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When Rayford Steele and his daughter Chloe are reunited in Chicago, rather than comforting each other they’re pulled apart. Rayford finds new meaning in his vanished wife’s Bible studies, while Chloe can find little meaning in anything anymore. Ray begins to attend his wife’s church, and is surprised to find that it’s being led by Bruce Barnes, an assistant pastor who didn’t disappear when the rest of the church’s leaders did.

script by Chris Fabry
based on “Left Behind” by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
directed by Todd Busteed
music by Steve Wick

See the first episode for cast information.

The sudden disappearance of millions has plunged the world into chaos. Children everywhere are missing, though teenagers remain. Steele manages to put his plane down in Chicago, but has a harder time trying to catch a cab to his home there. His worst fears are realized when he arrives - his wife and son have vanished, leaving only their clothes. His college-age daughter Chloe, however, leaves a message on the answering machine. In the midst of the mayhem, ace Global News Network reporter Cameron “Buck” Williams (who was also a passenger on Steele’s flight) tries to figure out why the population of the Earth has been reduced so drastically…and so suddenly.

script by Chris Fabry
based on “Left Behind” by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
directed by Todd Busteed
music by Steve Wick

See the first episode for cast information.

Airline pilot Rayford Steele wrestles with numerous problems which would seem to be normal mid-life crises: his reluctance to attend church with his wife and kids (and his increasing annoyance at the intensity of his wife’s devotion to church life), and a co-worker’s flirtations, which could lead to something more serious. As his 747 flies across the Atlantic, however, the flight becomes less routine when several of his passengers vanish without a trace, leaving their clothes and their belongings in their seats. Few of those who have disappeared seem to have anything in common, with the exception that every child is gone. When Steele contacts another plane in mid-flight, he’s stunned to discover that the other aircraft - and, indeed, the entire world - has lost countless people. Steele is diverted back to O’Hare Airport for a landing…and hopes that this might just give him enough time to conjure up an explanation for his remaining passengers.

script by Chris Fabry
based on “Left Behind” by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
directed by Todd Busteed
music by Steve Wick

Cast: Tom McElroy (Rayford Steele), Amanda Philipson (Chloe Steele), Christopher Taylor-Ranta (Buck Williams), Jon Gauger (Bruce Barnes), Aimeè Lilly (Hattie Durham), Roger Mueller (Nicolae Carpathia), Don Stroup (Steve Plank), Jerry Razowski (Chaim Rosenzweig), Bethany Evans (Irene Steele), Dr. Irwin Lutzer (Vernon Billings)

The Doctor is summoned to Italy by the Brigadier, whose Uncle Mario has requested help in the face of increasing threats from a New York land baron with mob ties. Apparently, the intimidation tactics are growing in their scope, including what seem to be apparitions of the dead and visions of horrible, unearthly creatures. The Doctor is very worried to discover that something supernatural is gaining a foothold at Uncle Mario’s castle - something which could, if it breaks through, overrun and destroy life as 20th century humanity knows it. With Sarah Jane Smith tagging along, the Doctor finds away to travel back through the time rift from which these visions are occurring, and finds that the apparitions are the result of one insane alchemist’s attempt to touch “the other side.” The Doctor must put these experiments to a halt, even though his presence merely confirms his adversary’s belief that he is succeeding.

written by Barry Letts
directed by Phil Clarke
music by Peter Howell

Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Richard Pearce (Jeremy Fitzoliver), Jonathan Tafler (Clemenza), Don McCorkindale (Don Fabrizzio), Stephen Thorne (Max), David Holt (Nico), Sandra Dickinson (Maggie), Harry Towb (Mario), Deborah Berlin (Louisa), Peter Yapp (Umberto), Joanna Sergeant (Maid), Paul Brooke (Paolo), Gavin Muir (Barone), Jillie Meers (Baronessa / Marcella), Jonathan Keeble (Roberto), Jim Sweeney (Guido)

Originally broadcast from January 20 to 24, 1996

Timeline: between The Time Warrior and Invasion Of The Dinosaurs, and after The Paradise Of Death

Review: Oh dear God, what a stinker this one is. The real tragedy of The Ghosts Of N-Space isn’t so much that it was so bad in and of itself, but it was also some of Jon Pertwee’s last acting work, and his final turn in the role of the Doctor, before his death in 1996. Again, Pertwee’s age comes through loud and clear in his voice, but he’s doing the best he can with a real clunker of a script. I always thought Barry Letts - a former Doctor Who producer and writer who personally guided Pertwee’s excellent five years in the TARDIS - had a much better handle on the show’s concepts than this. Psychic/paranormal stories are nothing new to Doctor Who, and I suppose neither are badly-executed ones for that matter, but it’s hardly a fitting capstone for Pertwee’s career. (more…)