Day: September 30, 1963

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Classic Season 1 Outer Limits

The Architects Of Fear

The Outer LimitsA shadowy committee within the U.S. government contemplates an audacious scheme – to unite the world in peace against a common, but invented, enemy. But one of the committee’s members must volunteer to become that enemy, transformed by painful surgical procedures after an arranged “death” is concocted to cover the chosen member’s disappearance. Alan Leighton is picked at random to be transforned into an “alien” invader – meaning he must leave his wife behind as a widow. But the ruse will crumble if, even after his transformation, Leighton can’t resist contacting his wife to reveal the truth.

Download this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Meyer Dolinsky
directed by Byron Haskin
music by Dominic Frontiere

Cast: Robert Culp (Alan Leighton), Leonard Stone (Dr. Gainer), Martin Wolfson (Dr. Herschel), Geraldine Brooks (Yvette Leighton), Hal Bokar (Bert Bolsey), William Bush (Big Tom), Clay Tanner (Fred), Lee Zimmer (Carl)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Green Hornet

Crime Wave

The Green HornetA daring heist on an airplane still on the tarmac is blamed on the Green Hornet – after all, his calling card was literally left at the scene of the crime. Britt Reid is stunned when a letter, postmarked over half a day before the heist, is delivered to him, describing the crime in detail. The sender, a man named Marcus, claims to have a computer that can predict crimes before they happen, and provides Reid with a detailed account of another crime yet to be committed. Marcus is almost certainly the perpetrator, but coming up with evidence to that effect will prove difficult…unless the “criminal mastermind” known as the Green Hornet tries to horn in on Marcus’ action. Marcus, of course, wants the loot from his crimes to himself, and tries to set the Green Hornet up for a fall…but the Green Hornet and Kato don’t need a crime-predicting computer to know when they’re being set up to take the fall.

written by Sheldon Stark
directed by Larry Peerce
music by Billy May

The Green HornetCast: Van Williams (The Green Hornet), Bruce Lee (Kato), Wende Wagner (Lenore Case), Lloyd Gough (Mike Axford), Walter Brooke (District Attorney Frank Scanlon), Peter Haskell (Abel Marcus), Sheilah Wells (Laura Spinner), Gary Owens (Newscaster), Jennifer Stuart (Stewardess), Dee Carroll (Woman), Ron Burke (Joe), Wayne Sutherlin (Clown), Jack Garner (Guard 1), Ken Strange (Guard 2)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 05 Doctor Who

The Abominable Snowmen

Doctor WhoThe Doctor, Jamie and Victoria discover that the TARDIS has brought them to present-day Tibet, high in the Himalayas, which the Doctor sees as a perfect opportunity to return a holy relic to the Det-Sen Monastery – an item that has been in his possession since the 1600s. He decides to step outside to explore, leaving Jamie and Victoria in the safety of the TARDIS to find the misplaced relic, and discovers a mangled rifle, a dead body, and enormous footprints. The Doctor returns to his timeship to collect the relic and return it to the monks at Det-Sen personally, but tells his companions that he thinks it best that they remain in the TARDIS. After he leaves again, Victoria’s curiosity gets the best of her and she goes outside to look around, and Jamie’s chivalry gets the best of him and he goes along to protect her. They’re exploring a cave when a huge furry beast traps them inside, and they find a collection of silver spheres there. At the monastery, the Doctor doesn’t get the reception he’s been expecting, and the warrior monks who protect their more peaceful brethren accuse him of murder; Professor Travers, who is searching the mountainside for signs of the legendary Yeti, witnesses his partner’s death and thinks the Doctor is responsible, thinking him to be the leader of a rival expedition. It turns out that Yeti are on the move, but not the reclusive creatures of lore – when they appear and attack the monastery, the Doctor discovers that they are robotic in nature, each containing a cavity custom-made for the spheres discovered by Jamie and Victoria. But the Yeti are being controlled by something else, somewhere – and they may be the greatest challenge ever faced by the Det-Sen monks and even the Doctor himself.

written by Mervyn Haisman & Henry Lincoln
directed by Gerald Blake
music from stock music library

Guest Cast: Jack Watling (Professor Travers), Norman Jones (Khrisong), David Spencer (Thonmi), David Grey (Rinchen), Raymond Llewellyn (Sapan), Charles Morgan (Songsten), Wolfe Morris (Padmasambhava), David Baron (Ralpachan), Reg Whitehead, Tony Harwood, Richard Kerley, John Hogan (Yeti)

Notes: Though The Sensorites showed the Doctor and Susan to have mental abilities beyond those of mere humans, The Abominable Snowmen is the first Doctor Who adventure to make it clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Doctor’s psi powers are quite formidable, as he holds the Great Intelligence at bay. The Yeti would be seen again in The Web Of Fear, and fleetingly in The Five Doctors; they also appear in the fan-made video production Downtime, which chronicles a third attempt by the Great Intelligence to sieze Earth as its new homeworld. Incidentally, the sound of the Yeti roar is a flushing toilet, slowed down and played backward.

Broadcast from September 30 through November 4, 1967

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Moonbase 3

Outsiders

Moonbase 3Talk of massive cuts to Moonbase 3’s budget loom, as does a visit from Dr. Hauser, a member of the Moonbase’s Earthbound appropriations committee. Caulder ramps up the pressure on his resident researchers to come up with a breakthrough – any breakthrough – to impress Hauser and save the Moonbase’s funding. One scientist is on the cusp of just such a major discovery, as he tries to perfect a process by which an incredibly strong but lightweight metal, normally something which can only be formed in microgravity, can be replicated under Earth’s gravity. Another scientist’s experiments into a new energy source are promising, but inconclusive. Both of them already feel isolated from the small community manning Moonbase 3, and the pressure to produce a major breakthrough manifests itself differently in each of them. The metal experiment produces a resounding success before Hauser’s eyes, but Caulder is surprised to see a major breakthrough in the energy experiments as well – but when he discovers that the seemingly successful experiment was faked, he has to decide whether or not to keep that a secret from Hauser.

written by John Brason
directed by Ken Hannam
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Donald Houston (David Caulder), Ralph Bates (Michel Lebrun), Fiona Gaunt (Helen Smith), Barry Lowe (Tom Hill), John Hallam (Peter Conway), Tom Kempinski (Stephen Partness), Madhav Sharma (Rao), John Moreno (Juan Benavenie), Garrick Hagon (Bruno Ponti), Victor Beaumont (Franz Hauser), Jonathan Sweet (Walters), Patsy Trench (Jenny), Edmund Pegge (Macadam), Christine Bradwell (Ingrid), Cy Town (Technician)

Notes: Cy Town, seen here as a nameless Moonbase technician, has graced many an episode of the BBC’s much more familiar SF series, Doctor Who – even though his face usually isn’t seen during his many stints as a Dalek operator.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Gemini Man

The Minotaur

Gemini ManA phone call from an urgent stranger summons Sam Casey to an abandoned building, which is then burned down by a bulky but apparently lethal robot. Sam reports the fire and then races to Intersect to meet with Leonard, who knows exactly who was at the other end of the call: a former Intersect technologist who was determined to turn his defensive weapons projects into offensive weapons, and spent millions of dollars of government money to do it. His weaponized robot, Minotaur, was his crowning achievement, and is almost certainly the robot seen by Sam. Now he is threatening to unleash the Minotaur upon the world unless his demands are met.

teleplay by Robert F. O’Neill and Frank Telford
story by Robert Bloch and Robert F. O’Neill
directed by Alan J. Levi
music by Lee Holdridge

Gemini ManCast: Ben Murphy (Sam Casey), Katherine Crawford (Abby Lawrence), William Sylvester (Leonard Driscoll), Ross Martin (Carl Victor), Deborah Winters (Nancy Victor), Cheryl Miller (Girl), William Boyett (1st Officer), Michael J. London (Guard), Robert Hackman (Clerk), Dale Johnson (Secretary), Loren James (Minotaur)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 2 Wonder Woman

The Man Who Could Move The World

Wonder WomanA telekinesis researcher and a promising test subject go missing, which gets the IADC’s attention. Steve Trevor is assigned to follow the clues, and her tracks them down to an abandoned internment camp, where the United States government imprisoned Japanese citizens living withing the U.S. during World War II. The missing test subject, a survivor of this camp, tried to use is latent powers to escape it as a boy, but lost his brother in the process, for which he blames not just the United States, but Wonder Woman, who witnessed the incident first-hand. Wonder Woman has followed Steve to the camp to help, unaware that her presence is very much wanted by a man who has the power to stop her in her tracks with his mind.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Judy Burns
directed by Bob Kelljan
music by Artie Kane

Wonder WomanCast: Lynda Carter (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Lyle Waggoner (Steve Trevor), Normann Burton (Joe Atkinson), Yuki Shimoda (Ishida), Lew Ayres (Dr. Theodore Wilson), James Hong (Oshima), Alan McRae (Security Officer), J. Kenneth Campbell (Taft), Steven Ken Suehiro (Ishida, as a boy), Peter Kwong (Masaaki, as a boy), Arthur Song (Masaaki)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Logan's Run

Capture

Logan's RunLogan, Jessica and Rem take up temporary residence at an abandoned cabin near a lake, until they’re cornered and disarmed by Francis and another Sandman. Their orders are simple – Francis will take Logan and Jessica back to the City of Domes, while Rem is to be dismantled. During an overnight stop, Jessica disappears from the hovercraft while Francis has Logan tied up outside. When they go looking for her, they meet a man named James Borden, who warns them that Jessica has probably been kidnapped by mutants who hunt in packs nearby. But he’s not quite being truthful – Borden and his ruthless wife are holding Jessica prisoner to use her as bait for a hunt of their own, and Logan and Francis are the prey. Rem gives his captor the slip and locks him up, and then follows Logan’s trail to Borden’s compound. To survive this most dangerous game, Logan and Francis will have to trust each other, and Logan will have to rediscover the killer instinct he left behind in the City of Domes.

Download this episodewritten by Michael Richards
directed by Irving J. Moore
music by Jeff Alexander

Guest Cast: Horst Bucholz (James Borden), Mary Woronov (Irene Borden), Stan Stratton (Benjamin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Jason Of Star Command Season 1

A Cry For Help

Jason Of Star CommandCanarvan’s energy clone, under Dragos’ control, makes one final attempt to leave Space Academy defenseless. Jason is thrown into a dungeon, where he meets an alien princess whose world has been taken over by Dragos. They escape to the Starfire escape pod and take refuge on a planet, only to discover that the safety of their haven is only momentary – and not just because of Dragos.

Order this series on DVDwritten by Samuel A. Peeples
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Jason of Star CommandCast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin), Roseanne Katon (Allegra)

Notes: Dragos can apparently see everything that goes on at Star Command – security probably needs to do something about that. Also, the engines of Dragos’ ship can apparently destabilize an entire planet – the show’s makers probably need to double-check the laws of physics on that.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Season 16 Doctor Who

The Pirate Planet

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Romana learn that the second segment of the Key to Time is on Calufrax, a planet described by the Doctor as an uninviting place. After the TARDIS inexplicably fails to land, it brings them to a world which is nothing like Calufrax – instead, it’s inhabited, prosperous (at least on first glance), and unbelievably rich. But the prosperity is a thin charade; the Captain lords over the planet with an iron fist, while repeatedly bringing his subjects new epochs of prosperity with alarming regularity. And a group of rogue telepaths called Mentiads wander the wilds of the planet, drawing the wrath of the Captain and suspicion from everyone else. The Doctor discovers that this world is hollow. And whether it is by his own hand in the name of restoring the Key to Time, or by the hand of the Captain – who isn’t as in charge of the situation as it appears – the planet Calufrax is doomed.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Douglas Adams
directed by Pennant Roberts
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Bruce Purchase (Captain), Andrew Robertson (Mr. Fibuli), Rosalind Lloyd (Nurse), David Sibley (Pralix), Bernard Finch (Mentiad), Ralph Michael (Balaton), Primi Townsend (Mula), David Warwick (Kimus), Clive Bennett (Citizen), Adam Kurkin (Guard), Vi Delmar (Queen Xanxia)

Broadcast from September 30 through October 21, 1978

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Season 05 Star Trek The Next Generation

Darmok

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 45047.2: The Enterprise and a Tamarian ship rendezvous at El-Adrel IV and Tamarian Captain Dathon opens communications. The Tamarians speak incomprehensibly, using English words laced with names from their culture. After the contact fails, Dathon and his first officer argue over Dathon’s statement, “Darmok and Jelad at Tenagra.” Dathon vanishes, and Picard is kidnapped via transporter. Both are beamed to the planet, where Dathon attempts to communicate again. Picard deciphers the language, finding that it is based on Tamarian folklore and metaphors. “Darmok and Jelad at Tenagra” refers to two heroes who traveled separately to a distant island, defeated a mighty beast, and left together. El-Adrel is home to such a creature, and Dathon hopes that the Tamarians and the Federation can begin a friendship by likewise defeating a common enemy. When the beast attacks, Picard is immobilized by an attempt to rescue him through interference projected from the Tamarian ship, while Dathon is mortally wounded. Picard can now negotiate in the Tamarian language – if he survives the creature’s next attack.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Joe Menosky
story by Philip Lazebnik and Joe Menosky
directed by Winrich Kolbe
music by Jay Chattaway

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Paul Winfield (Captain Dathon), Richard Allen (Tamarian First Officer), Colm Meaney (O’Brien), Ashley Judd (Ensign Lefler), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 3

Walkabout

  • By Dave
  • September 30, 1996

Babylon 5Quiet preparations are underway for the arrival of the new Vorlon ambassador, who will assume the late Kosh’s duties and identity with no public acknowledgement of Kosh’s death at the hands of the Shadows. Sheridan can only assume that it’s Vorlon business as usual when Kosh’s replacement insists that he is Kosh. Telepath Lyta Alexander, however, fares less well with the new ambassador when he accusingly questions her regarding her whereabouts during Morden’s fatal attack on Kosh. Sheridan enlists Lyta’s help to test Garibaldi’s information that telepaths can cripple a Shadow vessel, and Delenn and G’Kar pledge to send their own ships in support. G’Kar’s support vanishes, however, when the captain of the Narn vessel fails to see how the Narn race can benefit from Sheridan’s anti-Shadow mission, despite the fact that Sheridan sheltered that ship from the Centauri a year ago. Stephen Franklin, on his personal journey to recover from the stim addiction that convinced him to leave his post as the station’s chief surgeon, befriends a nightclub singer on the station who is suffering from a terminal illness, though she does not reveal this herself. When the White Star finally meets a Shadow vessel for the inevitable frontal assault, Lyta’s telepathic prowess may not be enough to help Sheridan return to the station with what he learns from the encounter.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Kevin G. Cremin
music by Christopher Franke

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain John Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Susan Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Security Chief Michael Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Stephen Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Erica Gimpel (Cailyn), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Jennifer Balgobin (Dr. Lilian Hobbs), Robin Sachs (Na’Kal), Ardwight Chamberlain (Kosh)

Original UK airdate: August 18, 1966

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Deep Space Nine Season 05 Star Trek

Apocalypse Rising

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate not given: The Federation and the Klingon Empire are now at war, and the only way to stop it is to prove that Gowron, the leader of the Klingon High Council, is a changeling. To expose the spy, Sisko and three officers – Worf, O’Brien, and a now-human Odo – must infiltrate a Klingon ceremony in disguise, and activate devices which will cause the changeling to lose its shape. But getting there, and staying undetected long enough to accomplish their mission, is much easier said than done…

Season 5 Regular Cast: Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko), Michael Dorn (Lt. Commander Worf), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Terry Farrell (Lt. Commander Dax), Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Alexander Siddig (Dr. Bashir), Nana Visitor (Major Kira)

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe
directed by James L. Conway
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Robert O’Reilly (Gowron), J.G. Hertzler (Martok), Marc Alaimo (Dukat), Casey Biggs (Damar), Robert Budaska (Burly Klingon), Robert Zachar (Head Guard), John L. Bennett (Towering Klingon), Tony Epper (Drunken Klingon), Ivor Bartels (Young Klingon)

Notes: Kira blames her pregnancy on Bashir in this episode, a gag which puts a crack in the fourth wall as Alexander Siddig really was the father of the child Nana Visitor was expecting at the time.

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover with notes by Earl Green

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Season 2 Xena: Warrior Princess

Orphan of War

Xena: Warrior PrincessAfter learning that one of her former soldiers, Dagnine, is searching for the Exion Stone, Xena and Gabrielle head for Centaur territory. They are met by Kalipus, who led the Centaurs against Xena when she herself hunted for the stone. Living with the Centaurs is Xena’s 10 year old son, Solon. She had given him up to Kalipus to protect him from her enemies and herself after his father died. She also told Kalipus that she was giving up her search for the Exion stone. Dagnine has people watching the Centaur village. He is thrilled to learn that Xena has a son. He has the boy kidnapped in order to keep Xena from stopping him in his search. But Xena travels to Dagnine’s camp to free Solon. The warlord has placed the boy in a cage. Xena uses her whip to pull the cage up to the platform she is on. As Xena is pulling him up, she is spotted by the warriors in the camp. She drops the key which she took from Dagnine to Solon, and ties the whip to the platform. While she is fighting the warriors, the whip loosens from the platform sending the cage and Solon to the ground. A large hole opens in the ground upon impact from the cage and boy. He calls for help from Xena, who reaches him in time to keep him from falling into the darkness. She grabs her whip from the ground nearby and snaps the end up to a tree branch over the hole. She pulls Solon up to her and the two dangle above the abyss as archers take aim.

Season 2 Regular Cast: Lucy Lawless (Xena), Renee O’Connor (Gabrielle)

Order the DVDswritten by Steven L. Sears
directed by Charles Siebert
music by Joseph LoDuca

Guest Cast: Mark Ferguson (Dagnine), Paul Gittins (Kaleipus), David Taylor (Solon), Alexander Campbell (Miklas), Stephen Papps (See’er), Peter Tait (Daylon), Richard Adams (Warrior)

LogBook entry by Mary Terrell

Categories
Big Finish Spinoffs Doctor Who Sarah Jane Smith The Audio Dramas

Test Of Nerve

Sarah Jane Smith: Test Of NerveAt her home, Sarah receives a package – a live rat in a glass cage, with a note attached. When Josh removes the note from the cage, a mechanism seals the cage completely and fills it with nerve gas, killing the rat. If that isn’t ominous enough, the note promises that the same will happen to all of London unless Sarah “finds the truth” in 24 hours. Sarah next gets a visit from James Carver, a man whose name has been in the news recently after being detained and questioned by police following a scuffle with a member of Parliament. Carver, seeming nervous and unstable, claims to have gotten hold of enough sarin gas to kill the entire population of London – and even shows real proof. He claims that he’ll release it in the London underground during rush hour if certain demands aren’t met by six in the morning. Natalie insists that Sarah call the police, but Sarah tries to make use of her contact within the C19 agency instead; shortly after confirming that Carver is dangerous and is in possession of the sarin capsules, Sarah’s contact is found dead and Sarah herself is framed for the murder. And while she’s in police custody, answering questions, Sarah’s losing precious time …and so is London.

Order this CDwritten by David Bishop
directed by Gary Russell
music by David Darlington

Cast: Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Jeremy James (Josh Townsend), Sadie Miller (Natalie Redfern), Robin Bowerman (Harris), Caroline Burns-Cook (Claudia Coster), Juliet Warner (Ellie Martin), Mark Donovan (DI Morrison), Roy Skelton (James Carver), Alistair Lock (Newsreader)

Notes: Roy Skelton’s voice graced many an episode of the original Doctor Who series, emanating from Daleks and Cybermen alike.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Big Finish Spinoffs Dalek Empire Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Warriors

Dalek Empire III: The WarriorsCommander Frey Saxton leads a charge against the Daleks, with hundreds of Graxis Wardens as her army and an armed but battered freighter at her disposal. During the attack on Skelanis VIII, Frey’s crew rescues Galanar, Elaria, and Tarkov from a waiting Dalek force. Once aboard Frey’s ship, however, Tarkov turns against his rescuers, believing that they work for the Daleks, until Frey manages to smooth things over and Tarkov agrees to lead the Graxis Wardens to Velyshaa. There, he believes, they will find the final telepathic imprint left by a man called Kalendorf who fought in the last great war against the Daleks, though what information he might have left behind 2,000 years ago is anybody’s guess. Something else that no one can even begin to guess at is the true nature of the cure that the Daleks are offering to the plague sweeping the galaxy.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: David Tennant (Galanar), William Gaunt (Selestru), Ishia Bennison (Frey Saxton), Steven Elder (Siy Tarkov), Sarah Mowat (Suz), Laura Rees (Kaymee), Claudia Elmhirst (Amur), Octavia Walters (Japrice), Peter Forbes (Culver), Oliver Hume (Carneill), Dot Smith (Mivas), Greg Donaldson (Telligan), Karen Henson (Saloran), Dannie Carr (Morli), Jeremy James (Sergic / Snubby), Sean Jackson (Seth), Ian Brooker (Mietok), Jane Goddard (Roozell), Philip Wolff (Chauley), Colin McIntyre (Jake), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices)

DalekNotes: One of the Daleks refers to a refueling station called Exxilon Gamma 9 – apparently despite the trouble they encountered on Exxilon during their final clash with the third Doctor, the Daleks prevailed against the planet’s many perils.

LogBook entry by Earl Green