Doctor Who: The Fires Of Pompeii

Doctor WhoThe 742nd episode of Doctor Who (the 44th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Peter Capaldi and Tracey Childs guest star, and future series star Karen Gillan makes an appearance (though not in the later role of Amy Pond). Read more

Doctor Who: The Sontaran Strategem

Doctor WhoThe 744th episode of Doctor Who (the 46th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Freema Agyeman, Bernard Cribbins and Christopher Ryan (The Young Ones) guest star in the first appearance of the Sontarans in Doctor Who since 1985. This is the first half of a two-part story. Read more

Doctor Who: The Poison Sky

Doctor WhoThe 745th episode of Doctor Who (the 47th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Freema Agyeman, Bernard Cribbins and Christopher Ryan (The Young Ones) guest star in the first appearance of the Sontarans in Doctor Who since 1985. This is the second half of a two-part story. Read more

Alexander Courage, Star Trek composer, dies

Alexander CourageComposer, arranger and orchestrator Alexander Courage, composer of the theme from the original Star Trek, dies at the age of 88. Courage was responsible for writing the iconic main theme as well as the scores for the show’s two pilot episodes. When Star Trek went to series, however, Roddenberry – ahead of the curve on almost every imaginable marketing angle – wrote and published lyrics to Courage’s theme, thereby earning 50% of the profit from any future use of that music, a move which alienated the composer. Due to Star Trek using a library approach to its music, however, Courage’s music resurfaced in almost every episode in some capacity. Courage began orchestrating and arranging for other composers, including John Williams (The Poseidon Adventure, Jurassic Park) and Jerry Goldsmith, who asked Courage to write a few pieces for 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture which utilized the original TV theme.

Joseph Pevney, Star Trek director, dies

Star Trek: City On The Edge Of ForeverDirector and former actor Joseph Pevney, the man behind the camera for many of the original Star Trek‘s best-remembered segments, dies at the age of 96. A veteran of classic ’60s, ’70s and ’80s television, he also directed numerous episodes of Wagon Train, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Mission: Impossible, The Munsters, Bonanza, and The Incredible Hulk. Before embarking on his directing career in 1950, he also worked as an actor, with his first exposure to showbiz in a 1924 Vaudeville show.

Doctor Who: Silence In The Library

Doctor WhoThe 748th episode of Doctor Who (the 50th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Alex Kingston guest stars as River Song, the character’s first appearance in the series (and her last adventure chronologically). This is the first part of a two-part story. Read more

Robert Justman, Star Trek producer, dies

Robert JustmanRobert Justman, who along with Gene Roddenberry shepherded the original Star Trek from an untried pilot to its three years on the air (and came along for the ride with the inception and first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation), dies at the age of 81 from complications associated with Parkinson’s Disease. Originally an assisant director on the rejected pilot episode The Cage, he stuck around to become a producer and one of Roddenberry’s right-hand men. While at Desilu Studios (the makers of the original Star Trek, later bought by Paramount) he also produced the pilot episode of Mission: Impossible; his pre-Trek credits included several episodes of The Outer Limits, numerous Disney Sunday Movies, and The Adventures Of Superman.

Doctor Who: Forest Of The Dead

Doctor WhoThe 749th episode of Doctor Who (the 51st since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Alex Kingston guest stars as River Song, the character’s first appearance in the series (and her last adventure chronologically). This is the second part of a two-part story. Read more

Battlestar Galactica: Revelations

Battlestar GalacticaSci-Fi Channel airs the 63rd episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) guest stars. Numerous factors – including a lengthy recent strike among members of the Writers’ Guild of America and Sci-Fi Channel’s scheduling decisions – controversially spread the last season out over two years; the series goes on hiatus until 2009. Read more

Star Trek: Of Gods And Men – Part 3

Star Trek: Of Gods and MenThe Star Trek fan production Of Gods And Men releases its third and final webisode to the internet. Directed by Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager’s Tuvok) and with a script by several writers associated with 1990s TV Star Trek, it also boasts appearances by Star Trek cast members Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Cirroc Lofton, Garrett Wang, and Russ himself, among others. Read more

Doctor Who: The Stolen Earth

Doctor WhoThe 752nd episode of Doctor Who (the 54th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Billie Piper and Bernard Cribbins guest star. This episode brings back Dalek creator Davros for his first appearance in the series since 1988, and is the first half of a two-part season finale. Read more

Don S. Davis, Stargate SG-1 actor, dies

Don S. Davis as General George HammondActor Don S. Davis, best known for his long stint in the role of General George Hammond on Stargate SG-1, dies of a heart attack at the age of 65. Though his film and TV career didn’t begin in earnest until the early 1980s, by that time he had earned a doctorate in theater arts and had spent a decade sharing those skills with others as a teacher. One of his early gigs was standing in for Dana Elcar on the set of MacGyver, where he met future SG-1 co-star Richard Dean Anderson. He originated the character of Hammond in the premiere episode of Stargate SG-1, and his final appearance in the role is in the upcoming direct-to-DVD movie Stargate Continuum, due in late July. In addition to reprising his SG-1 role on sister series Stargate Atlantis, he has appeared on such series as The Dead Zone, Highlander, The Outer Limits, The X-Files and Twin Peaks.