dark, dimension. And if that cult gains control of Orbos and its black light experiment, the universe is in imminent danger. What the Doctor and his friends don’t know is that the cult is already in control.

written by Trevox Baxendale
directed by Jason Haigh-Ellery
music by Andy Hardwick

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Lisa Bowerman (Bernice), Michael Praed (Slyde), Steven Wickham (Victor / Joseph), Andrew Westfield (Remnex), Hannah Smith (Lomar), Toby Longworth (Broke)

Timeline: between the novels “The All-Consuming Fire” and “Blood Harvest”

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Dalek Empire Doctor Who

Dalek War Chapter III

Dalek War Chapter IIISuz slowly recovers from her Dalek-inflicted ordeal, which reveals that she is indeed in possession of the Emperor Dalek’s consciousness. In Earth’s solar system, Kalendorf’s crew explores the terraformed Jupiter with disastrous results, and the Mentor – the leader of the alternate universe Daleks – strips him of his command. When his ship is attacked, Kalendorf takes advantage of the confusion to escape, and makes a beeline for Mirana’s ship, which is also returning to the solar system under Dalek control. When he reaches the ship and is reunited with Suz, Alby begins to suspect the same thing of which the Mentor has accused Kalendorf: the leader of the rebellion has switched sides.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Sarah Mowat (Susan Mendes), Teresa Gallagher (Mirana), Gareth Thomas (Kalendorf), Mark McDonnell (Alby Brook), Dannie Carr (Morli), Jeremy James (Herrick / Trooper / Vaarga Man), Ian Brooker (Marber / Sparks), Hannah Smith (The Mentor), Steven Elder (Siy Tarkov), Karen Henson (Saloran Hardew), Nicholas Briggs (Daleks), Simon Bridge (Scientist), Mark Donovan (Allenby)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

The Crossing

Star Trek: EnterpriseThe Enterprise stops alongside a derelict alien craft, but the crew’s seemingly fruitless exploration of the ship has allowed alien visitors to stow away on the Enterprise herself. The vaporous life forms inhabit Trip first in a process they call the crossing, and introduce themselves to Captain Archer as fellow explorers. But as more of the gaseous beings take over the bodies of Enterprise crewmembers, Archer decides that the aliens’ explorations of his crew must come to an end. Soon, however, so many of the crew are taken over that the uncompromised officers take shelter in one of the warp nacelle catwalks – one of only a very few places inpenetrable by the beings in their ethereal form. Anyone risking a journey into the rest of the ship to stop the aliens is likely to be taken over themselves, leaving the crew with only one hope – Dr. Phlox, immune to the visitors’ crossing.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
story by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga and Andrè Bormanis
directed by David Livingston
music by Paul Baillargeon

Guest Cast: Joseph Will (Rostov), Steven Allerick (Ensign Cook), Alexander Chance (Crewman #1), Matthew Kaminsky (Crewman #2)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 02 Star Trek

Judgment

Star Trek: EnterpriseThe Enterprise is cornered by Klingon vessels after a humanitarian aid mission which led Archer to order evasion tactics that crippled another Klingon ship. Taken to Qo’nos to stand trial, Archer is introduced to his defense attorney, Kolos – who stands silently and offers no objections, no evidence and no testimony of his own at Archer’s trial. Duras, the captain of the Klingon ship disabled by the Enterprise, and now reduced in rank, presents his own version of events, alleging that Archer took an extremely hostile stance against him. But when Archer’s own defense won’t even allow him to speak at his trial, how can he avoid spending the rest of his life performing hard labor on Rura Penthe…and can T’Pol convince his crew not to create further diplomatic strife by rescuing him?

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by David A. Goodman
story by Taylor Elmore & David A. Goodman
directed by Jim Conway
music by Velton Ray Bunch

Guest Cast: J.G. Hertzler (Kolos), John Vickery (Orak), Granville Van Dusen (Magistrate), Daniel Riordan (Duras), Helen Cates (Klingon First Officer), Victor Talmadge (Asahf), D.J. Lockhart (Klingon Cell Guard)

Notes: The set design of the Klingon court chamber and Rura Penthe are, of course, based on similar scenes from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (which, technically, takes place over a century later, hence the slight differences in the sets); the Duras character is intended to be an ancestor of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Duras, whose father betrayed the Klingons to the Romulans at Khitomer and then shifted the blame to Mogh, leading the High Council to dishonor Mogh’s son Worf for the crime. Guest star J.G. Hertzler played the curmudgeonly Klingon General Martok in the fourth through seventh seasons of Deep Space Nine. John Vickery has also appeared in past Star Trek segments, though SF fans may better recognize him as the recurring character of Neroon from Babylon 5.

LogBook entry by Earl Green