Tag: Season Finale

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Classic Season 19 Doctor Who

Time-Flight

Doctor WhoThe authorities at Heathrow Airport are suspicious when a Police Box appears in their terminal within moments of the disappearance of a Concorde aircraft in mid-air. The Doctor drops the name of U.N.I.T. and is allowed to help in the search for the whereabouts – or, he suspects, the whenabouts – of the missing plane. The Doctor, with Nyssa, Tegan and the TARDIS in tow, takes the next Concorde flight on an identical vector, and soon finds himself on prehistoric Earth, along with the passengers and crew of the other plane. A strange being called Kalid has hijacked the two planes into Earth’s past to use their passengers and crew as slave labor for a sinister task – and Kalid is also very interested in the Doctor’s TARDIS.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Peter Grimwade
directed by Ron Jones
music by Roger Limb

Guest Cast: Anthony Ainley (The Master/Kalid), Nigel Stock (Professor Hayter), Richard Easton (Captain Stapley), Keith Drinkel (Flight Engineer Scobie), Michael Cashman (First Officer Bilton), Peter Dahlsen (Horton), Brian McDermott (Sheard), John Flint (Captain Urquhart), Judith Blyfield (Angela Clifford/Tannoy voice), Peter Cellier (Andrews), Hugh Hayes (Anithon), Andre Winterton (Zarak), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric illusion), Graham Cole (Melkur illusion), Chris Bradshaw (Terileptil illusion), Tommy Winward (Security man), Barney Lawrence (Dave Culshaw)

Broadcast from March 22 through 30, 1982

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 20 Doctor Who

The King’s Demons – Part 2

Doctor WhoWith the unmasking of the Master – posing as King John’s knight “champion” – the Doctor is now more certain than ever that an impostor is trying to prevent King John from singing the Magna Carta. The time travelers discover that his majesty is not all that he appears – King John has been replaced by an intelligent, shapeshifting android called Kamelion. But at the moment, Kamelion is merely a puppet, and his strings are held by the Master, who escaped from Xeriphas (bringing Kamelion, a Xeriphan invention, with him) and now hopes to unravel the entire history of western civilization.

Order the DVDwritten by Terence Dudley
directed by Tony Virgo
music by Jonathan Gibbs & Peter Howell

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Frank Windsor (Ranulf), Gerald Flood (King John/voice of Kamelion), Isla Blair (Isabella), Christopher Villiers (Hugh), Michael J. Jackson (Sir Geoffrey), Peter Burroughs (Jester)

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Blackadder Season 1

The Black Seal

Blackadder1498. Humiliations at court finally lead Edmund to attempt to overthrow the King. He dismisses Baldrick and Percy and sets out to form The Black Seal, a band consisting of the six most evil men in the land. With their help he hopes to gain the Crown. But Edmund’s new friends are not really the type you can trust in a pinch…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson
with additional dialogue by William Shakespeare
directed by Martin Shardlow
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: John Carlisle (Murdered Lord), Bert Parnaby (Cain), Roy Evans (Abel), Forbes Collins (Trusting Father), Des Webb (Person of unrestricted growth), John Barrard (Retired Morris Dancer), Perry Bevon (Pigeon Vendor), John Hallam (Sir Wilfred Death), Roger Sloman (Three-Fingered Pete), Patrick Malahide (Guy de Glastonbury), Ron Cook (Sean, the Irish Bastard), Paul Brooke (Friar Bellows), Big Mick (Jack Large), Rik Mayall (Mad Gerald), Patrick Allen (Philip of Burgandy, The Hawk)

Notes: Edmund’s wife, Princess Leia, is notably not among those killed at the end of this episode. While Leia was likely around ten at the time of her marriage (1492), she would be about sixteen by the time of this episode, a more than reasonable child-bearing age for the day, thus assuring the Blackadder line to follow.

Cain and Abel (portrayed by Bert Parnaby and Roy Evans) have had a hard time. Three years earlier (in Witchsmeller Pursuivant) they were still healthy, if stupid. By 1498, they’re both blind.

Rik Mayall returned for appearances in Blackadder II (Bells), Blackadder Goes Forth (Private Plane), and Blackadder: Back & Forth. The role of Mad Gerald was credited in this episode to “himself.” Mayall is best known for his alternative comedy work in such TV series as The Young Ones, Bottom and The New Statesmen. (He also starred in Drop Dead Fred (1991), but let’s not hold that against him.)

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

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Astronauts Season 2

Episode 13

AstronautsOn the morning of the crew’s return to Earth, Mattocks receives a personal message from his wife Valerie. As Ackroyd and Foster continue to worry about whether or not their commander, still flush with newfound religious enthusiasm, is in any kind of mental state to fly them home, Mattocks proceeds to fall apart. The private message was an admission that Valerie has been less than faithful during Mattocks’ six month stay in space. Can Beadle convince the astronauts to return when all three of them are now convinced that they have nothing left on the ground with living for?

written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie
directed by Dick Clement

AstronautsCast: Christopher Godwin (Mattocks), Carmen Du Sautoy (Foster), Barrie Rutter (Ackroyd), Bruce Boa (Beadle), Mary Healey (Valerie), and Bimbo (himself)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Chocky Season 1

Episode Six

ChockyMatthew goes missing from school, and is gone for five days, during which reports surface that he got into a stranger’s car; he abruptly turns up mostly unharmed, aside from having received several injections and claiming to have been in a violent car wreck. Matthew remembers having been in a hospital, but not much else. As Matthew sleeps, Chocky emerges and finally speaks to another human being – Matthew’s father – to explain why Matthew was chosen…and what must happen to him now.

written by Anthony Read
based on the novel by John Wyndham
directed by Vic Hughes and Christopher Hodson
music not credited

ChockyCast: James Hazeldine (David), Carol Drinkwater (Mary), Andrew Ellams (Matthew), Zoe Hart (Polly), Penny Brownjohn (Phyl), John Pennington (Inspector Maggs), Derek Broome (Police Constable), Martyn Lewis (Newsreader), Glynis Brooks (Chocky’s voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 21 Doctor Who

The Twin Dilemma

Doctor WhoThe seemingly harmless Professor Edgeworth abducts Romulus and Remus Sylvest, twin boys whose immense mathematical prowess is closely guarded for fear that it could become a powerful weapon in the wrong hands. Edgeworth’s paymaster is Mestor, the giant gastropod, who plans to have the boys calculate a way to plunge the Jacondan solar system into chaos – all for the sake of hatching thousands of giant larvae containing a future swarm of gastropods. Edgeworth is the alias of Azmael, an outcast Time Lord who is reluctantly working for Mestor, but unknown to him, a fellow Time Lord is about to come crashing into Mestor’s plan for universal domination – a Time Lord who is suffering from a severely traumatic regeneration, and whose actions and moods cannot be predicted.

Order the DVDwritten by Anthony Steven
directed by Peter Moffatt
music by Malcolm Clarke

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Maurice Denham (Edgeworth/Azmael), Kevin McNally (Hugo Lang), Edwin Richfield (Mestor), Barry Stanton (Noma), Oliver Smith (Drak), Seymour Green (Chamberlain), Paul Conrad (Romulus), Andrew Conrad (Remus), Dennis Chinnery (Sylvest), Helen Blatch (Fabian), Dione Inman (Elena), Roger Nott (Prisoner), John Wilson (Guard)

Broadcast from March 22 through 30, 1984

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Chocky Season 2: Chocky's Children

Episode 2.6

Chocky's ChildrenAs sneaky as Matthew has tried to be, Deacon has anticipated his arrival at the clinic where Albertine is being held; both children are now under lock and key. But with the help of Chocky, guiding them to join their minds as a gestalt entity, they are able to escape. Just as Deacon tries to block their way out, they call upon another power to repel him, joining minds with children the world over who have encountered Chocky.

written by Anthony Read
based on characters created by John Wyndham
directed by Peter Duguid
music not credited

ChockyCast: Andrew Ellams (Matthew), Anabel Worrell (Albertine), James Hazeldine (David), Angela Galbreath (Cissie), Prentis Hancock (Meyer), Ed Bishop (Deacon), Michael Crampton (Luke), Jeremy Bulloch (Landis), Brian de Salvo (Doctor), Glynis Brooks (Chocky’s voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 22 Doctor Who

Revelation of the Daleks

Doctor WhoThe Doctor arrives on the planet Necros, whose chief industry is funeral services, to pay his final respects to an old friend. But Necros isn’t what it used to be. It’s now run by The Great Healer – in reality, Davros, creator of the malevolent Daleks – who is using Necros as cover for his experiments to convert human beings into mindless Dalek operators. The head of the funeral industry, Kara, has hired an assassin to dispose of Davros, but her hired gun quickly realizes that he’s being paid to act as cannon fodder. The Doctor discovers that his arrival has been anticipated, but he doesn’t suspect that the Daleks are involved until he falls into their clutches.

Order the DVDwritten by Eric Saward
directed by Graeme Harper
music by Roger Limb

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Terry Molloy (Davros), Eleanor Bron (Kara), Clive Swift (Jobel), Alexei Sayle (DJ), Jenny Tomasin (Tasambeker), William Gaunt (Orcini), John Ogwen (Bostock), Stephen Flynn (Grigory), Bridget Lynch-Blosse (Natasha), Trevor Cooper (Takis), Colin Spaull (Lilt), Hugh Walters (Vogel), Alec Linstead (head of Stengos), Ken Barker (Mutant), Royce Mills, Roy Skelton (Dalek voices), Penelope Lee (Computer voice), John Scott Martin, Cy Town, Tony Starr, Toby Byrne (Daleks)

Broadcast from March 23 through 30, 1985

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 23 Doctor Who

The Ultimate Foe (Trial Of A Time Lord, Parts 13-14)

Doctor WhoThe Doctor is still on trial for his life, facing a new charge – genocide – levelled at him by the prosecuting Valeyard. The Doctor counters that the Valeyard has tampered with the evidence through the immense Gallifreyan information storage system known as the Matrix – but a Time Lord whose job is to tend the Matrix refutes this charge. Then, mysterious things begin happening. Two friendly witnesses arrive in the form of criminal Sabalon Glitz and future companion Melanie – with whom the Doctor has yet to travel at this point in his history. And then the Master appears from within the Matrix, admitting to providing these witnesses as part of his plan to help the Doctor and topple the High Council of the Time Lords at the same time. The Master also reveals that the Valeyard is, in fact, a future incarnation of the Doctor – a future incarnation gone mad and turned to evil. With this revelation the Doctor and the Valeyard plunge into the Matrix, aided and abetted by Glitz, Mel, and the Master, ready to fight the most dangerous battle between good and evil that any Time Lord has ever fought, where his mortal adversary is himself.

Order the DVDpart 13 written by Robert Holmes
part 14 written by Pip Baker & Jane Baker
directed by Chris Clough
music by Dominic Glynn

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Bonnie Langford (Melanie), Michael Jayston (The Valeyard), Lynda Bellingham (Inquisitor), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Tony Selby (Glitz), Geoffrey Hughes (Mr. Popplewick), James Bree (Keeper of the Matrix)

Broadcast from November 29 through December 6, 1986

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 24 Doctor Who

Dragonfire

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Mel pay a visit to Svartos, an ice planet with an enormous habitation complex which extends far above the surface. Though it seems innocuous enough on the surface – the TARDIS materializes in a frozen goods store – a chance encounter with Sabalon Glitz, bumbling intergalactic treasure-seeker not-so-extraordinaire quickly leads the Doctor into trouble, and introduces him to Ace, a sarcastic teenager from Earth who inexplicably found herself on Svartos and now works as a waitress. Glitz has obtained a map of the caverns beneath the planet’s surface, where a dragon is rumored to lurk, guarding a priceless treasure. The Doctor agrees to accompany Glitz on his search, more curious about the dragon itself than what it may be guarding. Mel, left behind with Ace, finds herself in very deep trouble when the younger girl runs afoul of the authorities and brings herself to the attention of Kane, an alien who cannot leave the sub-freezing portions of the complex. Little do the Doctor and Glitz realize that the dragon is all that stands between the people of Svartos and Kane’s plans for a bloody reign of terror.

Order the DVDwritten by Ian Briggs
directed by Chris Clough
music by Dominic Glynn

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Melanie), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Tony Selby (Glitz), Edward Peel (Kane), Patricia Quinn (Belazs), Tony Osoba (Kracauer), Stephanie Fayerman (McLuhan), Sean Blowers (Zed), Stuart Organ (Bazin), Nigel Miles-Thomas (Pudovkin), Shirin Taylor (Customer), Miranda Borman (Stellar), Ian Mackenzie (Anderson), Chris MacDonnell (Arnheim), Leslie Meadows (Creature), Daphne Oxenford (Archivist), Lynn Gardner (Announcer)

Broadcast from November 23 through December 7, 1987

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Red Dwarf Season 01

Me2

Red DwarfIn Stereo Where Available, Baby: It could only get better, Rimmer decides, by tricking Lister into activating a second hologram which he thinks will be Kochanski, but is instead a backup copy of Rimmer himself. It’s love at first sight for Rimmer, who moves into the next room with his duplicate. But all isn’t well – Rimmer’s ambition gets the best of him, as does Rimmer’s amibiton. In the meantime, Cat leaves a present in Rimmer’s closet for future archaeologists to puzzle over, while Lister watches a video of Rimmer’s death and discovers the deadly secret of gazpacho soup, a mystery Rimmer took with him to the grave. But since Rimmer unfortunately didn’t stay there long, Lister will do anything to find out why his dying words were “gazpacho soup.”

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Mac McDonald (Captain Hollister)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 01 Star Trek The Next Generation

The Neutral Zone

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 41986.0: Data, curious about three cryogenically frozen earth people from the 20th century found in a derelict preservation satellite, brings them back to the ship and Dr. Crusher revives them. Meanwhile, Picard and Riker must be prepared to negotiate or fight as the Romulans return to the borders of the neutral zone – and the 20th century visitors only complicate matters.

Order the DVDstelevision story and teleplay by Maurice Hurley
from a story by Deborah McIntyre and Mona Clee
directed by James L. Conway
music by Ron Jones

Guest Cast: Marc Alaimo (Subcommander Tebok), Anthony James (Subcommander Thei), Leon Rippy (L.Q. “Sonny” Clemonds), Gracie Harrison (Claire Raymond), Peter Mark Richman (Ralph Offenhouse)

Notes: Although not actually seen in this episode, the Borg are later said to have caused the destruction of the Federation and Romulan outposts.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Red Dwarf Season 02

Parallel Universe

Red DwarfPreface From “How To Pick Up Girls By Hypnosis”: Saving Lister from further discussion of Rimmer’s maladjusted view of women, Holly announces the invention of the Holly Hop Drive, which can instantaneously transport Red Dwarf across vast reaches of space, at least in theory. When Lister activates the Hop Drive, Red Dwarf winds up in another dimension parallel to Red Dwarf’s, but different – the roles of men and women are reversed, and Lister, Rimmer and Cat run into another Red Dwarf, occupied by a female Rimmer, a female Lister, a female computer named Hilly, and a creature that evolved from the ship’s dog. Rimmer is confronted with his sexist alter-ego who keeps trying to pick him up by hypnosis, and Lister winds up in bed with himself – in a more literal way than usual – and has to contend with getting pregnant.

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Suzanne Bertish (Rimmer), Angela Bruce (Lister), Matthew Devitt (Dog), Hattie Hayridge (Hilly)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 25 Doctor Who

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS is invaded – not by Daleks, Sontarans or Cybermen, but by a satellite delivering junk mail to any passing vessels. This particular satellite brings good tidings from Segonax, home of the Psychic Circus, and the Doctor is intrigued – while Ace is repulsed, primarily by the thought of circus clowns. The Doctor decides to go anyway, and finds Segonax less inviting than its sales pitch promised. From the curious variety of other circusgoers, to the abandoned bus manned by a homicidal robot tram conductor, to the mysterious explorer known only as the Captain and his exotic sidekick Mags, the Doctor immediately senses that something is wrong. Upon arriving at the Psychic Circus at last, the Doctor discovers the truth: those coming to visit the circus are not there as spectators, but as the entertainment – and the penalty for failing to entertain the unusual audience, a seemingly bland family of three, is death.

Order the DVDwritten by Stephen Wyatt
directed by Alan Wareing
music by Mark Ayres

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), T.P. McKenna (The Captain), Jessica Martin (Mags), Christopher Guard (Bellboy), Dee Sadler (Flowerchild), Ian Reddington (Chief Clown), Deborah Manship (Morgana), Ricco Ross (Ringmaster), Chris Jury (Deadbeat), Daniel Peacock (Nord), Gian Sammarco (Whizzkid), David Ashford (Dad), Janet Hargreaves (Mum), Kathryn Ludlow (Little Girl), Peggy Mount (Stallholder), Dean Hollingsworth (Bus Conductor)

Broadcast from December 14, 1988 through January 4, 1989

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Season 02 Star Trek The Next Generation

Shades Of Gray

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 42976.1: While exploring a new planet with Geordi, Riker is stung by an alien thorn whose poison creeps up his spine toward his brain. Pulaski brings him back to the ship and tries to trigger emotional responses to destroy the poison by forcing the first officer to remember his past adventures.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Maurice Hurley, Richard Manning & Hans Beimler
story by Maurice Hurley
directed by Rob Bowman
music by Ron Jones

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), Diana Muldaur (Dr. Pulaski), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien)

LogBook entry by Earl Green