Death Comes To Time

Doctor Who: Death Comes To TimeThe planet Santiny is overrun by a massive invasion by a Canisian fleet. Even suicide runs don’t prevent the Canisians, as their leader, General Tannis, seems to be able to forsee every possible tactic. Almost as if in answer to the prayers of the survivors on Santiny, the TARDIS arrives, and the Doctor and his blue-skinned companion Antimony emerge to begin helping Santiny’s resistance movement. Meanwhile, Ace – planted in a strategic position by the Doctor – has been rescued by a Time Lord named Casmus, who begins training her for the next step in her own evolution. Elsewhere, a group of Time Lords called the Fraction, dedicated to interference in time on the side of good, begin falling one by one to a stealthy killer. Finally, the string of deaths draws the Doctor’s attention away from the Canisian problem, and also gets the attention of Casmus. On Gallifrey, Casmus accelerates Ace’s training, speeding her evolution into a new breed of Time Lord. Time is running out, as Tannis is also revealed to be a Time Lord who is using his conquests to disguise his identity. But will Ace learn to use her powers for good soon enough to confront Tannis, or will the Doctor – having witnessed Antimony’s death at the general’s hands – be forced to use his Time Lord powers to a degree that will not only kill Tannis but himself as well?

Order this CDwritten by Colin Meek
directed by Dan Freedman
music by Nick Romero

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Kevin Eldon (Antimony), John Sessions (General Tannis), Leonard Fenton (Casmus), Jon Culshaw (Golcrum / Senator Hawk / President), Jacqueline Pearce (Admiral Mettna), Stephen Fry (The Minister Of Chance), Britta Gartner (Senator Sala), Anthony Stewart Head (St. Valentine), Dave Hill (Nessican), Charlotte Palmer (Dr. Cain), Stephen Brody (Speedwell), Gareth Jones (Campion), Andrew McGibbon (Captain Carne), Michael Yale (Lieutenant Suneel), Peggy Batchelor (The Kingmaker), David Evans (Pilot), Robert Rietti (Premier Bedloe), Julienne Davis (Computer), Emma Ferguson (Megan), Huw Thomas (President of Santiny), Nick Romero (Major Bander / Prime Minister), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), David Soul (Bob)

Originally broadcast from July 13, 2001 to May 30, 2002

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

A Gift From The Glish

HyperdriveIn the year 2151, the spaceship HMS Camden Lock is on a mission to represent British interests in deep space, and that mission is not going smoothly. Captain Henderson has been tasked with the difficult mission of promoting use of the Peterborough Enterprise Zone, but with alien visitors like the Glish, it’s an uphill climb – particularly when part of the ritual of greeting the Glish involves allowing them to lick the people who are greeting them. Offended at the reactions to their friendly greeting, the Glish leave a present for the Camden Lock’s crew – a creature capable of wreaking deadly havoc. Naturally, it’ll choose to do precisely that during the next visit by a foreign dignitary.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Paterson Joseph (Space Marshal), Richard Katz (Male Glish), Katherine Jakeways (Female Glish), Laurence Howarth (Fasmoff), Remi Wilson (Piretti), Joe Marshall (Wade), Waen Shepherd (Captain Helix), Stephanie Dooley (Beautiful Space Lady), Morwenna Banks (Announcer), Maggie Service (Computer voice), Ewan Bailey (Computer voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Hello Queppu

HyperdriveCommander Henderson is assigned to open diplomatic relations with an alien race called the Queppu, primarily so the Tesco retail chain can extend its reach across the galaxy. Henderson takes Teal and York with him, insisting that York leave the heavy weaponry on the Camden Lock, but when the Queppu reveal their primitive, warlike tendencies, Henderson’s first contact team is in trouble. Worse yet, he’s left Jeffers in charge of the ship, and when Henderson needs help the most, his crew isn’t there.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Paterson Joseph (Space Marshal), Steven Burrell (Joshua), Geoffrey McGivern (Supreme Ruler), Montserrat Lombard (Lavya), Byron McGuinness (Courtier), Morwenna Banks (Announcer), Maggie Service (Computer voices)

Notes: Geoffrey McGivern was the actor behind the microphone in the original and revived BBC Radio series of Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, though he did not appear in the 1981 TV adaptation (in which he was replaced by David Dixon, who was thought to look more otherworldly).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Weekend Off

HyperdriveJunior bridge officer Vine obsesses over an online auction for a nearly-uninhabitable planet with almost no mineral value, no life forms, and no precious resources. The source of his obsession is not the planet itself, but the fact that Vine’s longtime auction rival is bidding on the same planet, and he sees an opportunity to out-snipe his old enemy. Soon, Vine is the new owner of a geologically unstable rock that costs him two years’ wages, and wants Jeffers to vacation on his new planet with him. Sandstrom, the genetically-modified navigator, is introduced to chocolate, causing her to become psychotic. Security officer York begins to suspect that all of these events are part of a concentrated effort to eliminate the ship’s senior officers. And he’s right, though he’s guessed completely wrong about who’s behind it and why.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Joe Marshall (Wade), Remi Wilson (Piretti), Morwenna Banks (Announcer), Maggie Service (Computer voices)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Asteroid

HyperdriveThe Camden Lock is sent to play host to representatives from two warring races who stand at the brink of war over the ownership of a mineral-rich asteroid. Henderson is advised to wait for a third ship – full of American mediators – to handle the delicate negotiations. Determined to show that his British ship and crew doesn’t need the Americans to handle the tough jobs, Henderson decides to try a little bit of brinksmanship, threatening to destroy the asteroid so neither party can have it. Then he forgets to countermand that order, and the asteroid is destroyed moments after an agreement is reached. But the alien races remain allies…and join forces against the inept Earth ship. So it’s a great day for interplanetary diplomacy, but a really, really quite spectacularly unlucky day for the crew of the Camden Lock…

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Paterson Joseph (Space Marshal), Colin McFarlane (Male Bulaahg), Martina McClements (Female Bulaahg), James Bachman (Lallakkiss 1), Neil Edmond (Lallakkiss 2), Wren Shepherd (Captain Helix), Morwenna Banks (Announcer), Maggie Service (Computer Voices)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Clare

HyperdriveDuring a joint British/Danish drug blockade, an unidentified ship wanders into the Camden Lock’s search area. But it’s no drug runner – it’s legendary experimental solar sail pilot Clare Winchester, who has been out of contact with the rest of the human race for quite some time. Henderson wants to be the first human to greet her in years, but upon boarding her ship, he finds that Clare has become a little bit eccentric – actually, very, very eccentric. His attempts to help her result in a less than helpful result: namely, he becomes her hostage. Worse yet, York wants to lead a strike team – consisting of the rest of the bridge crew – to save Henderson with the maximum possible amount of violence.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Sally Phillips (Clare Winchester), William Brand (Danish Commander), Remi Wilson (Piretti) Morwenna Banks (Announcer), Maggie Service (Computer Voices)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Assessment

HyperdriveAs the crew is distracted by mandatory psychological assessment tests, the Camden Lock strays into contested space, where automatic defense systems wreak serious damage on Henderson’s ship. He is to submit to a Category “J” inspection in a week’s time, an inspection which has ended many a space captain’s career. Henderson retreats to his quarters and hands command over to York, who promises to have the ship running at peak efficiency before the inspector arrives, and demands unquestioning loyalty and obedience from the crew. The crew, however, has different ideas. In the meantime, pan-galactic beings are contacting Vine in his mind, offering knowledge beyond human comprehension.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York / False York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Paterson Joseph (Space Marshal), Wren Shepherd (Captain Helix), Stephanie Dooley (Beautiful Space Lady), Adam Payne (young Vine), Joe Marshall (Wade), Remi Wilson (Piretti), Chris Brailsford (Space Force Inspector), Sarah Solemani (Alien 1), Katy Brand (Alien 2), Morwenna Banks (Announcer), Maggie Service (Computer Voices), Ewan Bailey (Computer Voices)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Green Javelins

HyperdriveCommander Henderson has big news for the crew of the Camden Lock – due to the destruction of another ship, they have secured a place in the Green Javelins, a stunt-flying squadron of starships showcasing Britain’s finest spaceship builders and crews. What Henderson doesn’t know is that his ship is only filling in for one display, but it’s a big one: an alien government is considering purchasing British-made starships, and even one slightly inept maneuver could end that deal. Worse still, Teal had a previous relationship with the commander of the Green Javelins’ flagship, and is both mortified and intrigued to find that he still harbors feelings for her as well, so much so that he wants her to transfer to his ship. Meanwhile, York creates an artificial replica of himself that bewilders all of his shipmates.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York / False York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Stephen Mangan (Mason), Paterson Joseph (Space Marshal), Marek Larwood (Amorf Spets), Toby Park (McCluskey), Robert Galas (Teenager), Maggie Service (Voices), Ewan Bailey (Voices)

HyperdriveNotes: The Camden Lock is an Andover-class ship. By the end of the episode, the Camden Lock is an Andover-class ship with lots and lots of heavy damage. We also find out that Andover-class ships with lots and lots of heavy damage can land, at least in low-gravity environments such as Earth’s moon. Guest star Stephen Mangan would later take on the title role of the BBC’s TV adaptation of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently books.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Artefact

HyperdriveThe discovery of an artefact in deep space stirs irresistible curiosity in the crew (except for York, who warns that it is almost certainly a hero trap). After deciphering alien writing on the object, Henderson decides to take it “home”…which turns out to be a planet ruled by the Queppu race. There are cameras installed in an enclosed zone on the planet, where the Queppu send hapless contestants to fight to the death for a television reality show. York is eager for the opportunity to show his killing prowess, while Teal isn’t adjusting well to this new scenario at all. And since he can’t simply say “I’m an Earthling, get me out of here!”, Henderson is baffled as to why the rest of the crew isn’t mounting a rescue…and why no one seems to be rising up to oppose the tyrannical ruler of the Queppu.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Geoffrey McGivern (Supreme Ruler), Montserrat Lombard (Lavya), Hon Ping Tang (Sergeant Destruction), Dustin Demri Burns (Queppu Warrior), Stephan Kreiss (Gunface), Tannoy Voices (Ewan Bailey)

Notes: The Queppu were first encountered in season one (in the episode Hello Queppu, naturally).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Admiral’s Daughter

HyperdriveThe Camden Lock is dispatched to retrieve the wayward daughter of an Earth admiral, which Teal, York and Vine manage to do in a somewhat clumsy undercover operation. Vine is a bit smitten with the girl, and once he meets her, so is Jeffers. But the admiral’s daughter has such an utter disdain for anything to do with the Earth space service that neither one of them has a chance with her…unless one of them works up the nerve to do something like going against orders.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Catherine Shepherd (Arabella), Paterson Joseph (Space Marshall), Wren Shepherd (Captain Helix), Jim Howick (Swamp Creature), Ewan Bailey (Voices)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Harvest

HyperdriveAn incident during the arrest of an alien goes viral on the news, making the Camden Lock crew, especially York, look thuggish and unsavory. Henderson is left with no choice but to relieve York of duty and put the ship on a heading for the nearest Starbase, where York will disembark in disgrace. Teal is promoted to first officer in his place, but doesn’t really know what to do when, upon arrival at the Starbase, she discovers that alien robots have taken it over to harvest human organs, and intend to do the same to the Camden Lock‘s crew.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Dan Tetsell (Robot 1), Ben Crowe (Robot 2), Wren Shepherd (Captain Helix), John Roy (Humanoid Alien), Ewan Bailey (Voices)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Dreamgate

HyperdriveA routine inspection of a ship in deep space puts Henderson in possession of a forbidden device known as a dreamgate, enabling its user to experience the dreams of others. While Henderson and York both know the dreamgate should be destroyed to prevent its misuse, they proceed to misuse it to peek into the others’ subconscious. When they discover that Vine’s subconscious is basically a 1990s pub – or, as York puts it, his “pubconscious” mind – they find it difficult to return to reality.

written by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Wren Shepherd (Captain Helix), Tom Basden (Lallakkiss), Fox Jackson Keen (Lallakkid), Pastie Lord (Andy Riley), Maggie Service (Voices)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Convoy

HyperdriveThe Camden Lock joins a convoy to escort a British-built space superweapon to a classified location. Henderson naturally takes the opportunity to flirt with the female commanders of the other two ships in the convoy, and with his attention on that matter, the Scrane’s sudden overwhelming attack to seize the weapon for themselves comes as a bit of a surprise. The Scrane are driven off, and a prisoner is taken who claims that there is a traitor among Henderson’s senior crew – an accusation that York finds evidence to back up in the wreckage of the Scrane ship. But who among Henderson’s crew would sell out Earth?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley
directed by John Henderson
music by Mark Thomas

HyperdriveCast: Nick Frost (Henderson), Kevin Eldon (York), Miranda Hart (Teal), Dan Antopolski (Jeffers), Stephen Evans (Vine), Petra Massey (Sandstrom), Wren Shepherd (Captain Helix), Paterson Joseph (Space Marshal), Clare Thomson (Commander Roche), Thalia Zucchi (Commander Gulati), Alisdair McKee (Scrane), Ewan Bailey (Voice Over), Maggie Service (Voice Over)

Notes: This is the final episode, to date, of Hyperdrive. Although Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley Hyperdrivedeveloped outlines for a third season, a third year of the show was never commissioned. Nick Frost has gone on to appear in, among other things, the 2014 Doctor Who Christmas special (as Santa Claus, no less), while Miranda Hart moved on to greater fame in both Call The Midwife and her own self-titled sitcom (and has been mooted as a possible female Doctor Who every time the subject of selecting a new star for that show has come up since Hyperdrive’s conclusion). Kevin Eldon also moved on to a self-titled sitcom, and has more recently been the voice of Penfold in the revived Danger Mouse series and appeared as Camello in Game Of Thrones.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Twentica

Red DwarfA chance run-in with a particularly nasty breed of simulants called exponoids becomes a momentary hostage crisis. Lister has to trade a piece of arcane time travel technology – which has been propping up Starbug’s pool table – to get Rimmer back. But once armed with time travel, the exponoids go back in time to rewrite human history, outlawing any post-steam-powered technology and forbidding scientific research. Great scientific minds are either locked up, or simply never come into being. Kryten and Rimmer run the risk of being discovered. A dying man hands some kind of electronic component to Lister and tells him to take it to the hostess of a local speakeasy; there, Lister and the others find that science and technology still happen here, but in secret…and Lister has been given a piece of a weapon that could set history straight.

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

Red DwarfCast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), Kevin Eldon (4 of 27), Lucie Pohl (Harmony), David Sterne (Einstein Bob), Sam Douglas (Bouncer), Rebecca Blackstone (Big Bang Beryl), Kyle James (Nearly Dead Guy), Suanne Braun (Cpt. Dorothy McCutcheon), David Menkin (Lt. Clarence O’Neal), Alexis Dubus (3 of 63)

Notes: Kevin Eldon was one of the regular cast members of BBC2’s sci-fi comedy Hyperdrive, a show which many saw as the BBC’s attempt to recapture the Red Dwarf audience at a time when Red Dwarf had been out of production for several years. He also voiced a character in the Doctor Who radio project Death Comes To Time.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

It Takes You Away

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS lands in Norway, 2018, near a cabin that seems to be abandoned; when Ryan catches a fleeting glimpse of someone inside the house, they decide to investigate, finding a blind girl hiding in a wardrobe. Her father is missing, and she lives in fear of creatures that she hears lurking outside. Those same sounds drive the time travelers into the house for shelter, and they discover a mirror that isn’t what it seems to be, but is instead a portal to another dimension. The Doctor, Graham and Yaz go through the portal to investigate, leaving Ryan to watch over the girl at the house. Soon, he discovers that she’s not exactly helpless, and the howling sounds coming from outside aren’t coming from vicious creatures. The Doctor, Yaz and Graham find themselves in a near-exact copy of the house they just left, complete with the girl’s missing father – and the mother who she said was dead. The Doctor can say nothing to convince him to leave this dimension, not even for the sake of his own daughter…and worse yet, Grace appears to Graham, trying to convince him to stay as well.

Order the DVDwritten by Ed Hime
directed by Jamie Childs
music by Segun Akinola

Doctor WhoCast: Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Bradley Walsh (Graham O’Brien), Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair), Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan), Sharon D. Clarke (Grace), Eleanor Wallwork (Hanne), Kevin Eldon (Ribbons), Christian Rubeck (Erik), Lisa Stokke (Trine)

Doctor WhoNotes: Kevin Eldon is an old hand at Doctor Who and science fiction in general, though his prior Doctor Who role wasn’t on television: he starred as the seventh Doctor’s robotic companion Antimony in the animated audio drama Death Comes To Time in 2001, a production that – in the absence of new television episodes – sought to rewrite some of the ground rules of the series (including killing off the Doctor!), causing some controversy in fandom. He was one of the stars of the BBC2 sci-fi comedy Hyperdrive, guest starred in an episode of the 21st century revival of Red Dwarf, and has more recently been the voice of Penfold in the revived Danger Mouse series and appeared as Camello in Game Of Thrones.

LogBook entry by Earl Green