Day: January 21, 1961

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Avengers, The Season 1

Square Root Of Evil

The Avengers

This synopsis is based upon the Big Finish audio adaptation of the original television script. The original episode’s master tape is lost and presumed destroyed. This audio adaptation can be found in Volume 1 of Big Finish’s The Avengers: The Lost Episodes series.

Steed’s superiors assign him to infiltrate a counterfeiting ring, impersonating a skilled counterfeiter who’s just been sprung from prison. He succeeds in getting inside the operation, but finds himself at the mercy of a vicious thug nicknamed “the Cardinal” (real name: Bishop). Desperately needing help from the outside world, Steed can only call on Dr. Keel and hope that he can provide an escape route…or at least a timely, if unwitting, distraction.

written by Richard Harris
directed by Don Leaver
music by Johnny Dankworth
Big Finish audio adaptation written by John Dorney
Big Finish audio adaptation directed by Ken Bentley
Big Finish audio adaptation music by Toby Hrycek-Robinson

Original television cast: Ian Hendry (Dr. Keel), Patrick Macnee (John Steed), Ingrid Hafner (Carol Wilson), Alex Scott (The Cardinal), Heron Carvic (Five), Cynthia Bizeray (Secretary), George Murcell (Hooper), John Woodvine (Bloom), The Avengers: The Lost EpisodesDelphi Lawrence (Lisa), Vic Wise (Warren)

Big Finish audio cast: Anthony Howell (Dr. Keel), Julian Wadham (John Steed), Lucy Briggs-Owen (Carol Wilson), Tim Bentinck (The Cardinal), Phil Mulryne (Five), Beth Chalmers (Secretary), Alan Cox (Hooper), George Rainsford (Warren), Kieran Bew (Steve), Blake Ritson (Tobert), Sophie Aldred (Lila)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Series Prisoner, The

Fall Out

The PrisonerHaving triumphed against Number Two, Number Six is finally on his way – so he thinks – to meet Number One. But first, he has one more trial to undergo, though he can’t tell if he is the defendant…or the judge. The impetuous Number 48 is brought before him, held in contempt for his youthfully rebellious attitude. Number Two is miraculously brought back from the dead, though he seems unaware that his reign has ended. Number Six finally embarks on the final leg of his quest, but he is unprepared for the revelation that he may, in fact, already be Number One.

written by Patrick McGoohan
directed by Patrick McGoohan
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Leo McKern (Number Two), Kenneth Griffith (President), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Michael Miller (Delegate), Alexis Kanner (Number 48)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Alien Worlds Season 1

The Starsmith Project – Part 1

Alien WorldsOn planet Timeon III, eccentric elderly scientist Logan Starsmith works in secrecy on an interstellar drive more than ten times more powerful than the engines currently installed aboard the ISA’s fleet, including Captain Graydon’s Delta One. But an enormous alien craft has intercepted vital parts en route to Starsmith, putting the ISA on high alert. On the planet Nikona, the mad Emperor Mika weighs the decision of what to do with the crew of the Earth freighter he has hijacked. Delta One is sent to Timeon III to bring Professor Starsmith back to Earth space for his own protection, but during hyperdrive, Starsmith abruptly begins transforming into something non-human…

written by Mike Hodel and Lee Hansen
directed by Lee Hansen
music by Jim Kirk

Cast: Roger Dressler (Narrator / Commissioner), Linda Gary (Maura Cassidy), Bruce Phillip Miller (Captain Jon Graydon), Corey Burton (Jerry Lyden), Chuck Olsen (Captain Buddy Griff), Richard Paul (Professor Starsmith), Byron Kane (Matib), Francis Bay (Emperor Mika), Lester Fletcher (Starsmith’s Assistant), Carol Bilger (Ariana), Gail Murphy (Dr. Rossiter)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battlestar Galactica (Classic Series) Season 1

War of the Gods – Part 2

Battlestar Galactica (original)All hell is literally breaking loose aboard Galactica. Count Iblis is revealed to be a legendary creature known in Earth lore as the Prince of Darkness, but he has already won the respect and admiration of the Council of Twelve by capturing Baltar and handing him over to them. Only Adama and his closest friends stand against the powerful being – and Adama pays for the struggle when he learns of Apollo’s death at Iblis’ hands. When another immensely powerful race of creatures arrives, calling themselves the Seraphs, it dawns on the crew that they have become pawns in the holiest war of them all…one which they may not survive.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Glen A. Larson
directed by Daniel Haller
music by Stu Phillips

Guest Cast: Patrick Macnee (Count Iblis), John Williams (Statesman), Janet Louise Johnson (Sgt. Brie), Jack Stauffer (Captain Bojay), Kirk Alyn (Old Man), Paula Victor (Old Woman), Paul Coufos (Pilot), Chip Johnson (Pilot), Bruce Wright (Guard), Leann Hunley (Warrior), Olan Soulè (Carmichael), Norman Stuart (Statesman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 3

Volcano

Blake's 7Dayna and Tarrant’s first assignment as Liberator crew members is to visit the planet Obsidian and investigate two things: rumors that Blake had fled to that planet after evacuating the Liberator, and the possibility of using Obsidian as a base from which to fight the Federation. But Servalan and her troops arrive to take over the world, and the people of Obsidian reveal the weapon which has kept them safe from the Federation all this time.

written by Allan Prior
directed by Desmond McCarthy
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Michael Gough (Hower), Malcolm Bullivant (Bershar), Ben Howard (Mori), Alan Bowerman (Battle Fleet Commander), Russell Denton (Milus), Judy Matheson (Mutoid)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Series

Episode 8 (Fit The Eighth)

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: Secondary PhaseZaphod Beeblebrox isn’t in big trouble. He left big trouble behind long ago and is now in galaxy-sized trouble – he has been taken to the Frogstar, the most evil world in all the galaxy, where he has a date with the Total Perspective Vortex…a usually fatal sentence. No less fatal is the predicment in which Ford and Arthur have found themselves. Ford’s attempt to flag down a passing spaceship to hitch a ride has instead resulted in the ship crashing and causing a volcanic eruption, leaving the two hitchhikers trapped in a cave with no escape. Rather inexplicably, Zaphod rescues them in the Heart of Gold, having survived his encounter with the Total Perspective Vortex.

Order this CDwritten by Douglas Adams
directed by Alick Hale-Munro
music by Paddy Kingsland

Cast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Alan Ford (Roosta), David Tate (Eddie / Frogstar Prison Relations Officer), Valentine Dyall (Gargravarr)

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Chocky Season 2: Chocky's Children

Episode 2.3

Chocky's ChildrenMatthew asks Albertine if she has been in contact with Chocky, and she has no idea what he’s talking about. Albertine continues to show skills and intelligence beyond her years, and while playing chess with Matthew, their combined concentration on the board allows them to move the pieces without touching them. Matthew suggests that Albertine’s skills and intelligence are actually the result of contact with Chocky, but hat only offends her. Then Matthew is warned of great danger – to himself and to Albertine – by Chocky herself.

written by Anthony Read
based on characters created by John Wyndham
directed by Vic Hughes
Chockymusic not credited

Cast: Andrew Ellams (Matthew), Anabel Worrell (Albertine), Angela Galbreath (Cissie), Prentis Hancock (Meyer), Ed Bishop (Deacon), Michael Crampton (Luke), Glynis Brooks (Chocky’s voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Space Island One

Quarantine

Space Island OneAn unmanned Mars lander is returning to Earth, and is expected to berth at Unity before its precious samples of Martian soil are returned to Earth. The station’s scientists are bucking for a chance to get the first crack at analysis, though scientists on Earth are clamoring for the same prestigious opportunity. A malfunction on the lander itself means that it’ll be docked at Unity longer than expected, giving the station crew no excuse not to examine the samples. Harry finds herself under strict orders not to participate: a recent medical exam has shown her to be pregnant, so handling potentially dangerous samples is out of the question. But when strange things begin happening in the lab, and a strange phenomenon is observed within the space probe that brought the samples back from Mars, it could be that Unity’s crew has instead gotten the first look at something that could kill them all.

Space Island Onewritten by Stephen Baxter
directed by Crispin Reece
music by Richard Blackford & Glenn Keiles

Cast: Judy Loe (Kathryn McTiernan), Indra Ove (Paula Hernandez), Angus MacInnes (Walter B. Shannon), Bruno Eyron (Dusan Kashkavian), Julia Brennerman (Harry Eschenbach), Kourosh Asad (Dr. Kaveh Homayuni), William Oliver (Lyle Campbell), Sally Grace (Control voice)

Notes: An on-screen graphic identifies the just-arrived space probe as “Mar’s Lander” – so if there is life on Mars, it doesn’t know where to put an apostrophe.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 5

No Compromises

Babylon 5Change is the order of the day aboard Babylon 5 as it accepts its new role as capitol of the Interstellar Alliance. Sheridan prepares for his inauguration as his handpicked replacement, Earthforce Captain Elizabeth Lochley, arrives. Sheridan pointedly ignores her role in Earth’s civil war – but others in the crew are not so quick to overlook the past. A group of telepaths approaches Lochley, seeking sanctuary from Psi Corps and a place to call home. Garibaldi, now a civilian, hovers over Zack and clashes with the new captain on matters of security. And G’Kar must create two of the first symbols of the new alliance – an oath of office and a declaration of principles. The preparations may be for nothing, however – a would-be assassin stalks B5, ready to make Sheridan pay for his actions during the war.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Janet Greek
music by Christopher Franke

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (President John Sheridan), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Tracy Scoggins (Captain Elizabeth Lochley), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Joshua Cox (Lt. Corwin), Anthony Crivello (John), Robin Atkin Downes (Byron), Timothy Eyster (Simon), Mauricio Mendoza (Ranger)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 04 Star Trek Voyager

Message In A Bottle

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: Seven of Nine uses an alien communications relay to locate a Federation starship in the Alpha Quadrant. Janeway decides to send the Doctor through the relay as a data stream with orders to tell Starfleet of Voyager’s misadventures. When the Doctor arrives aboard the U.S.S. Prometheus, however, he discovers that the experimental warship has been hijacked by Romulans, and the Starfleet crew are all dead. He can’t return to Voyager without drawing attention to himself, so he passes himself off as the ship’s holographic doctor when he is discovered. But he discovers that the Prometheus has its own EMH program – supposedly an improvement on the original Zimmerman model – who is hiding from the Romulans. The Doctor must put his years of unprecedented experience to work to thwart the Romulans single-handedly, while trying to prove to the next generation of the holographic doctor that there’s more to life than waiting to be activated in sick bay. Meanwhile, a lone alien tries to warn Voyager away from the communications array, and Seven tires of attempts at diplomacy and kills him, unwittingly alerting the rest of his race that Voyager is there.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Lisa Klink
story by Rick Williams
directed by Nancy Malone
music by Paul Baillargeon

Guest Cast: Andy Dick (EMH-2), Judson Scott (Romulan Commander), Valerie Wildman (Romulan Officer), Tony Sears (Starfleet Officer), Tiny Ron (Hirogen), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

Notes: Judson Scott appeared in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan as Khan’s right-hand man, Joachim, as well as with Trek II co-star Merritt Butrick in the early Next Generation episode Symbiosis.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 03 SG-1 Stargate

Pretense

Stargate SG-1The Tollan make an appearance, overpowering the SGC’s defenses and stepping right through the closed Iris, informing General Hammond that SG-1’s presence has been requested by someone who is on trial in a Tollan Triad. When O’Neill and the others arrive on Tollana, they discover that the defendant is Skaara – and so is the plantiff. Both Skaara and his Goa’uld symbiont have argued for control over Skaara’s body, and the Triad is to determine which of them will keep control. To O’Neill’s dismay, the counsel for the symbiont is a Goa’uld System Lord, and his minions who have accompanied him to Tollana have their own orders – to prepare to deliver the Tollan to their own judgement day.

Order the DVDswritten by Katharyn Powers
directed by David Warry-Smith
music by Joel Goldsmith & Richard Band

Guest Cast: Alexis Cruz (Skara), Frida Betrani (Lya),
Marie Stillin (High Chancellor Travell), Garwin Sanford (Narim), Kevin Durand (Zipacna), Bill Nikolai (Technician)

Notes: Lya’s first appearance was in The Nox, while Narim and Tollan first appeared in Enigma, both in the first season.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Farscape Season 1

Bone to Be Wild

  • By Dave
  • January 21, 2000

FarscapeScorpius accompanies Crais back to his Command Carrier to continue the hunt for Crichton, who along with the rest of Moya’s crew is hiding in an asteroid field. With their power shut down to escape detection, the crew faces two problems: they can’t navigate the asteroid field, and they have no idea if Moya’s offspring will ally with them or with the Peacekeepers. Aeryn boards the new ship to help Moya bond with her child, while Crichton, D’Argo and Zhaan follow a distress signal to one of the asteroids, hoping they can find someone with a map. They find M’Lee, the sender of the distress call, apparently on the run from a creature that she claims massacred the rest of her family. Crichton soon discovers that M’Lee is the actual predator, and the creature is in reality a botanist named Br’Nee. That does not necessarily mean that he’s the most trustworthy resident of the asteroid, however, as the botanist has an agenda of his own – one that centers on Zhaan, who, like all Delvians, is a sentient plant. The three quickly find themselves trapped between M’Lee’s hunger and Br’Nee’s curiosity…and all the while, Crais and Scorpius are closing in.

Order the DVDswritten by David Kemper and Rockne S. O’Bannon
directed by Andrew Prowse
music by Subvision

Guest Cast: Lani John Tupu (Captain Bialar Crais), Wayne Pygram (Scorpius), Francesca Buller (M’Lee), Marton Csokas (Br’Nee), David Franklin (Lt. Braca)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

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Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Proving Ground

Star Trek: EnterpriseAt a meeting of the multi-species Xindi war council, it is announced that a prototype of the next sphere weapon – this one on a larger scale intended to take Earth out in a single strike – is nearly ready. If the leaders of the various Xindi species approve of the weapon’s test firing, the genuine article could be on course for Earth in a matter of mere weeks.

Using the traceable kemosite planted by Gralik, Archer and the Enterprise crew find the location where the Xindi plan to test their weapon – but that proving ground is tucked away behind a dense field of the spatial anomalies that have severely damaged the Enterprise in the past. An attempt to navigate the anomalies fails, and the Enterprise becomes stuck in what seems to be a hopeless situation – until a tractor beam pulls her to safety. Archer is stunned, and T’Pol is suspicious, to see that Captain Shran of the Andorians has followed them simply to offer his help – with surprisingly few strings attached. When Shran is all too eager to help Archer hijack the test weapon, Archer must consider destroying his prize if only to keep Shran from using it to develop a weapon of mass destruction for use against the Vulcans.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Chris Black
directed by David Livingston
music by John Frizzell

Guest Cast: Jeffrey Combs (Shran), Molly Brink (Talas), Randy Oglesby (Degra), Scott MacDonald (Xindi Reptilian), Tucker Smallwood (Xindi Humanoid), Rick Worthy (Xindi Sloth), Granville Van Dusen (Andorian General), Josh Drennen (Degra’s Assistant)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 08 SG-1 Stargate

Gemini

Stargate SG-1An attempt to open the SGC gate is halted before transit can occur due to an unusual security concern – the ID code used to open the gate is Carter’s, but it’s also four months out of date. When a MALP is sent through to investigate, what it finds on the other side is Carter – a Replicator Carter created by Fifth. The Replicator Carter claims that she has escaped Fifth’s control and has come to warn her human counterpart of a new breed of Replicator immune to the disruptor, and Carter decides to let her through. Once on the base, the Replicator shares with Carter her memories of Fifth’s torturous indoctrination sessions, forcing the Carter clone to kill her teammates in holographic simulations. Carter warily trusts the Replicator to help find a way to destroy the almost-undetectable human Replicators, but Teal’c and O’Neill aren’t so confident. And while the Carter clone does help to fend off the Replicator ship on a heading for Earth, it turns out that the skepticism about her mission and motives wasn’t entirely unjustified.

Order the DVDswritten by Peter DeLuise
directed by William Waring
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Patrick Currie (Fifth), Gary Jones (Chief Sgt. Walter Harriman), Dan Shea (Sgt. Siler)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Enterprise Season 04 Star Trek

Observer Effect

Star Trek: EnterpriseReturning from a planetary survey with Hoshi on board, Trip collapses at the controls of a shuttle. Hoshi brings the shuttle back to the Enterprise, and both she and Trip are quarantined. Dr. Phlox isolates a silicon-based virus as the cause of their illness, but since their carbon-based immune systems are ill-equipped to fight a silicon-based virus, they have mere hours to live. With T’Pol’s help, Phlox begins racing to find a cure as Trip and Hoshi become gravely ill, with Hoshi even making a frenzied attempt to escape the quarantine area. And as the search for the cure becomes more and more critical, two alien observers leap from host body to host body, leaving no trace of their presence, debating whether or not humans have what it takes to survive – and wondering how many, if any, of the Enterprise’s crew will survive the spreading disease.

Order DVDswritten by Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Dennis McCarthy & Kevin Kiner

Guest Cast: none

Notes: This episode marks humanity’s first encounter with the Organians, the non-corporeal life forms who enforced a truce between the Federation and the Klingons in the original series episode Errand Of Mercy. According to the conversation between the Organian-possessed Reed and Mayweather, the Organians have already studied the Klingons and the Cardassians, although it would be at least the 23rd century before humans and Cardassians would meet. Also, Trip counts The Andromeda Strain (1971) among his horror movie favorites. Hoshi sheds light on her status at the beginning of the series: she had been discharged from Starfleet on a disciplinary violation, hence her training civilians in linguistics in Broken Bow before being recruited by Archer; she says her re-enlistment in Starfleet was accepted only on a probationary basis, and doesn’t indicate that this probation has ended.

LogBook entry by Earl Green