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Original Series Season 01 Star Trek

The Conscience Of The King

Star Trek ClassicStardate 2817.6: Kirk is contacted by Leighton, a friend from Kirk’s stay on the Tarsus IV colony years ago, who believes that Kodos the Executioner, the militant dictator who gave the order for scores of people to die on the colony during Kirk’s stay, is at large once more in the guise of touring Shakespearean actor Karidian, who, with his touring company, has stopped over at Leighton’s post for a performance. Kirk isn’t convinced until Leighton turns up dead, leaving Kirk and Lt. Riley the only remaining living witnesses of the Tarsus IV massacre. To investigate further, Kirk invites Karidian’s company to travel on the Enterprise to their next performance, and attempts on Kirk and Riley’s lives begin immediately.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Barry Trivers
directed by Gerd Oswald
music by Joseph Mullendore

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Arnold Moss (Karidian), Barbara Anderson (Lenore), Bruce Hyde (Lt. Riley), Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand), William Sargent (Dr. Leighton), Natalie Norwick (Martha Leighton), David-Troy (Larry Matson), Karl Bruck (King Duncan), Marc Adams (Hamlet)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Original Series Season 02 Star Trek

The Deadly Years

Star Trek ClassicStardate 3478.2: Conducting a survey of a planet, a landing party from the Enterprise is contaminated with a form of radiation sickness that accelerates aging. With the ship’s entire command crew rapidly aging and slowly losing their ability to perform their routine duties, Commodore Stocker, who is aboard for a trip to his next starbase command, decides he must question their competency and take the captain’s chair as Kirk, Spock and the others face an impending death of old age.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by David P. Harmon
directed by Joseph Pevney
music by Fred Steiner and Sol Kaplan

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Charles Drake (Commodore Stocker), Sarah Marshall (Janet Wallace), Majel Barrett (Christine Chapel), Felix Locher (Mr. Johnson), Carolyn Nelson (Yeoman Atkins), Laura Wood (Mrs. Johnson), Beverly Washburn (Arlene Galway)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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1954-75: Showa Series Godzilla

Godzilla’s Revenge

GodzillaPoor little Ichiro. He’s bullied nearly everyday on the way home from school. Not only that, his parents work long hours and are seldom at home. He is often watched over by Toy Consultant Shinpei Inami, who lives in an apartment nearby. Meanwhile, bandits have gotten away with more than 50 million yen in a bank heist.

Ichiro fantasizes about visiting Monster Island. Once there, he watches Godzilla defeat several Kamacura and the Giant Condor. He also spots several other giant creatures. Ichiro makes friends with Minilla, Godzilla’s son, who is also being bullied by the monster known as Gabara. Inami wakes Ichiro from his dream.

Ichiro is playing outside when he is spotted by his own bully, also named Gabara. He runs off to an abandoned warehouse. He finds a driver’s license and carries it off. Little does he realize, the bandits are hiding out there, and the driver’s license belongs to one of them!

Once at home, Ichiro again visits Monster Island. Searching for Minilla, he instead finds the giant Gabara and runs away. He finds Minilla hiding from Godzilla, who wants to teach Minilla to fight his own battles. But he agrees to introduce Ichiro to his father. Godzilla is engaged in a battle with Ebirah. The giant lobster is defeated in short order. He then battles the giant spider, which is beaten back with Godzilla’s nuclear breath. Gabara walks onto the scene. Minilla grows to some fifty feet and blows smoke rings at Gabara, which only irritates the bully. Gabara beats up Minilla, who shrinks himself again and runs off. Several fighter jets launch missiles at Godzilla, but the enraged beast crushes and destroys most of the jets. He calls out to Minilla to teach the youngster some monster fighting skills. Godzilla shows how to use nuclear fire, but Minilla can only blow smoke rings. Godzilla stomps on his son’s tail, who then blows fire at some brush.

Ichrio is awakened when the bank robbers snatch him and take him back to the warehouse. One of the robbers goes to steal a car, while the other stays behind and watches over Ichiro. The boy covers a hole in the floor with newspaper. He then closes his eyes and returns to Monster Island.

Minilla is again fighting Gabara, who is getting the upper hand. Ichiro encourages his friend, who then blasts his new nuclear breath onto Gabara’s face. Enraged, Gabara lunges forward, but Minilla moves away and the bully konks his head on the wall of a cliff. Minilla runs to Godzilla, but the King of the Monsters refuses to fight his son’s battle. Minilla re-enters the fray and is being beaten down. Godzilla uses his nuclear breath and forces Gabara to retreat. Ichiro and Minilla discuss how to defeat the bully. When Gabara steps on a fallen tree, Minilla jumps on the other end, causing the bully to fly off, head over heels. As Godzilla passes the fallen creature, Gabara bites his leg The two giant monsters wrestle and Godzilla throws him over his shoulder. The bully finally leaves.

The robbers tie Ichiro, planning to use him as a hostage to get away, but the car won’t start. Ichiro remembers what Minilla told him: “Godzilla says we have to fight our own battles and not be cowards.” He slips his bonds and makes his break from the car, running off to the warehouse, with the bandits in hot pursuit. He leads them to the third floor. Meanwhile, Inami spots his stolen car at the warehouse with a money bag inside. He dashes off to call the cops. One of the bandits falls through the hole in the floor that was covered with newspaper, and breaks his leg. The second robber spots Ichrio and gives chase. Ichiro fantasizes the robber is the monster Gabara, and uses a fire extinguisher to vanquish him. The police have now arrived and take the bad guys into custody.

At breakfast the following morning, Ichiro’s mother promises to spend more time with the boy. On the way to school he is confronted by his own bully, Gabara. This time, however, instead of running, he fights and knocks the kid to the ground. Now equals, Ichiro, Gabara and their friends walk to school.

written by Shinichi Sekizawa
directed by Ishiro Hondo
music by Kunico Miyauchi

Human Cast: Tomonori Yazaki (Ichiro Miki), Eisei Amamoto (Shinpei Inami), Sachio Sakai (Bank Robber), Kazuo Suzuki (Bank Robber)

Monster Cast: Godzilla, Minilla, Kamakura, Gabara, Gorosaurus, Manda, Anguilas, Giant Condor, Ebirah

Notes: This movie was originally titled Godzilla- Minilla- Gabara- All Monsters Attack in Japan. Much of the monster footage seen in this movie was culled from previous Godzilla movies.

LogBook entry by Robert Parson

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Starlost, The

The Implant People

The StarlostDevon, Garth and Rachel are resting after a long trek to one of the Ark’s other biospheres, and apparently not one of the better-appointed ones, as Garth is certain that they’ve wound up in a sewer. A young boy comes along and silently slips away with Garth’s crossbow, and the three try to follow him. Instead they encounter a surgeon named Brant, who introduces himself as the boy’s grandfather – and one of the implant people. A byproduct of an attempt to cure his grandson of being mute, the implants are now issued to nearly everyone in this dome, making crime nonexistent since any implant can be remotely activated and cause its wearer intense pain. But the implants have also put the population at the mercy of Roloff, a man who masquerades as an advisor to the dome’s elected chief legislator even as he plots to overthrow her. When he learns of the three trespassers, Roloff orders them to be held and implanted, but Garth escapes, learning of an underground resistance effort that aims to remove Roloff from power and stop the use of the implants. But how can Garth overthrow this tyrannical regime when Roloff can kill Devon and Rachel with the press of a button?

Get this season on DVDwritten by John Meredyth Lucas and Allen Spraggett
directed by Joseph L. Scanlan
music by Score Productions, Ltd.

Guest Cast: Donnelly Rhodes (Roloff), Pat Collins (Serina), Leo Leyden (Brant), Dino Narizzano (Domal), Jeff Toner (Jardy), William Osler (The Host)

Notes: The role of Roloff was played by Donnelly Rhodes, later much better known to genre fans as the constantly-smoking Doc Cottle in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Star Blazers

Farewell Solar System, From The Galaxy With Love

Star BlazersD minus 338 days: As the Argo prepares to become the first Earth vessel to leave the solar system, a signal from the Earth Defense Force brings news to the crew. Though the destruction of the Gamilon base on Pluto has brought an end to the bombardment of Earth, the resulting radiation has taken its toll on the human race. Before the Argo makes the space warp that will take it beyond Earth communications range, Captain Avatar arranges for every member of the crew to make a five-minute call home. For some, the occasion is joyous, and for others it brings tears. But for Derek Wildstar, it’s a bitter reminder of the family he has lost.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 1 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Lydia Leeds (Starsha), other actors unknown

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Invisible Man

The Klae Dynasty

The Invisible ManNormal day-to-day operations at the Klae Corporation are turned upside-down when the three Klae siblings, the corporation’s founders and benefactors, want to host a summit meeting of great minds at the institute. At the top of their agenda is security, and they immediately want the “Klae resource” deployed without knowing what it is, only knowing that the Westins are somehow in charge of it. There is good reason to worry about security, too: as preparations are being made, Caroline Klae is kidnapped. In the chaos, Dan slips away to go invisible, trying to follow the kidnappers, only to discover that their getaway doesn’t add up: it’s a staged decoy, and Caroline must still be somewhere on the Klae Corporation grounds. In the meantime, a power play ensues between her two very different brothers regarding what becomes of her share of the family fortune.

written by Philip DeGuere, Jr.
directed by Alan J. Levi
music by Pete Rugolo

The Invisible ManCast: David McCallum (Dr. Daniel Westin), Melinda Fee (Dr. Kate Westin), Craig Stevens (Walter Carlson), Nancy Kovack Mehta (Caroline Klae), Farley Granger (Julian Klae), George Murdock (Captain Scopes), Peter Donat (Morgan Klae), Joe Maross (Ryan), Rayford Barnes (Pierce)

The Invisible ManNotes: George Murdock would go on to play the recurring role of the doctor aboard the 1970s incarnation of Battlestar Galactica, and would gain further sci-fi infamy as the face of “God” in 1989’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, redeeming himself among Trek fans a year later as Admiral Hansen in the fan-favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter The Best Of Both Worlds. Peter Donat would resurface as the villain in another cult sci-fi classic, as recurring enemy Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi in the 1990s syndicated series Time Trax.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Miniseries

Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar GalacticaForty years after an armistice was signed with the Cylons, a race of cybernetic servants created to aid man, a neutral space station set aside for peaceful negotiations – but never visited by a Cylon representative – is ambushed and destroyed by Cylon forces.

Battlestar Galactica is en route to its decommissioning from regular service. Long since surpassed on a technological level by newer craft, the gigantic Galactica will become a museum commemorating the era of open warfare between humanity and the Cylons; Galactica’s Commander, Adama, delivers a speech at the ship’s decommissioning ceremony warning against becoming complacent against the Cylons. Adama is also grappling with some personal demons as well – his eldest son, Lee “Apollo” Adama, has arrived to participate in the ceremony, leading a symbolic flight of Colonial Viper fighters, another spacecraft retired from service after the Cylon wars. The reunion of father and son is awkward, as the two have barely spoken since Adama’s younger son, Zac, died on patrol.

On the planet Caprica, the seat of the Colonial government, cybernetics expert Dr. Gaius Baltar has been engaging in an affair with a woman who later admits to being a Cylon – but not the kind of Cylon anyone has ever seen before. She’s almost completely indistinguishable from any human. And she has used Baltar’s access to Caprica’s computer networks to render the Colonies’ defenses useless. A massive Cylon assault begins, as the surface of Caprica is peppered with thermonuclear weapons. Even the most advanced Colonial fighters prove useless in the fight, their integrated computer systems wiped out by a previously unknown Cylon weapon. Baltar is led to safety by the Cylon woman known as Number Six, his role in the fall of Caprica known only to himself – and even after they’re separated when Baltar boards a rescue ship, he continues to see and speak to visions of her. The ship he is taken to is also where Education Secretary Laura Roslin was when the Cylons attacked – and the attacks have destroyed so much of the Colonial government that she’s now next in line to assume the Presidency. Apollo is also on that ship, having escorted Roslin away from the decommissioning ceremony in his father’s aging Viper – and having discovered in the process that the decommissioned fighters, which lack integrated systems, are immune to the Cylons’ secret weapon.

The military command structure has also collapsed, any most of the Battlestar fleet has fallen, leaving Commander Adama in charge of what’s left of the military. Adama orders an immediate course for the Ragnar system, a turbulent nebula into which a Colonial munitions depot is tucked away, dating back to the original Cylon conflict. When Galactica arrives, Adama’s crew finds weapons aplenty to rearm the ship – but there’s also a lone human aboard. An accident with some of the munitions leaves him trapped with Adama, who discovers that the man is a Cylon – something that the rescued Baltar hasn’t shared with anyone.

Rearmed, and now set on a course for what Adama claims is the lost thirteenth colony, Earth, Galactica gets ready – with a largely defenseless civilian fleet in tow – for an escape from the advancing Cylon fleet…or the extinction of the human race.

Download this episodewritten by Ronald D. Moore and Christopher Eric James
based on a teleplay by Glen A. Larson
directed by Michael Rymer
music by Richard Gibbs / additional music by Bear McCreary

Cast: Edward James Olmos (Commander Adama), Mary McDonnell (Secretary Laura Roslin), Katie Sackhoff (Lt. Starbuck), Jamie Bamber (Captain Apollo), James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar), Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Grace Park (Lt. Boomer), Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Matthew Bennett (Aaron Doral), Paul Campbell (Billy Keikeya), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Lorena Gale (Elosha), Barclay Hope (Transport Pilot), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Connor Widdows (Boxey), John Mann (CAG), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Nicky Clyne (Cally), Michael Eklund (Prosna), Alonso Oyarzun (Socinus), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Haili Page (Cami), Ty Olsson (Captain Kelly), Ron Blecker (Launch Officer), Ryan Robbins (Armistice Officer), Tim Henry (Doctor), Kwesi Ameyaw (Liner Captain), Brenda McDonald (Old Woman), Suleka Matthew (Reporter), Erin Karpluk (Woman #1), Jenn Griffin (Woman #2), B.J. Harrison (Woman #3), Zahf Paroo (Man #1), Robert Lewis (Man #2), Denzel Sinclair (Man #3), Lorena Gale (Elosha), Nadine Wright (Chantara), Michael Soltis (Chantara’s Husband), Moneca Delain (Blonde Woman), Fred Keating (Junior Reporter), Lymari Nadal (Giana), Biski Gugushe (Pilot #1), Nahanni Arntzen (Pilot #2), Nogel Vonas (Pilot #3), Ryan Nelson (Pilot #4)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Jeremiah Season 2

Running On Empty

JeremiahJeremiah drops everything to pursue vengeance – he’ll stop at nothing to kill Sims in order to avenge Libby’s death. Elsewhere, Sims and his thugs continue their campaign of terror. Marcus and Erin arrive from Thunder Mountain, and Marcus makes a surprising announcement: he’s ready to help Jeremiah find Sims, no matter what it takes. Jeremiah can have his revenge, and the attacks that are steadily eroding confidence in the alliance will come to an end – at least for now. Marcus hatches a plan to draw Sims and his men out into the open, with the intention of either finishing them off or taking prisoners who can tell him more about Daniel’s operation. Jeremiah, on the other hand, may not be feeling merciful enough to take any prisoners…

Order the DVDswritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Martin Wood
music by Tim Truman

Guest Cast: Peter Stebbings (Marcus), Ingrid Kavelaars (Erin), Michael Teigen (Frank), Jon Cuthbert (Rod), D. Harlan Cutshall (Driver), Santo Lombardo (Nick), D. Neil Mark (Man)

Appearing in footage from Crossing Jordan: Joanne Kelly (Libby)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Season 3

The Passage

Battlestar GalacticaThe discovery that the Colonial food supply is tainted sets the clock ticking: everyone in the fleet will starve in about ten days. Sharon braves a highly radioactive nebula, finding a viable planet with plenty of food on the other side…but trying to take the Colonial fleet through would cost the lives of 80% of the civilian population, and their ships’ navigation systems couldn’t handle the radiation any better than their crews could. Worse yet, when she returns, she’s not as immune to the effects of radiation as everyone assumed a Cylon would be. Admiral Adama’s only solution is to pair each civilian ship with a Raptor from Galactica, whose systems are hardened against radiation; Galactica’s pilots will each have to make several trips through the nebula, leading the civilians through wave after wave, and exposing themselves to more radiation than anyone else. When Starbuck makes a disturbing discovery, it could sideline one of her best pilots during this mission – and calls their future loyalty into question as well.

written by Jane Espenson
directed by Michael Nankin
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Luciana Carro (Kat), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Patrick Currie (Enzo), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog), Brad Dryborough (Hoshi), Leah Cairns (Racetrack), Sebastian Spence (Narcho), Tiffany Lyndall-Knight (Hybrid), Sean Roche (Hungry boy), Ian Rozylo (Convulsing pilot)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Sarah Jane Adventures Season 2

Enemy Of The Bane – Part 2

The Sarah Jane AdventuresSarah, Luke, Rani, Clyde and the Brigadier – with Mrs. Wormwood in tow – hide from UNIT at the flower shop. But, as Sarah suspects, it’s all a double-cross: Mrs. Wormwood has allied with Kaagh the Sontaran, and their plans for the Tunguska Scroll have nothing to do with saving Earth. Luke agrees to go with Mrs. Wormwood to keep Sarah and the others alive, but while he is her hostage, he learns that the Scroll will summon a cybernetic organism called Horath, furthering Mrs. Wormwood’s plans for conquest and revenge. When Mrs. Wormwood tries to tempt Luke with the Scroll, he takes it and makes a run for it until Kaagh stops him. At Sarah’s home, Major Cal Kilburne of UNIT is waiting to reclaim the Scroll as well, but the Brigadier discovers that Klburne’s mission isn’t exactly part of UNIT’s charter. Still held hostage by Kaagh and Mrs. Wormwood, Luke is taken to an ancient burial site that hides a dimensional portal leading to Horath – and he has no choice but to open it for them.

Get the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Phil Ford
directed by Graeme Harper
music by Sam Watts / title music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Mina Anwar (Gita Chandra), Ace Bhatti (Haresh Chandra), Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith), Samantha Bond (Mrs. Wormwood), Nicholas Courtney (Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart), Anthony O’Donnell (Kaagh), Simon Chadwick (Major Cal Kilburne)

Notes: The White Barrow site at the episode’s climax is real, though there isn’t actually a Stonehenge-style stone circle there. The end credits of both parts of Enemy Of The Bane give credit to writers Robert Holmes (creator of the Sontarans) and Henry Lincoln & Mervyn Haisman (creators of the Brigadier).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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4th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Serpent Crest Part 4: The Hexford Invasion

Doctor WhoMrs. Wibbsey has returned to her relatively humdrum life caring for Nest Cottage and its grounds, and it has been months since the Doctor left in the TARDIS to return Alexander and Boolin to their home planet to fulfill their destinites. So it comes as something of a shock when Mike Yates – back in uniform – and UNIT come knocking on the door, insisting upon setting up shop at Nest Cottage. Mike says that the Doctor will explain everything, but the short, whimsical, recorder-playing man who shows up is as far from the Doctor as anyone Mrs. Wibbsey could imagine. Furthermore, she’s convinced that this new Doctor is up to no good, and is unable to convince anyone of this. But things change when an enormous alien spacecraft appears in the sky, and then the TARDIS materializes and “her” Doctor steps out of it. Unable to remember some of his second incarnation’s exploits, for once, the Doctor isn’t sure if his earlier self is on the side of right or not. But when the entire village of Hexford is ripped out of the ground and taken away from Earth, the Doctor realizes that he may have to fight his younger self to get it back.

Order this CDwritten by Paul Magrs
directed by Kate Thomas
music by Simon Power

Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Susan Jameson (Mrs. Wibbsey), David Troughton (The Visitor), Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Cornelius Garrett (Reverend Tonge), Nerys Hughes (Deirdre), Joanna Tope (Tish)

Notes: David Troughton is one of the late Patrick Troughton’s sons, and has appeared in television Doctor Who before (The Curse Of Peladon, Midnight). The second Doctor makes references to the Yeti and the Great Intelligence (The Web Of Fear) and the Cybermen in the London sewer system (The Invasion).

Timeline: several months after Aladdin Time and before Survivors In Space; prior to The Ribos Operation

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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4th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Serpent Crest Part 5: Survivors In Space

Doctor WhoThe entire village of Hexford, buildings and all including Nest Cottage, has been ripped out of the Earth and transported to the rebel moon by a huge Skishtari spacecraft. For three months, Mike Yates has been struggling to keep the peace among the residents of Hexford as their food supply dwindles and they have to make do without electricity or any other artificial energy source. The second Doctor continues to make attempts to signal the outside universe for help – or so he says. The fourth Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey arrive in the TARDIS, but the Doctor insists that it isn’t as simple as just taking the residents of Hexford back to Earth in his time machine. He wants to know what his younger self’s part is in these events, and he already has a hunch that it hasn’t been trying to send distress signals for months. But when robots converge on the dome protecting Hexford from an uninhabitable moon begin to take over the village, help will still have to come from outside, perhaps from a source whose life the Doctor has saved in the past.

Order this CDwritten by Paul Magrs
directed by Kate Thomas
music by Simon Power

Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Susan Jameson (Mrs. Wibbsey), David Troughton (The Visitor), Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Cornelius Garrett (Reverend Tonge), Nerys Hughes (Deirdre), Joanna Tope (Tish), Sam Hoare (Lucius), Paddy Wallace (The Tsar)

Notes: Mrs. Wibbsey says that months of adventures in the TARDIS occurred between the taking of Hexford and the Doctor’s arrival there (possibly leaving the door open to further fourth Doctor/Wibbsey adventures from either the BBC or perhaps Big Finish). The cover art gracing both this release and The Hexford Invasion is based on the visual style of British comic illustrator Frank Bellamy, whose dynamic illustrations graced Doctor Who listings in the Radio Times in the early 1970s and were later collected in the art book “Timeview: The Complete Doctor Who Illustrations Of Frank Bellamy”. This was the final AudioGo fourth Doctor adventure before Tom Baker’s first “season” of Big Finish adventures began early in 2012.

Timeline: after The Hexford Invasion and prior to The Ribos Operation

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green