Doctor Who: Thin Ice

Doctor WhoThe 832nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 133rd episode since the series’ revival). Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, and Matt Lucas star. (This story is unrelated to an audio story of the same name based on a script for the unproduced 1990 television season of Doctor Who.) Read more

Douglas Netter, Babylon 5 producer, dies

Douglas NetterDouglas Netter, the executive producer of the science fiction series Babylon 5 and its various spinoffs after the series’ run, from Crusade through the 2007 direct-to-DVD project Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, dies at the age of 96. A former executive vice president of MGM in the early 1970s, Netter also produced such TV projects as The Sacketts, Five Mile Creek, Hypernauts, and Captain Power, the series which introduced him to future Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski.

Wonder Woman (soundtrack)

Split EnzLa-La Land Records releases a 3-CD box set of music from the 1970s Lynda Carter Wonder Woman TV series, featuring music by Charles Fox, Artie Kane, Robert Prince, Johnny Harris, Robert O. Ragland, Angela Morley, and Richard LaSalle. Read more

Arrow: Missing

ArrowThe 114th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV, Masters Of The Universe, Universal Soldier) guest stars.

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Jared Martin, actor, dies

Jared Martin in The Fantastic JourneyActor Jared Martin, star of the cult classic genre series The Fantastic Journey and War Of The Worlds, dies of pancreatic cancer at the age of 75. In the 1960s, Martin had the good fortune to befriend and room with fellow college student Brian De Palma, and was given a role in some of De Palma’s early films. He moved on to roles in such movies as Westworld, though he may best be known for a recurring role in the prime time soap Dallas. After leaving acting as a full-time profession, he continued to mentor younger filmmakers, especially those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The maiden flight of GSLV Mark III

GSLV Mark IIIIndia’s space agency, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), successfully launches its first heavy-lift rocket, the GSLV Mark III, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. A massive launch vehicle capable of hefting 4-ton payloads into a geostationary orbit, GSLV Mark III’s first payload is the Indian government’s GSAT-19 communications satellite. ISRO also has its eyes on manned spaceflight, with later GSLV payloads potentially including a crewed vehicle to low Earth orbit.

Adam West, actor, dies

Adam West as BatmanActor Adam West, forever known to millions as the star of TV’s Batman in the 1960s, dies at the age of 88 after a short bout with leukemia. After years of paying his dues with guest starring roles, bit parts and commercial appearances, West beat out actors such as Lyle Waggoner for the role of Batman, but after three seasons on TV and a movie produced by the makers of the TV series, Batman had run its course, and West found himself battling typecasting, accepting work in subpar projects and returning to the role of Batman both as voice work (for the Super Friends animated series) and live action (the lamentable 1979 Legends Of The Superheroes specials). Voice work became a mainstay of West’s career, and he landed a long-running recurring role on Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy animated series.

Doctor Who: Empress Of Mars

Doctor WhoThe 838th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 139th episode since the series’ revival), starring Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, and Matt Lucas. Michelle Gomez guest stars in a story that sees the return of the Ice Warriors and another character not seen since the 1970s.

This entry is forthcoming.

Stranger Than Fiction: The Life And Times Of Split Enz

Order this bookStory: Original Split Enz bassist Mike Chunn, who played with the New Zealand supergroup in its formative art-rock-turned-theatrical-extravaganza phase (1972-77) charts the formation, the heady rise and eventual success of the group, with comments from all of his bandmates and his own insider perspective.

Review: Can there ever really be enough books about the musical career of the Finn Brothers? (For this reader: no. As it so happens, the first book ever reviewed in this section was a book on this very topic.) And strangely enough, the aforementioned book about Crowded House quoted this book heavily: primary source material if ever there was some. And source material doesn’t get much more primary than the memoir of one of the founding members of Split Enz.

Stephen Furst, actor & director, dies

Stephen Furst as Vir in Babylon 5Actor and director Stephen Furst, well-known to the American viewing public as hapless Flounder from the 1970s frat movie Animal House and as Dr. Axelrod from St. Elsewhere, dies at the age of 63 from complications from a long battle with diabetes. Furst co-starred as much-put-upon Centauri diplomatic aide Vir Cotto in all five seasons of the 1990s science fiction series Babylon 5; he also directed episodes of Babylon 5 and its follow-up, Crusade, as well as voicing Booster in the animated Toy Story TV spinoff, Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command. He also directed (sometimes under a pseudonym) such Syfy original movies as Path Of Destruction and Basilisk: The Serpent King.

Doctor Who: The Eaters Of Light

Doctor WhoThe 839th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 140th episode since the series’ revival), starring Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, and Matt Lucas. This episode is written by playwright Rona Munro, writer of the final story of the original 20th century run of Doctor Who.

This entry is forthcoming.

Doctor Who: World Enough And Time

Doctor WhoThe 840th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 141st episode since the series’ revival), starring Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, and Matt Lucas. Michelle Gomez and John Simm guest star in part one of a two-part story.

This entry is forthcoming.

Trevor Baxter, actor, dies

Trevor BaxterBritish actor Trevor Baxter, best known in genre circles for a one-off appearance in the 1970s Doctor Who story The Talons Of Weng-Chiang as Professor George Litefoot, dies at the age of 84. Though his guest role on Doctor Who lasted six half-hour episodes, his double-act chemistry with fellow guest star Christopher Benjamin was memorable enough that there was brief discussion at the BBC of possibly launching the two Victorian-era characters in their own TV spinoff. That idea was quickly shelved, but Big Finish Productions, the makers of audio Doctor Who, would revive it in the 21st century, leading to the popular audio series Jago & Litefoot, which ran for nearly a decade. Baxter’s list of guest starring roles spans almost the entirety of classic British TV, and he acted on stage on the West End and with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was also a prolific playwright in his own right.

Jodie Whittaker is the Doctor

Jodie WhittakerIn a specially shot trailer aired after BBC1’s live coverage of the Wimbledon men’s tennis finals, the first female Doctor Who is unveiled in the form of actress Jodie Whittaker (Broadchurch, Black Mirror, Attack The Block). Her first appearance in the role proper will presumably take place at the end of outgoing star Peter Capaldi’s final episode, to be aired on Christmas Day 2017. The transition to a new Doctor also includes the transition to new showrunner Chris Chibnall, whose first season will be broadcast in 2018. Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast