Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive, Part 4

Doctor WhoThe 529th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first story produced by John Nathan-Turner. Adrienne Corri and Nigel Lambert guest star.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Hammer House Of Horror: The Thirteenth Reunion

Hammer House Of HorrorThe second episode of the Hammer Studios-produced horror anthology series Hammer House Of Horror airs on ITV. Julia Foster and Dinah Sheridan guest star.

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Hammer House Of Horror: Rude Awakening

Hammer House Of HorrorThe third episode of the Hammer Studios-produced horror anthology series Hammer House Of Horror airs on ITV. Denholm Elliott (Raiders Of The Lost Ark) guest stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

Cosmos: The Shores Of The Cosmic Ocean

Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking science documentary series Cosmos debuts on PBS. A popular history of science and scientific theory vs. tradition and superstition, segueing into Sagan’s field of expertise (astrophysics), Cosmos is a major milestone in American documentary filmmaking and the popularization of science and the scientific method (and makes an instant celebrity out of Sagan). Read more Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

Battlezone

BattlezoneAtari releases the arcade game Battlezone in the United States, bringing back Tank’s double joysticks but putting the player in the tank in a first-person perspective (complete with “shattered glass” as enemy artillery takes the player’s tank out of commission). Read more

Star Wars vs. Galactica: case dismissed

Battlestar GalacticaLong after Glen A. Larson’s science fiction series Battlestar Galactica has completed its run, a California judge throws out 20th Century Fox’s 1978 lawsuit, which alleged that Galactica was too close to elements of Star Wars for the studio’s comfort. (Also at issue, though not specifically mentioned in the legal proceedings, was Universal Studios’ hiring of such Star Wars personnel as FX guru John Dykstra and illustrator Ralph McQuarrie to work on Galactica.) Universal’s television series is declared different enough in key areas to not be considered a rip-off – small comfort for the studio, since ABC cancelled had the series earlier in the year. Still, Galactica’s legal status will come into play later, as Universal will later reassert and exploit its rights to the basic Battlestar Galactica storyline in the 21st century. This is not the end of the lawsuit, however; much like both franchises, it too is revived in 1983, and Universal is ordered to pay 20th Century Fox a settlement of nearly a quarter million dollars in 1984.

Berzerk

BerzerkPinball manufacturer Stern Electronics establishes a firm foothold as a maker of video games with the paranoia-inducing coin-op Berzerk. Featuring voice synthesis disturbingly similar to the voices of Battlestar Galactica’s Cylon warriors, and a bouncy, smiling killer named Evil Otto who appears with little or no warning, Berzerk becomes a cult classic (even meriting a serenade on Buckner & Garcia’s 1982 album Pac-Man Fever). Read more

Doctor Who: Meglos, Part 2

Doctor WhoThe 531st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Jacqueline Hill (who starred in early seasons of Doctor Who as Barbara, one of the Doctor’s first companions) guest stars.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Cosmos: One Voice In The Cosmic Fugue

The second episode of Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking science documentary series Cosmos premieres on PBS. A popular history of science and scientific theory vs. tradition and superstition, segueing into Sagan’s field of expertise (astrophysics), Cosmos is a major milestone in American documentary filmmaking and the popularization of science and the scientific method (and makes an instant celebrity out of Sagan).