Day: May 22, 1965

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Chase

Doctor WhoIn this mostly comedic six-parter, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki are vacationing on the desert world of Aridius when they find themselves on the run from the Daleks, who have invented their own time vehicle. After a number of brief stops, ranging from the Empire State Building to the Marie Celeste to a haunted house full of robots, the Doctor is forced to make his last stand against the Daleks – at least for this season of the series – on the planet Mechanus, where he loses two companions and gains a new one.

written by Terry Nation
directed by Richard Martin
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Robert Marsden (Abraham Lincoln), Hugh Walters (William Shakespeare), Roger Hammond (Roger Bacon), Vivienne Bennett (Queen Elizabeth I), Richard Coe (TV announcer), The Beatles (themselves), Jack Pitt (Mire Beast), Gerald Taylor, Kevin Manser, Robert Jewell, John Scott Martin (Daleks), Peter Hawkins, David Graham (Dalek voices), Ian Thompson (Malsan), Hywel Bennett (Rynian), Al Raymond (Prondyn), Arne Gordon (Guide), Peter Purves (Morton Dill), Dennis Chinnery (Albert Richardson), David Blake Kelly (Captain Briggs), Patrick Carter (Bosun), Douglas Ditta (Willoughby), Jack Pitt (Stewart), John Maxim (Frankenstein’s Monster), Malcolm Rogers (Dracula), Roslyn de Winter (Grey Lady), Edmund Warwick (Robot Doctor), Murphy Grumbar, Jack Pitt, John Scott Martin, Ken Tyllson (Mechanoids), David Graham (Mechanoid voices), Derek Ware (Bus Conductor)

Note: Peter Purves plays the part of Morton Dill in an early episode of this serial, but then later joins the regular cast in the role of stranded astronaut Steven Taylor.

Broadcast from May 22 through June 26, 1965

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 08 Doctor Who

The Daemons

Doctor WhoA live television broadcast from an archaeological dig at Devil’s End – which Dr. Reeves plans to excavate at midnight – draws the interest of the villagers and of U.N.I.T., though the Doctor is unconvinced that there is any supernatural significance to these events until a local woman, claiming to be a white witch, interrupts the broadcast to protest the dig. Miss Hawthorne believes that the dig could unearth the devil himself. The Doctor and Jo rush to Devil’s End, arriving just as Dr. Reeves opens the barrow – and brings it crashing down on everyone inside. When the Doctor recovers, all hell has quite literally broken loose in the village, thanks to the new vicar – the Master in disguise – who is calling upon the powers of what most people could only describe as the devil.

written by Guy Leopold (a.k.a. Barry Letts & Robert Sloman)
directed by Christopher Barry
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Richard Franklin (Captain Yates), Damaris Hayman (Miss Hawthrone), Eric Hillyard (Dr. Reeves), David Simeon (Alastair Fergus), James Snell (Harry), Robin Wentworth (Professor Horner), Rollo Gamble (Winstanley), Don McKillop (Bert), John Croft (Tom Girton), Christopher Wray (Groom), Jon Joyce (Garvin), Gerald Taylor (Baker’s man), Stanley Mason (Bok), Alec Linstead (Osgood), John Owens (Thorpe), Stephen Thorne (Azal), Matthew Corbett (Jones), Robin Squire (TV cameraman), Patrick Milner (Corporal)

Broadcast from May 22 through June 19, 1971

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Nightmare Man

Part Four

The Nightmare ManWithout warning, Colonel Howard appears in full battledress and declares martial law, claiming that backup is on the way and that the island’s civilian population now answers to him. Inskip, skeptical, tries to phone the mainland for confirmation, only to discover that the line has been cut. Gaffikin and Fiona are ordered to assist the Colonel, who turns out not to be an officer of the British Army at all, but a Soviet operative working under a stolen identity – as are all of his newly-arrived men. They are here to retrieve the Vodyanoi, an experimental submarine with a symbiotic link to its pilot. That pilot became disconnected from the sub when it ran aground, resulting in the murderous creature stalking the island now. Colonel Howard – revealed to be Colonel Vladimir Kornilov – wishes to clean up the mess for the locals and leave without any further international incident, but even his expertise may not be enough to end the bloodlust of the Vodyanoi’s demented pilot.

The Nightmare Manwritten by Robert Holmes
based on the novel “Child Of Vodyanoi” by David Wiltshire
directed by Douglas Camfield
music by Robert Stewart

Cast: James Warwick (Michael Gaffikin), Jonathan Newth (Colonel Howard), Celia Imrie (Fiona Patterson), Maurice Roeves (Inspector Inskip), Tom Watson (Dr. Goudry), James Cosmo (Sergeant Carch), Jeffrey Stewart (Drummond), Robert Vowles (Lieutenant Carey), Pat Gorman (The Killer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 02 Star Trek The Next Generation

Up The Long Ladder

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 42823.2: Signals arrive from two colonies in a distant star system, one of which is found by the Enterprise crew to be a motley collection of “primitives,” and the other, a group of clones whose gene pool is fading. The clones need fresh genes from the crew and are willing to use force to ensure their survive.

Order the DVDswritten by Melinda M. Snodgrass
directed by Winrich Kolbe
music by Ron Jones

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), Diana Muldaur (Dr. Pulaski), Barrie Ingham (Danilo O’Dell), Jon de Vries (Wilson Granger / Victor Granger), Rosalyn Landor (Brenna O’Dell), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deep Space Nine Season 03 Star Trek

Shakaar

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate not given: Word reaches the station that Bajor’s First Minister has died, and Kai Winn has put herself in a position to take that office in the upcoming election. One of Winn’s first acts as head of the provisional government is to ask Kira to retrieve soil reclamators from the D’Kor province. Kira will have to deal with Shakaar, the former leader of her resistance cell during the occupation, and he is unwilling to surrender the equipment. Winn declares martial law and Shakaar and Kira, along with several others from the D’Kor farming community, become outlaws.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Gordon Dawson
directed by Jonathan West
music by Paul Baillargeon

Cast: Avery Brooks (Commander Benjamin Sisko), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Siddig El Fadil (Dr. Julian Bashir), Terry Farrell (Lt. Jadzia Dax), Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Nana Visitor (Major Kira Nerys), Duncan Regehr (Shakaar), Louise Fletcher (Kai Winn), Diane Salinger (Lupaza), William Lucking (Furel), Sherman Howard (Syvar), John Doman (Lenaris), John Kenton Shull (Security Officer), Harry Hutchinson (Trooper)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 01 Star Trek Voyager

Learning Curve

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 48846.5: After a Maquis officer named Dalby breaks with procedure and replaces a faulty bioneural circuit without reporting the malfunction, Janeway assigns Tuvok – himself a former instructor at Starfleet Academy – to bring Dalby and a handful of other problematic Maquis up to speed on Starfleet protocol. This task proves more daunting than Tuvok could have imagined, since even the most worrisome Academy cadets at least wanted to be in Starfleet. Despite an order from Chakotay to learn the Starfleet ropes, Dalby and his fellow trainees are determined not to learn a thing – until their lives depend on it.

Order the DVDswritten by Ronald Wilkerson & Jean Louise Matthias
directed by David Livingston
music by Jay Chattaway

Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Roxann Biggs-Dawson (B’Elanna Torres), Jennifer Lien (Kes), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), Armand Schultz (Dalby), Derek McGrath (Chell), Kenny Morrison (Geron), Catherine MacNeal (Henley), Thomas Dekker (Henry), Lindsey Haun (Beatrice), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Enterprise Season 01 Star Trek

Shockwave – Part I

Star Trek: EnterpriseThe Enterprise enters orbit of the Parogan homeworld, a planet whose atmosphere has flammable elements requiring any visiting craft to descend unpowered. But moments after Malcolm reports shutting off the engines, the planet’s atmosphere turns into a massive fireball – and a colony of 3,600 miners on the surface is instantly wiped out. Starfleet’s response is swift: the Enterprise is recalled to Earth, her mission cancelled, and the crew will be reassigned. Worse yet, the Vulcans recommend that Earth’s interstellar exploration program be postponed…by a decade or more.

As the Enterprise is en route back to Earth, Archer is visited by Crewman Daniels – an operative from the future fighting in the temporal cold war with the Suliban – even though it seemed Daniels was killed by Silik several months earlier. Daniels confirms for Archer that the Enterprise shuttle wasn’t responsible for the colony’s destruction, and that the event never happened, according to future history. He gives Archer instructions that enable him to capture a Suliban vessel, confiscate some vital data, and clear the Enterprise crew of any wrongdoing. Even though someone’s violated the rules of engagement of the temporal cold war in the future, it hasn’t ended Enterprise’s mission.

Just as the crew begins to relax, a swarm of Suliban vessels surrounds Enterprise. Silik hails Archer and tells him to board one of the Suliban pods which will dock with the Enterprise shortly. If the captain doesn’t comply, the Enterprise will be destroyed.

But according to future history, Captain Archer never boarded the pod. He became stranded in the 31st century – a victim, along with the man he knows as Crewman Daniels, of the temporal cold war.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Dennis McCarthy

Cast: Scott Bakula (Captain Jonathan Archer), Jolene Blalock (Subcommander T’Pol), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), Dominic Keating (Lt. Malcolm Reed), Anthony Montgomery (Ensign Travis Mayweather), Linda Park (Ensign Hoshi Sato), Connor Trinneer (Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker III), John Fleck (Silik), Matt Winston (Daniels), Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Forrest), James Horan (Humanoid figure), Stephanie Erb (Receptionist), David Lewis Hays (Tactical crewman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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K-9 Season 1

Mutant Copper

K-9Starkey stokes the fires of a protest gathering against the Department, but the CCPCs present are simply too slow-witted to find him. But Starkey, K-9 and Jorjie are surprised when they find a CCPC who’s even dimmer than his fellow cyborgs: he’s too busy birdwatching to apprehend potential agitators. When this particular CCPC helps the kids hide from the other CCPC patrols, Jorjie is certain that this particular cyborg is somehow evolving into something more than the average robotic thug deployed by the Department. What they don’t know is that this CCPC – nicknamed “Birdie” by Jorjie – is the result of an experiment to see if the CCPCs can be made more ruthless with the addition of human emotions and instincts. All Birdie knows is that he doesn’t want to go back to being like the rest of the Department’s henchmen, and K-9 and his friends risk everything to help him escape.

written by John O’Brien
directed by James Bogle
music by Christopher Elves

Guest Cast: Robyn Moore (Inspector June Turner), Jared Robinsen (Inspector Thorne), Thomas Calder (Marcus), Josh Norbido (Birdie), Peter Kent (voice of Birdie)

Notes: Starkey says that he “used to be known as” Stark Reality, his nickname from the pilot episode, a further indication that the series writers are attempting to distance themselves from the darker premise of the early episodes. Peter Kent, who provides Birdie’s voice, is also the drama and dialogue coach for the series’ young cast.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Doctor Who New Series Season 05

The Hungry Earth

Doctor WhoThe Doctor tries yet again to take Rory and Amy on a romantic getaway, but instead of Rio, the TARDIS lands in Wales in 2020, near the site of a project to drill deep through the Earth’s crust. One man has already vanished without a trace from the small drilling operation, and other strange things are happening as well, such as patches of blue grass appearing on the surface. The rig’s owners hope this is a sign of a promising subsurface mineral deposit, but the Doctor can immediately tell it’s something else. When Amy disappears, his suspicions are confirmed: the drill has awakened the Silurians, the bipedal reptiles who roamed Earth before the ascent of humankind… and they’re more than wiling to take hostages to announce their presence prior to reclaiming their world. The Doctor and Nasreen Chaudrhy, the project’s chief researcher, go underground in the TARDIS to recover Amy and the other hostages, while the one Silurian that the Doctor and Rory can capture has plans of her own. Unlike the Doctor’s plan, her strategy doesn’t involve the human race’s better nature.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by Ashley Way
music by Murray Gold

Cast: Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Arthur Darvill (Rory), Neve McIntosh (Alaya), Meera Syal (Nasreen Chaudhry), Robert Pugh (Tony Mack), Nia Roberts (Ambrose), Alun Rglan (Mo), Samuel Davies (Elliot)

Notes: This isn’t the first time that the Doctor has stumbled across industrial activity in Wales that uncovered something nasty: the third Doctor had to shut down Global Chemicals’ operation in 1973’s The Green Death; that incarnation of the Doctor also encountered the Silurians in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970) and their aquatic relatives in 1972’s The Sea Devils.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green