Testimony Of A Traitor

The Searcher makes a return to Earth, and once refueled and resupplied the ship will return to its deep space exploration mission. But before the Searcher can set off again, the Commissioner of Earth’s war crimes tribunal grounds the ship and arrives to personally arrest Buck. An ancient audiovisual recording medium predating the holocaust, known as a “videotape,” is uncovered, and its still-intact contents implicate Buck in a conspiracy that led to the near-destruction of Earth in the late 20th century. The Commissioner convenes Buck’s trial aboard the Searcher, and makes it clear that based on the damning evidence, he intends to pursue the death penalty. Buck claims he remembers none of what is recorded on the tape, but even when he submits to a mind probe devised by Dr. Goodfellow to reveal his true memories of 20th century Earth, images of his apparent betrayal of his own country still inexplicably appear.

written by Stephen McPherson
directed by Bernard McEveety
music by Bruce Broughton

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Colonel Wilma Deering), Thom Christopher (Hawk), Jay Garner (Admiral Asimov), Wilfred Hyde-White (Dr. Goodfellow), Felix Silla (Twiki), Jeff David (voice of Crichton), Ramon Bieri (Commissioner Bergstrom), William Sylvester (Lt. General Preston Myers), David Hooks (General Arnheim), Walter Brooke (President of the United States), John Milford (Official), John O’Connell (Major Peterson), Thomas Bellin (Crawford), Buck Young (Brigadier General Biles), Carl Reindel (Air Force Sergeant), Eric Lawrence (Young Marine), Jim Emery (Marine Pilot), Dean Brooks (Marine Sergeant), Bill Andes (Colonel Turner)

Notes: The videotape identifies November 22nd, 1987 as the date of the nuclear war – and apparently in whatever alternate history Buck’s adventures took place in, gigantic top-loading VCRs were still in use. (It’s also an odd coincidence – the 24th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy – given the conspiratorial nature of the storyline.) Guest star William Sylvester had appeared in another SF favorite, playing the role of Dr. Heywood Floyd in 2001: a space odyssey.